Best photos from the Olympics

The Czech Republic’s Lukas Rohan competes in a canoeing semifinal on July 26.

Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

The sun sets in Tokyo on July 26 as Belgium plays the Netherlands in a men’s 3-on-3 basketball game. The event is making its Olympic debut this year.

Charlie Riedel/AP

The Philippines’ Hidilyn Diaz reacts after winning the 55-kilogram weightlifting competition on July 26. It’s her country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal. Prior to Diaz’s gold, the Philippines had claimed three silvers and seven bronzes. Diaz won one of the silvers in the 2016 Olympics.

Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images

Fencers Sofia Pozdniakova and Sofya Velikaya, both representing the Russian Olympic Committee, compete against each other in the individual sabre final on July 26. Pozdniakova, a two-time world champion and daughter of Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdniakov, defeated Velikaya 15-11.

Hassan Ammar/AP

Spain’s Adrian Gavira Collado waits for a serve during a beach volleyball match on July 26.

Angela Weiss/AFP/Getty Images

Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus edges the United States’ Katie Ledecky to win the 400-meter freestyle on July 26. It’s the first Olympic medal for Titmus, the defending world champion in the event. Ledecky won the event at the 2016 Olympics, where she set a world record that still stands today.

David J. Phillip/AP

Three US swimmers — from right, Caeleb Dressel, Blake Pieroni and Bowen Becker — celebrate after winning the 4×100 freestyle relay on July 26. Not pictured is teammate Zach Apple, who swam the anchor leg.

Jon Olav Nesvold/Bildbyran/Reuters

Japanese skateboarder Momiji Nishiya grinds a rail during the women’s street competition on July 26. The 13-year-old won gold in the new event, a day after fellow Japanese skateboarder Yuto Horigome won gold on the men’s side. She is one of the youngest gold-medal winners in Olympic history. She is just months older than the current female record-holder, American diver Marjorie Gestring, who was 13 years and 267 days old when she won gold at the Berlin Games in 1936.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Iran’s Meisam Salehi spikes the ball during a volleyball match against Venezuela on July 26.

Carlos Garcia Rawlins/Reuters

Volunteers sit in mostly empty stands during archery competition on July 26.

Alessandra Tarantino/AP

British divers Tom Daley, left, and Matty Lee compete in the synchronized 10-meter platform event on July 26. They won the gold.

Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty Images

Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt lies on the ground wrapped in finish-line tape after he won the triathlon on July 26. On the right, silver medalist Alex Yee of Great Britain hugs bronze medalist Hayden Wilde of New Zealand.

David Goldman/AP

Norway’s Richard Andre Ordemann is kicked in the face by Jordan’s Saleh Elsharabaty during a taekwondo bout on July 26. Elsharabaty won 5-4.

Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images

The US softball team celebrates its 2-1 win over Japan on July 26. The two teams will meet again in the gold-medal game July 27.

Jorge Silva/Reuters

Eldric Sella Rodriguez, a middleweight boxer with the Refugee Olympic Team, lies on the ground after being knocked down by the Dominican Republic’s Euri Cedeno Martinez on July 26. The fight was stopped in the first round, and Cedeno Martinez was declared the winner.

Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters

Athletes dive into the water at the start of the men’s triathlon on July 26. A broadcast boat prevented all swimmers from starting, forcing a restart. It was the first-ever call of its kind in an Olympic triathlon.

Adam Pretty/Getty Images

Japan’s Hifumi Abe celebrates after winning gold in judo on Sunday, July 25.

Hannah Mckay/Reuters

The Tokyo 2020 logo is reflected in the backboard as France’s Evan Fournier rises for a shot on July 25. France upset the United States 83-76 in what was both teams’ opening games. The US team hadn’t lost an Olympic game since 2004.

Eric Gay/AFP/Getty Images

Chinese weightlifter Chen Lijun celebrates on July 25. He won gold in his 67-kilogram weight class after lifting 187 kilograms — an Olympic record — in the clean-and-jerk. His total lift of 332 kilograms edged Colombia’s Luis Javier Mosquera Lozano by one kilogram.

Chris Graythen/Getty Images

Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten celebrates after completing the road race on July 25. She thought she had won the gold medal, not realizing that Austria’s Anna Kiesenhofer had broken away from the pack and finished first. Cyclists race without earpieces at the Olympics, and that played a part in her confusion, she said. But she was still “really proud” of her silver medal.

Tim de Waele/Getty Images

US equestrian Adrienne Lyle rides Salvino in the dressage competition on July 25.

Behrouz Mehri/AFP/Getty Images

Great Britain’s Adam Peaty competes in a semifinal of the 100-meter breaststroke on July 25. Peaty, the world-record holder in the event, went on to win gold in the final. He also won the event at the 2016 Olympics.

Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images

US gymnast Simone Biles stumbles on a balance beam dismount during the qualification event on July 25. She still qualified for the event finals, and the United States finished second in qualification for the all-around. “Obviously, there are little things we need to work on, so we’ll go back and practice and work on that just so we can do our best performance at team finals (on Tuesday), because that’s what matters,” Biles said.

Antonin Thuillier/AFP/Getty Images

American Anastasija Zolotic celebrates after winning gold in taekwondo on July 25. She is the first US woman to win Olympic gold in the event.

Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images

Staff members prepare for judo competition at the Budokan arena in Tokyo.

Antonin Thuillier/AFP/Getty Images

Spanish judoka Alberto Gaitero Martin is bandaged during his bout against Ukraine’s Georgii Zantaraia on July 25.

Franck Fife/AFP/Getty Images

China’s Zhang Changning spikes the ball in a preliminary-round volleyball match against Turkey on July 25.

Yuri Cortez/AFP/Getty Images

Mexico’s Dallas Escobedo warms up before a softball game against Italy on July 25. Softball is back at the Olympics for the first time since 2008.

Matt Slocum/AP

American gymnast Simone Biles performs on the vault during the qualification round on July 25. The team all-around final is Tuesday, and the Americans will look to defend the gold they won at the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Mike Blake/Reuters

Brazilian surfer Italo Ferreira rides a wave during an early heat on July 25. This is the first year that surfing is in the Olympics.

Olivier Morin/Pool/AP

Japan’s Naomi Osaka hits a forehand during her first-round match against China’s Zheng Saisai on July 25. Osaka won 6-1, 6-4.

Edgar Su/Reuters

Kimia Alizadeh, a taekwondo athlete representing the Olympic Refugee Team, kicks Iran’s Nahid Kiyani Chandeh during her first match on July 25. Alizadeh was born in Iran and became the country’s first female athlete to win an Olympic medal when she won bronze at the 2016 Games. But she defected last year amid searing criticism of the regime in Tehran. Alizadeh defeated Chandeh 18-9.

Javier Soriano/AFP/Getty Images

Marina Nekrasova, a gymnast from Azerbaijan, competes on the uneven bars during the qualification round on July 25.

Morry Gash/AP

Italy’s Alessandro Velotto moves the ball during a water polo match against South Africa on July 25.

Mark Humphrey/AP

Hungarian fencer Flora Pasztor, left, competes against Algeria’s Meriem Mebarki on July 25.

Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

Australian tennis star Ashleigh Barty, the world’s top-ranked player who won Wimbledon earlier this month, reacts during her first-round loss to Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo on July 25. Sorribes Tormo won 6-4, 6-3.

Hiroto Sekiguchi/The Yomiuri Shimbun/AP

Australian swimmers celebrate together after they won gold in the 4x100m freestyle relay on July 25. They also set a new world record (3:29.69). Clockwise from left are Meg Harris, Emma McKeon, Bronte Campbell and Cate Campbell.

Morry Gash/AP

German beach-volleyball players Julia Sude and Karla Borger play Switzerland’s Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Heidrich in an empty Shiokaze Park on Saturday, July 24.

Felipe Dana/AP

Hend Zaza, the youngest Olympian this summer, competes in table tennis on July 24. The 12-year-old Syrian was knocked out in the preliminary round, losing 4-0 to Austrian Jia Liu.

Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Japan’s Naohisa Takato, in blue, competes against Georgia’s Lukhumi Chkhvimiani during a judo quarterfinal on July 24. Takato would go on to claim Japan’s first gold medal of these Olympics, winning the 60-kilogram division by defeating Chinese Taipei’s Yang Yung-wei in the final.

Sergio Perez/Reuters

Fans wait at the finish of the men’s cycling road race on July 24. The Fuji International Speedway, in Oyama, Japan, is one of the five Olympic venues open to fans this year.

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Nigerian gymnast Uche Eke competes on the horizontal bar on July 24.

Gregory Bull/AP

Chinese weightlifter Hou Zhihui competes on July 24. She set an Olympic record in her 49-kilogram weight class, lifting 94 kilograms in the snatch round and 116 kilograms in the clean-and-jerk.

Vincenzo Pinto/AFP/Getty Images

Chinese fencer Sun Yiwen celebrates with her coach Hugues Obry after winning gold in the épée on July 24.

Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

A staff member picks up the mouthguard of Great Britain’s Peter McGrail during a boxing match on July 24.

Frank Franklin II/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

China’s Yang Qian, the first gold-medal winner of these Olympics, celebrates on July 24. She finished first in the 10-meter air rifle.

Alex Brandon/AP

Badminton players compete amid rows of empty seats on July 24.

Dita Alangkara/AP

American boxer Delante Johnson takes a punch from Argentina’s Brian Agustin Arregui during their welterweight bout on July 24. But Johnson won the fight 3-2.

Frank Franklin II/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

Cyclists compete in the men’s road race on July 24. Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz won the race after breaking away in the final 10 kilometers.

Thibault Camus/AP

During a break in his first-round match, Russian tennis player Daniil Medvedev cools down with a mobile air conditioner and a towel with ice cubes. “It was some of the worst (heat) I’ve ever had,” he said after he beat Kazakhstan’s Alexander Bublik.

Michael Kappeler/dpa/picture alliance/Getty Images

Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka lights the Olympic cauldron at the end of the opening ceremony on Friday, July 23.

Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

Fireworks go off after Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

An overhead view of Osaka lighting the cauldron. The cauldron was designed in the shape of a cherry blossom.

Morry Gash/AP

The Olympic flag is raised near the end of the opening ceremony.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

Live performers pose as the triathlon pictogram during the opening ceremony. There are 50 sports taking place this year in the Tokyo Olympics, and all of their pictograms were acted out by the performers.

Sergei Bobylev/TASS/Getty Images

Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, makes a speech during the opening ceremony. At left is Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee.

Hannah McKay/Pool/Getty Images

Japanese jazz composer Hiromi Uehara plays the piano during the opening ceremony.

Matthias Hangst/Getty Images

The Olympic flag is carried toward the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony.

Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images

Japan’s Emperor Naruhito delivers a speech and formally opens the Olympic Games.

Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Members of the Refugee Olympic Team march during the parade of nations.

Antonin Thuillier/AFP/Getty Images

Tongan flag-bearer Pita Taufatofua made headlines for going shirtless at the 2016 and 2018 opening ceremonies, and he was at it again in Tokyo. He will be competing in taekwondo.

Stefan Wermuth/Reuters

Athletes from the United States march during the customary parade of nations.

David J. Phillip/AP

During one portion of the opening ceremony, there were 1,800 drones flying over the stadium to form a globe in the night sky. As the glowing drones soared over the stadium, performers sang “Imagine” by John Lennon.

Dylan Martinez/Pool/Getty Images

Athletes from various nations sit during the opening ceremony.

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Athletes from Team Norway take part in the parade of nations.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

The Olympic teams from every country watch performers on stage.

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US athletes hold an American flag during the parade of nations.

Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP/Getty Images

Russian athletes pose for a photo during the opening ceremony.

Andrej Isakovic/AFP/Getty Images

A police officer is seen in the mostly empty stadium on July 23. Organizers said that for the opening ceremony, only 950 VIPs would be present in a stadium that can seat nearly 70,000 people.

Martin Bureau/AFP/Getty Images

French athletes march during the opening ceremony.

Leah Millis/Reuters

A member of Egypt’s delegation enters the stadium during the parade of nations.

Hannah McKay/AFP/Getty Images

British flag-bearers Hannah Mills and Mohamed Sbihi lead out the team during the opening ceremony’s parade of nations. Sbihi, a rower, made history as Great Britain’s first Muslim flag-bearer.

Joe Giddens/PA Images/Getty Images

Greece’s athletes march into the stadium to kick off the parade of nations.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Dancers take part in the start of the opening ceremony.

David J. Phillip/AP

People perform during the opening ceremony.

Mike Egerton/PA Images/Getty Images

The Japanese flag is carried during the opening ceremony. After the Japanese National Anthem was sung, a moment of silence was called to remember the global victims of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Morry Gash/AP

A performer acts during the opening ceremony.

Maddie Meyer/Getty Images

The start of the ceremony reflected the isolated training that many athletes had to do during the pandemic.

Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Jill Biden, the first lady of the United States, takes part in a moment of silence during the opening ceremony.

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A lone performer is seen during the start of the opening ceremony.

Clive Brunskill/Getty Images

Fireworks explode over the stadium as the opening ceremony got underway.

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