Team USA wins final swimming race in Tokyo, setting a world record and winning Caeleb Dressel his fifth gold medal
Team USA wins the final swimming race of Tokyo 2020 by setting a world record
The Americans closed out Tokyo 2020’s swimming competitions by winning gold and setting a world record in the men’s 4×100 meter medley relay.
Team USA finished the race in 3:26.78, 0.73 seconds ahead of second-place Great Britain. Italy took home the bronze with a time of 3:29.17. The Americans have won this race in all 15 Olympics they’ve raced it.
The win gives Caeleb Dressel, who swam butterfly in the race, his fifth gold medal of these Olympics.
Ryan Murphy earned his third medal of the Games swimming backstroke to start the race for the US, while Andrew Michael won his first-ever Olympic medal swimming breaststroke.
The anchor was Zach Apple, who won his second gold of these Games swimming freestyle.
Team USA won three of the five swimming events held Sunday morning, while Australia won the other two.
Britain’s Charlotte Worthington takes gold in women’s BMX freestyle
From CNN’s Seamus Fagan
Great Britain’s Charlotte Worthington took home the gold medal in the women’s BMX freestyle competition Sunday morning, doing so by landing the first-ever 360 backflip in women’s competition history.
The trick helped Worthington earn a winning score of 97.50.
Worthington’s triumph gives Great Britain its third medal in a BMX event at the Tokyo Games after winning gold in women’s BMX racing and silver in men’s BMX racing.
American Hannah Roberts won silver with a score 96.10, and Nikita Ducarroz of Switzerland earned bronze with a score of 89.20.
Japanese fans flock to the Olympic Rings in Tokyo despite Covid state of emergency
From CNN’s Emiko Jozuka in Tokyo
People swarmed Olympic monuments in Tokyo to snap selfies on Saturday, despite the surging number of Covid-19 cases in the Japanese capital.
Tokyo remains under a state of emergency due to the pandemic, and the metropolitan government reported on Saturday that they had identified a new single-day record of more than 4,000 cases.
But that spike in infections has not dampened the mood for many Olympic fans around the new National Stadium, especially among eager fans lining up by the Olympic Rings monument to take pictures.
“I’ve been watching the Olympic competitions on TV from home because the events in Tokyo can’t have spectators. But I wanted to get a feel for the Olympic spirit, so came here (to the Olympic Rings),” one Tokyo resident told CNN. “My friends were also posting photos on Instagram of themselves by the Olympic rings, so I wanted to take some too.”
Going into the Games, polls showed the Japanese public largely opposed holding the Olympics in the middle of the pandemic. But some Tokyo residents told CNN Japan’s recent gold rush at the Games had shifted their opinions around the Olympics.
“At first, I wondered how Japan would pull off the Olympics, but once they started, Japan started winning lots of gold medals,” another resident said. “It made me feel like Japan was going head-to-head with other nations and doing well. It made me want to cheer on my country.”
Australia takes home women’s 4×100 meter medley relay
Australia set an Olympic record to win the women’s 4×100 meter medley relay, the country’s second gold medal Sunday morning after Emma McKeon took the top prize in the 50 meter freestyle.
With the medley win, McKeon now has seven medals in Tokyo, including three golds. McKeon is just the second woman to win seven medals at a single Olympics, a feat that only Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya had previously accomplished, according to NBC.
The USA took silver, losing to the Australians by just 0.13 seconds, with Canada claiming bronze.
Bobby Finke wins men’s 1500 meter freestyle for his second gold of Tokyo 2020
Swimmer Bobby Finke has won the men’s 1500 meter freestyle, his second gold medal of the Tokyo Games after earlier winning the men’s 800 meter freestyle.
Finke’s victory means the Americans have taken home the top prize in all four distance swims in Tokyo. Team USA’s Katie Ledecky won both the women’s 800 meter and 1500 meter freestyle races.
Finke’s race was a nail-biter, with the American, Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk and Germany’s Florian Wellbrock separating themselves from the rest of the pack. Romanchuk finished with silver and Wellbrock with bronze.
World record-holder Sun Yang of China was banned from competing in this year’s Games due to a doping violation.
Australia’s Emma McKeon takes gold in the women’s 50 meter freestyle
Emma McKeon set an Olympic record to win the gold medal in the women’s 50 meter freestyle, her sixth medal in Tokyo.
She finished the race in 23.81 seconds. Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem took home silver and Denmark’s Pernille Blume nabbed bronze.
Caeleb Dressel wins another gold in the men’s 50 meter freestyle
It’s all coming up gold for Caeleb Dressel.
The American swimming star set an Olympic record to win the men’s 50 meter freestyle race Sunday morning in Tokyo. He swam the race in 21.07 seconds to win his fourth gold medal of Tokyo 2020.
Dressel is just the third man to ever win the 50 meter freestyle and 100 meter freestyle at the same Olympics.
He was followed by France’s Florent Manaudou, who finished in 21.55 and Brazil’s Bruno Fratus, who came in at 21.57. Manaudou won gold in the event at Rio 2016.
Four more medal races will be held at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre Sunday morning.
Saturday saw 21 gold medals awarded at the Tokyo Olympics
Among the gold medal winners Saturday at the Tokyo Olympics were Americans Katie Ledecky, who won the women’s 800m freestyle, and Caeleb Dressel who dominated the men’s 100m butterfly.
Here’s a full list of the gold medal winners from Saturday:
Archery
- Men’s Individual: Mete Gazoz, Turkey
Athletics
- Men’s Discus Throw: Daniel Stahl, Sweden
- 4x400m Relay Mixed: Poland
- Women’s 100m: Elaine Thompson-Herah, Jamaica
Badminton
- Men’s Doubles: Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin, Chinese Taipei
Fencing
- Women’s Sabre Team: Russian Olympic Committee
Judo
Rugby Sevens
Sailing
- Women’s Windsurfer-RS:X: Lu Yunxiu, China
- Men’s Windsurfer-RS:X: Kiran Badloe, Netherlands
Shooting
- Trap Mixed Team: Fatima Galvez/Alberto Fernandez, Spain
- Women’s 50m Rifle 3 Positions: Nina Christen, Switzerland
Swimming
- Men’s 100m Butterfly: Caeleb Dressel, United States
- Women’s 200m Backstroke: Kaylee McKeown, Australia
- Women’s 800m Freestyle: Katie Ledecky, United States
- Mixed 4x100m Medley Relay: Great Britain
Tennis
- Women’s Singles: Belinda Bencic, Switzerland
Trampoline Gymnastics
- Men’s: Ivan Litvinovich, Belarus
Triathlon
- Mixed Relay: Great Britain
Weightlifting
- Men’s 81 kg: Lyu Xiaojun, China
- Men’s 96 kg: Fares El-Bakh, Qatar
Japan sees highest daily increase in new Covid-19 infections
From CNN’s Arthur Syin and Hannah Ritchie
Japan recorded its highest daily increase in new Covid-19 infections since the pandemic began, reporting 12,341 new cases on Saturday, according to the country’s public broadcaster NHK.
Ten out of Japan’s 47 prefectures recorded their highest new daily cases, NHK reported.
The Japanese capital city of Tokyo saw a record high 4,058 new cases Saturday, according to Tokyo Metropolitan Government data.
The number of coronavirus cases linked to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games has risen to 241 — up 21 from the previous day — according to Games organizers.
This comes as Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga on Friday extended the state of emergency for the Tokyo Metropolitan area and Okinawa amid a surge in Covid-19 cases.
Tokyo and Okinawa were under a state of emergency until August 22, but Suga has now extended it until August 31.
Suga also expanded a state of emergency to four other prefectures — Saitama, Chiba, Osaka and Kanagawa — in effect until August 31.
Source: http://rss.cnn.com/~r/rss/cnn_topstories/~3/PRZjCrLRrW0/h_d19876812ed77b5528e27fd9338232de