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Tokyo Olympics live updates day 1 schedule: swimming updates
He's been criticised for rejecting a Covid vaccine jab, but US breaststroker Michael Andrew is only focused on taking down world record holder Adam Peaty on Sunday. RELIVE ALL THE ACTION FROM DAY ONE.
US Olympic swimmer Michael Andrew has vowed to ignore “haters” critical of his refusal to vaccinate against Covid, saying his sole focus was performing in the pool.
Andrew has been outspoken about rejecting Covid-19 jabs, drawing the ire of retired US swim star Maya DiRado, who accused him of putting his own beliefs before the health of his teammates.
But the 22-year-old said he had faced no issues form his compatriots in the USA team after qualifying for the 100m breaststroke final on the opening night of swimming at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre.
“I’m just blessed with the team that we have here and the protocols, everything’s really safe,” he told reporters.
The Tokyo Daily: Hannah Hollis and Bryan Fletcher on all the highs and lows from the Opening Ceremony plus Leisel Jones previews the swimming and the coolest Olympic athletes of all time.
“So I’ve been doing my best to switch it off. (There’s) a lot of haters, a lot of people that are with me, so it’s yea or nay.
“But I’m here to swim fast and right now that’s the focus. I’m keeping my eyes on that and trying to keep off social (media) as much as possible.”
Andrew said it was “crazy” competing at his first Olympics with no crowds present because of the pandemic, but he was not letting the magnitude of the event get to him.
“It’s one of those things where we can make it into something bigger than it is in our minds,” he said.
“I don’t want to crumble under that nerves and that pressure, so I’m approaching it like any other swim meet -- there’s just millions of people watching.”
Tokyo remains under a state of emergency due to a spike of infections in recent weeks and there have been dozens of Games-related coronavirus cases in the Japanese capital.
Check out the full schedule here.
RELIVE ALL SATURDAY'S OLYMPIC BUILD-UP AND ACTION BELOW.
Updates
Inspirational performance of the night
Adored Japanese swim star Rikako Ikee made an inspirational return to the world stage in Tokyo tonight, after she was forced to fight for her life following a shock leukemia diagnosis in 2019.
The-21-year-old dove back into the pool for her proud host country, competing in the 4x100m freestyle relay heats. Ikee swam second in the relay, with the Japanese team finishing fifth, just missing out on finals. “I was very happy to participate in this competition but I do have bitter feelings that we cant move on to the finals but I am thinking we did our best as our team,” she said following the relay.
“As I have my individual race (4x100m medley) I just have to do my best in that.”
Ikee was 16 when she made her debut in Rio in 2016, where she qualified to swim in seven different events, finishing 5th in the 100-metre butterfly competition. Her spectacular rise continued in the years following, becoming the first swimmer to win six gold medals at the Asian Games in 2018.
She was on her way to becoming a global superstar, set to be the face of the Games for Japan in the same way Ian Thorpe was at the 2000 Games in Sydney when she received the dreadful news about her health. In February 2019 she was training with the elite Australian squad at Gold Coast’s Griffith University alongside Emma McKeon and Maddie Groves, when she started to experience problems with her breathing. Ikee was sent back to Japan where she received the shock diagnosis, devastating the Japanese public and swimming community. It seemed her Tokyo Olympic dream was over- but the Covid pandemic suddenly gave her an extra year to try and prepare for the Games. After 10-months of lifesaving chemotherapy, she was released from hospital and returned to the pool after more than 400 days away from it. – Madeline Crittenden
This is why we are favourites for 4x100m relay
Julian Linden
Of all the gold medals Australia is expected to win in the pool, the safest of all still looks to be the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay.
The Aussies have won the race at the last two Olympics and are also the reigning world champions and world record holders.
And they look unbeatable again after setting the fastest qualifying time for the final – a sizzling 3:31.73 – almost two seconds ahead of their closest rivals.
But the ominous warning for everyone else is that Australia’s two fastest sprinters – Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell were both rested from the heats but will return for Sunday’s final and barring a monumental upset, the Aussies look a sure bet to win.
Aussies miss out in men’s 100m breaststroke
Julian Linden and Brianna Travers
Australia missed a place in the semifinals of the men’s 100m breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics.
Matt Wilson placed 22nd overall with Zac Stubblety-Cook 24th, both well behind British world record holder and defending champion Adam Peaty.
The two Australians are both much better at 200m breaststroke with Wilson a former world record holder and Stubblety-Cook ranked number one in the world.
Stubblety-Cook said it was a “good start to the meet”.
“Happy enough with it,” he said of his 100m breaststroke heat.
“It’s interesting with not as many people in the stands,” he said.
“The games are exciting. A lot to take in. A few of us, it’s out first games, and there’s a lot to take in.”
Matt Wilson evaluated his 100m breaststroke heat as “pretty crap”.
“I don’t know what happened there, but it was not what I wanted,” Wilson said.
“I’ve got to focus on the 200m now, I have a couple days, to try and get my head around it, hopefully that acted as a warm up. We’ll see how it goes.”
Elijah Winnington had this to say after his race tonight:
“It's all about the process.
“I just executed the first three quarters of my race how I wanted to do it.
“I wanted to see where I was at. I saw Jack was making a move in that last 50 and the US guys were making a move also. I had to sort of drop the hammer with 15 to go to make sure I could touch the wall safely and I did that.
“I was actually feeling a bit of pressure yesterday. I was quite nervous about making the final.
“I saw the heat before me was a little slower than what I maybe thought they were going to go, so I did the job. I'm in a good lane tomorrow morning so I'm excited.”
Aussies secure place in 400m final
Julian Linden
Australia’s long tradition in Olympic middle distance swimming looks to be in great hands after Elijah Winnington and Jack McLoughlin safely qualified for the men’s 400m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics.
The pair could not be separated after they dead heated for first place in their heat, touching the wall in identical times of 3:45.20.
That gave them a share of fourth overall after Germany’s Henning Muhlleitner set the fastest overall time of 3:43.67.
Both Winnington and McLoughlin went faster at last month’s Australian trials and are expected to go quicker in the final after they cruised into the decider.
'The adrenaline was pretty high': McKeon
Brianna Travers
Emma McKeon said she was happy to have swum equal first in her 100m butterfly heat.
“The adrenaline was pretty high being my first race, and my first race of the Olympics,” she said.
“I felt like it went pretty well. I was happy with the time.”
She said the build up to the games in the Olympic village had been “pretty relaxing”.
“Until tonight when I was warming up I didn’t feel like I was racing, that probably worked for me,” she said.
McKeon said she was coping well with external pressure.
“I feel like it’s just the pressure I’m putting on myself,” she said.
McKeon safely through to 100m butterfly semis
Julian Linden
Emma McKeon dead heated with Chinese rival Zhang Yufei to top the qualifiers from the heats of the women’s 100m butterfly at the Tokyo Olympics.
The pair touched the wall in the identical time of 55.82 seconds, to safely make it through to Sunday’s semifinals.
The defending champion and world record holder Sarah Sjoestroem was third quickest after returning from a broken elbow.
Australia’s Brianna Throssell snuck into the semis in 16th place.
McKeon is entered in seven events in Japan and if she medals in six of them she will become Australia’s greatest Olympian.
Can Smith go faster? ‘We’ll see’
Victorian Brendon Smith said he was “really happy” to have swum a personal best in the 400IM, and a new Australian record.
“I am really happy with it, really happy with how I went,” he said.
He said he worked on his freestyle leg with coach Wayne Lawes.
“It’s something me and my coach work on, trying to finish out the race, really happy I was able to do that,” he said.
Asked if he can go faster: “We’ll see.”
400M IM – Smith qualifies fastest for final
Julian Linden
Brendon Smith has smashed the Australian record to storm into the Tokyo Olympic final as the fastest qualifier in the men’s 400m individual medley.
The 21-year-old Victorian is now a genuine contender to win the gold after Japanese world champion Daiyo Seto missed the final in a huge shock.
Smith unleashed on his closing freestyle leg to win his heat and qualify fastest in 4:09.27, more than a second faster than the Australian record he set last month.
New Zealand’s Lewis Clairebury was second fastest, 0.22 behind Smith, while Seto came ninth.
Australia’s Lee Se-Bom missed the final after finishing 16th overall.
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