Simone Biles withdraws from vault and uneven bars finals
Breaking news: Simone Biles withdraws from vault and uneven bars finals
Simone Biles will not compete in the event finals for two of the four individual women’s gymnastics events, vault and the uneven bars, USA Gymnastics said.
Biles, arguably the world’s greatest gymnast, has pulled back from Olympic competition in Tokyo to focus on her mental health. She explained in a series of Instagram posts that she has the twisties, a mental block in gymnastics where competitors lose track of their positioning midair.
USA Gymnastics said Biles will be evaluated daily to determine whether she can compete in the final two individual disciplines, floor and balance beam.
Women’s vault and bars finals are scheduled for Sunday, the women’s floor final is Monday, and the beam final is Tuesday.
Australia’s Kaylee McKeown takes home gold in women’s 200 meter backstroke
Australian Kaylee McKeown has won gold in the women’s 200 meter backstroke at the Tokyo Olympics.
McKeown edged out the competition with a time of 2:04.68.
Canada’s Kylie Masse collected silver in 2:05:42 and Australian Emily Seebohm clinched bronze in 2:06:17.
Earlier this week: McKeown, 20, set the Olympic record for the women’s 100 meter backstroke to win gold, just a month after she set the world record in the same event.
The adrenaline was clearly flowing when she was interviewed by Australia’s 7 News after her big win. When asked by the network if she had a message for her mother Sharon and sister Taylor, who were watching, she responded: ““F*** yeah!”, before realizing she swore and covering her mouth. Then she followed it up with a celebratory “Woo!”
Her mother jokingly said “I’ll have a word to her later,” in an interview with 7 News.
Caeleb Dressel wins gold in men’s 100 meter butterfly with a world record
American Caeleb Dressel has won the gold medal in the men’s 100 meter butterfly, breaking his own world record in the process.
He finished in 49.45 seconds.
Hungary’s Kristof Milak took silver, setting a European record. Switzerland’s Noe Ponti took bronze.
Crowds line the streets of Tokyo for mixed triathlon for a rare chance to watch Olympic competition
From CNN’s Rebecca Wright in Tokyo
Large crowds of spectators lined the streets to watch the mixed triathlon event in Tokyo Saturday morning, using the opportunity of the roadside event to take in the Olympics.
Fans have been banned from attending Olympic events as part of raft of public health measures to stop the spread of Covid-19, as Tokyo remains under a state of emergency.
However, the streets around the roadside areas have not been blocked to the public. Instead, police officers lined the route asking people to leave the Odaiba area — but not everyone listened.
Volunteers held signs saying “we ask that you refrain from spectating roadside.”
The men’s and women’s triathlons earlier in the week also saw small numbers of spectators, but the crowds were much larger for today’s race — likely because it’s the weekend.
Great Britain’s Jessica Learmouth, Jonathan Brownlee, Georgia Taylor-Brown and Alex Yee dominated the race to take gold in the event’s debut. The US took the silver medal and France the bronze.
Great Britain wins gold in the first-ever Olympic triathlon mixed team relay
From CNN’s Jacob Lev
Great Britain won gold in the first triathlon mixed team relay event in Olympics history, finishing with a time of 1:23:41.
The US won silver with a time of 1:23:55. France, the winners of the last three mixed relay world titles, claimed bronze with a time of 1:24:04.
Great Britain’s Georgia Taylor-Brown and Alex Yee and American Katie Zaferes made history thanks to the introduction of this new event. They have just become the first athletes to win multiple triathlon medals in a single Olympic Games.
The win gives Great Britain its seventh gold medal of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 25th medal overall.
Mixed-gender sports make debut at Olympic Games
From CNN’s Scott Reeves
Mixed-gender sports is the big new theme at Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Women and men will compete alongside one another in a host of events making their debut, including judo, archery and shooting.
This weekend’s schedule includes the mixed 4×400-meter in athletics, 4×100-meter in swimming, and, happening right now, the triathlon relay.
International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach is in attendance to watch the event debut.
As Olympic bosses try to boost TV viewing figures, they hope mixed-gender events will reinvigorate interest among younger audiences.
Catch up: Here’s what you missed during Friday’s Olympic events
From CNN’s Josiah Ryan
Day seven of the Tokyo Games wrapped up with the host country securing its highest-ever gold medal tally and the debut of a new Olympic event.
In case you missed it, here’s everything you need to know about Friday’s events:
- Japan: The host country secured a record-breaking 17th gold medal of the Tokyo Games on Friday, surpassing the country’s previous tally of 16 gold medals at Tokyo 1964 and Athens 2004. The 17th gold came in the men’s team épée – Japan’s first-ever gold medal in fencing.
- New event: The 4×400-meter mixed relay made its Olympic debut Friday, but not without controversy. Team USA was reinstated for the event after it was disqualified following an erroneous baton changeover in the heats. The event — featuring teams of two men and two women competing against each other in any order they choose — will continue Saturday.
- Tennis: With an Olympic semifinal loss, tennis superstar Novak Djokovic lost his shot at the “Golden Slam,” which is when a tennis player wins the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, the US Open and the Olympics in one calendar year.
- State of emergency: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga extended the state of emergency for Tokyo amid the Olympic Games as the city added another 3,300 new Covid-19, following three consecutive days of record numbers.
- Women’s gymnastics: Simone Biles said in a series of Instagram stories she still has the “twisties,” and it’s affecting all of her individual events. The superstar American gymnast posted videos of herself struggling with her dismounts on the uneven bars and answered questions about having the “twisties” — the mental block that can cause gymnasts to lose control of their bodies midair.
- Arrest in Hong Kong: Hong Kong police arrested a man after he allegedly booed the Chinese national anthem while watching an Olympics award ceremony inside a shopping mall, authorities said Friday. The 40-year-old man was accused of “insulting” the anthem when watching a live stream of an award ceremony on Monday, which showed Hong Kong fencer Edgar Cheung winning the first gold medal for the city in 25 years.
Team USA reinstated for the Olympic 4 x 400 meter mixed relay
The US’s 4 x 400 meter mixed relay team has been reinstated and will compete in tomorrow’s final.
The team was disqualified earlier today from the inaugural 4 x 400 meter mixed relay following an erroneous baton changeover in the heats. The event — featuring teams of two men and two women competing against each other in any order they choose — is making its debut at the Games.
The American team, comprising Elija Godwin, Lynna Irby, Taylor Manson and Bryce Deadmon, is hotly tipped for a medal since they won gold at the 2019 world championships.
Reigning world champions Team USA disqualified from inaugural Olympic 4 x 400 meter mixed relay
From CNN’s Aleks Klosok in London and Homero De La Fuente in Atlanta
Team USA was disqualified from the inaugural 4 x 400 meter mixed relay on Friday following an erroneous baton changeover in the heats.
The discipline, featuring teams of two men and two women competing against each other in any order they choose, is making its debut at the Games.
The American team, comprising Elija Godwin, Lynna Irby, Taylor Manson and Bryce Deadmon, had been hotly tipped for a medal having won gold at the 2019 world championships.
The American quartet had finished fastest in the first heat but were later disqualified from the event for handing the baton over outside the designated changeover zone.
The team said it didn’t have the chance to practice hand-offs due to Covid-19.
“Covid is in play and we do have to be a lot more careful than the year before. But like I said before, we come out and we get as prepared as possible. Mistakes happen. We are human, we can make mistakes, and if at the end of the day we get DQ-ed (disqualified), I’ll hold my head up high, because I know we competed our best. I’m proud of all of our guys and girls,” Godwin said.
The 4 x 400 meter mixed relay final is set for Saturday.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/NYX2cQo8Hew/h_8ec1549fe40704150d81804a2c7a5d86
