Tokyo 2020 Olympics Day 10 live coverage: Opals miracle, refereeing blunder costs Matildas shot at gold
The Opals have pulled off a stunning win to progress, while the Matildas will face the USA for bronze and have every reason to be furious.
- Opals’ miracle win
- Refereeing blunder costs Matildas shot at gold
- Drama as Aussie’s bike snaps
- Biles to return to competition
- ‘Cocky’ sprint star caned over race flop
- Podium protest has US star in strife
- Cops called over athletes’ wild party
- Belarusian sprinter’s kidnap claim
Read how day 10 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games unfolded below.
DAY 10 HIGHLIGHTS:
■ COMPLETED: Athletics — women’s 1500m heats: Jessica Hull 2nd, Linden Hall 3rd, Georgia Griffith 14th,
■ COMPLETED: Athletics — women’s 200m heat 7: Riley Day 3rd
■ COMPLETED: Hockey — women’s quarter-final: India beat Australia 1-0
■ COMPLETED: Equestrian — Australia win SILVER in eventing jumping
■ COMPLETED: Athletics — women’s pole vault qualification: Nina Kennedy, Elizaveta Parnova miss out on final
■ COMPLETED: Water Polo — men’s preliminary round group B: Australia def Kazakhstan 15-7
■ COMPLETED: Football — women’s semi-final: Sweden def Australia 1-0
■ COMPLETED: Athletics — men’s 400m semi-final: Steve Solomon out
■ COMPLETED: Basketball — women’s preliminary round Group C: Australia def Puerto Rico 96-69
Gadiel Notelovitz12.05am:Nervous moments but Opals through
They made the nation sweat, but the Australian Opals booked their place in the quarter-finals on Monday night after a less-than-conventional thrashing of Puerto Rico.
The equation was simple: win by 25 or more points and the Opals were into the knockout stage. Anything less, and their Tokyo campaign would be over before it had really begun.
In the end, the Opals did just enough behind a monstrous second half as they beat Puerto Rico 96-69 inside the Saitama Super Arena.
An incredible 13-2 run to close the fourth quarter proved enough as the Opals finished 27 points better than their rivals, who so almost played party poopers.
At a point, though, it seemed the Opals didn’t truly understand what was at stake in a blowout win that was maybe more worrying than it was reassuring.
Knowing going into the game what was required of them, Sandy Brondello’s team came out half-asleep in a late tip-off against minnows Puerto Rico, and very nearly paid the price.
China had beaten Puerto Rico by 42 points. Belgium was 35 better points better than them. But Australia allowed their opposition to get hot early, and by the time the Opals woke up, they had a massive task on their hands.
Puerto Rico led after one quarter and were just one point behind at half-time in a bizarre start to a game that was far more consequential for Australia.
Whatever Brondello said at half-time did the trick, though, as the Opals held Puerto Rico to just eight third quarter points.
Still, Australia needed to win the final period by a margin of nine points. Behind a stifling defence, and an offence that finally clicked, they managed to outscore Puerto Rico by 11 in the final 10 minutes of the game.
Marianna Tolo was the standout for the Opals on her way to 26 points and 17 rebounds.
Jacquelin Magnay11.56pm:Kidnapped athlete takes refuge at Polish embassy
Kidnapped Belarus athlete Kyrstsina Tsumanouskaya has taken refuge at the Polish embassy in Tokyo.
The 24 year old was seen entering the embassy on Monday after spending overnight Sunday at a Haneda airport hotel under police guard.
Tsumanouskaya has received a humanitarian visa.
Her husband Arseniy Zdanevich has now left Belarus for Ukraine and told Sky News from Kiev: “I didn’t think it would get this serious. I made the decision to leave (our home in Minsk) without thinking twice.” He said: “my wife is calm and she has told me she is safe.” Zdenevich said the couple had always been politically neutral.
“We never had any connections or supported the opposition (movement in Belarus),” he said.
“We are normal sports people, devoted to sports and not interested in the opposition movement.”
Poland’s deputy foreign minister Marcin Przydacz tweeted: “Tsumanouskaya has received a humanitarian visa. Poland will do whatever is necessary to help her continue her sporting career.”
Adrian McMurray11.43pm:Opals scrape through to QFs with miracle win
Incredibly, the Opals are through to the quarter-finals with a 27-point win over Puerto Rico 96-69. Australia needed to win by 25 points or more to advance.
Scott Gullan11.28pm:Teens banned from 400m make 200m final
Two teenagers from Namibia who were banned from running in the 400m because of high testosterone levels have both made the Olympic 200m final.
Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi – both 18 – were told in July that they wouldn’t be allowed to run in their speciality one-lap event where they had four of the top five times for the year.
Under the rules which were introduced in 2018 for double Olympic 800m champion Caster Semenya, they are able to compete in the sprints but not in middle-distance races.
Mboma set a new world U/20 record in the 200m semi-final clocking 21.97sec behind defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah.
Masilingi raced against Australia’s Riley Day in the opening semi-final, finishing second (22.40sec) behind Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.
The Semenya scandal rocked the sport with World Athletics eventually ruling that “to ensure fair competition, women with high natural testosterone levels must take medication to reduce them to compete in middle-distance races”.
When they were informed of the decision last month, both girls had not been tested before and had no reason to think their hormone levels were not within the typical range.
Semenya has refused to take medication and attempted to make the South African Olympic team in the 5000m – she’s isn’t allowed to compete over 800m or 1500m – but failed.
Ellen Whinnett11.15pm:Hubbard misses out on medal
With Jacquelin Magnay
The most controversial athlete of the Tokyo Games, transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard, has crashed out of the super heavyweight women’s final.
New Zealander Hubbard, a competitive weightlifter as a man who transitioned at the age of 35 and is now competing in the women’s events, failed to make any of her three lifts in the snatch section.
The failure to record a score saw her out of the competition before the clean and jerk began.
She had started at a heavier weight – 120kg and 125kg – than most of the field but was unable to execute a clean lift.
Chinese sensation Li Wenwen, just 21 years of age, annihilated the competition, finishing with a combined score of 320.
Li lifted an Olympic record of 173 in her second lift in the clean and jerk then went back for a third lift, raising the record to 180kg.
Emily Campbell from Great Britain took silver with a combined score of 283, while Team USA’s Sarah Robles took bronze with 282.
The Australian weightlifter Charisma Amoe-Tarrant, 22, contesting her first Olympics, finished sixth with a combined score of 243.
Amoe-Tarrant, who has been battling a knee injury all year, said she was “happy, satisfied’’ with her performance.
“I could have done more without my injury. I did all I could,’’ she said.
Asked about Hubbard, she replied: “everyone has an opinion about it, I just stick to mine. I wish her the best.’’
Austrian competitor Sarah Fischer said she had wanted Hubbard to win a medal.
“It’s her life, I wanted her to win a medal and everyone would shut up about it.’’
Hubbard was given a round of applause by the small crowd of officials, teammates and journalists at the Tokyo International Forum after her third failed lift in the snatch.
She made a brief statement in the mixed zone after being bundled out of the competition, thanking the people of New Zealand for their “love and encouragement.’’
“From a sporting perspective I haven’t really hit the standards that I put on myself and perhaps the standards that my country has expected of me,’’ she said.
Hubbard also said the IOC had been “extraordinarily supportive.’’
“I think that they have reaffirmed their commitment to the principles that sport is something that all people around the world can do.’’
There had been widespread concern expressed that Hubbard was competing with an unfair advantage over other athletes because she had been through male puberty. Eight of the 10 competitors were aged in their 20s compared to Hubbard’s 43 years.
Her failure to figure in medals contention meant the IOC dodged a bullet by avoiding a situation where another competitor missed out on a medal to an athlete whose inclusion in the event is not universally accepted.
Joe Barton11.05pm:Refereeing blunder costs Matildas shot at gold
It was the biggest game in Matildas’ history – and it took one of the biggest blunders to crush their Olympic gold medal hopes.
Australia had every reason to be furious following their brutal 1-0 semi-final defeat to Sweden – which robbed them of a chance at playing Canada in Friday’s gold-medal match – after superstar Sam Kerr was controversially denied the game’s opening goal.
In the shadows of the halftime, Kerr looked to have scored her sixth goal of the tournament when she beat Sweden’s Hedvig Lindahl after latching on to a superb, curling Steph Catley freekick in the 43rd minute.
It was a magnificent volley from Australia’s inspirational leader – which should’ve given the Matildas a vital halftime lead, if not for a stunning ruling in the lead-up which scratched it from the history books.
Referee Melissa Borjas ruled midfielder Emily van Egmond was the guilty party for her role in the penalty box scrum from which Kerr burst.
But van Egmond’s actions seemed minimal at best and Australia had every right to wonder why play couldn’t have run on – which would’ve allowed VAR to analyse it with a fine-tooth comb.
In finals of this magnitude, matches can be decided by the barest of margins and one mistake. On this occasion, the mistake may have come from Borjas.
Adrian McMurray11.00pm:Matildas miss out
The Matildas have gone down 1-0 to Sweden in the second semi-final of the women’s football.
Ellie Carpenter was sent off moments from full time for bringing down Lina Hurtig as the forward was through on goal, meaning the Australian defender will miss the bronze medal match against the USA on Thursday.
Sweden will meet Canada in Friday’s gold medal match.
Andrew Rule10.50pm:Silver for Australia in equestrian
Australia has now medalled in Tokyo over nine consecutive days after a brilliant performance from elder statesmen Andrew Hoy in the final of the eventing jumping teams final.
Hoy’s flawless exhibition in the showjumping ring on his dashing chestnut Vassily De Lassos nailed down a silver medal for an Australian team that was superb in the cross country and showjumping, but had started behind scratch after being marked hard in the highly-technical dressage phase dominated by Great Britain and Germany.
The 62-year-old equestrian legend became Australia’s oldest Olympic medallist. He rode as well over jumps on a horse that’s probably as good as any he has ridden 40 years to help claim silver — but it wasn’t enough to claw back Great Britain’s gobsmacking lead in the final phase of the three-day-event.
Scott Gullan10.23pm:Solomon out, but Australia’s golden era just beginning
Steve Solomon knows he’s timed his own career resurrection perfectly given the golden era Australian athletics is about to embark on.
Despite missing a spot in the 400m final, the team’s co-captain is convinced something special is brewing for this group in the lead-up to the 2024 Paris Games.
Solomon, 28, has no plans to hang up his spikes after producing his first personal best for nine years in the heats, clocking 44.94sec.
While he was unable to back it up in the semi-final – he finished third in 45.15sec – the 2012 London Olympic finalist will leave Tokyo with a spring in his step.
“I’m still very happy leading into the competition with the prep I did and to be able to be back in personal best shape,” Solomon said.
“We are having a phenomenal championships as a team which is tremendously rewarding. It is the right momentum our team needs.
“It’s our largest team at an overseas Olympics, it’s a very young team. And when we set the expectation of performances at personal bests, season bests then we are going to have great results and that is the momentum built in the team at the moment.
“It really is the most exciting group coming through, it’s got a great feel to it. I think what we are now looking for is that medal or those medals to lead us through the way.
“Seeing is believing, the more times we can see it as a group the more belief we have in ourselves. I know that’s where we are rising the tide of the whole group.”
Grenada’s Olympic and world champion Kirani James was the fastest qualifier into the final, clocking 43.88sec.
Adrian McMurray10.08pm:Sweden go ahead
Sweden have hit the front via Fridolina Rolfo after 46 minutes. Matildas keeper Teagan Micah got a glove to a deflected shot, but it bounced up to Rolfo close to goal who got her leg high to slot home. How do the Matildas respond here? Will Gustavsson look to the bench?
Selina Steele10.05pm:HT: Matildas 0-Sweden 0
She was in, she was out – teammates had praised her courage for playing injured but Sam Kerr still took her place in the starting line up for the Matildas against Sweden tonight at Yokohama.
Easily the biggest game in the history of our women’s football team, the score was locked at nil-all at the halftime break.
The Matildas enjoyed plenty of possession and the combination of Kerr, Kyah Simon and Hayley Raso started to find their touch deep into the first half.
The Matildas had survived a thunderbolt strike from Fridolina Rolfo in the 23rd minute but the shot was denied by the paintwork of the crossbar.
The Matildas clearly were pumped at the enormity of the occasion and as the Australian anthem finished were all smiles and animation.
Earlier in the day, Canada knocked out the USA to book their passage into the gold medal match.
Erin Smith9.59pm:Sharks finish with big win
The Aussie Sharks have finished their Olympic campaign with a bang, defeating Kazakhstan 15-7 in Tokyo.
But Australia’s men’s water polo team, who pulled a tough draw including powerhouses Croatia, Serbia and Montenegro, were not able to record enough wins to progress through to the quarter-finals.
Sharks’ vice-captain Joel Dennerly led the team out to their final Olympic clash. Dennerly stepped up to fill in the captain role for the past two years while captain Aaron Younger was stuck in Europe due to Covid-19.
Australia dominated Monday night’s match, taking a 7-1 lead into the second half.
The Australian women’s water polo team will play Russia in the quarter-final at 8.50pm tomorrow.
Adrian McMurray9.50pm:Matildas robbed of opener
The Matildas have been controversially denied an opening goal just minutes out from half-time.
Sam Kerr slotted home from a free kick, but referee Melissa Borjas awarded Sweden a free kick before the goal was even scored for an infringement as the players jostled on the edge of the box. Emily van Egmond was pinged for a foul on Magdalena Eriksson … we’re not so sure about that one.
It remains nil-all at half-time.
Madeline Crittenden9.25pm:‘Bittersweet’: young gun surprises in 200m
With Callum Dick
Twenty-four hours after Rohan Browning announced himself to the world, fellow young gun Riley Day has done the same.
The Queenslander went agonisingly close to making the Olympic 200m final after she produced a stunning career best 22.56sec running from the outside lane.
Day, 21, missed the final by 0.26sec, finishing 12th overall in what she labelled “very bittersweet”.
She had finished fourth in the opening semi-final which gave her a chance to go through as one of two fastest losers but the following two semi-finals were quicker which ended her final dreams.
“A 0.2s PB is huge in sprints, it’s just unreal,” Day said.
“I knew it was going to be a tough ask to get in that final but 12 overall is not too shabby for a first Olympics at 21.
“I’m really happy overall but it is a bit of a punch in the guts.”
Day was already looking ahead to next year’s world championships in Portland and the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
“It opens a lot of doors I hope,” she said. “But I’m overall really happy with everything I’ve done these past few days. I did what I wanted to achieve.”
Jamaica’s 100m silver medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce won the semi-final in 22.13sec while the defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah backed up her 100m victory on Saturday night with a new personal best of 21.66sec in the second semi-final.
There had been drama earlier in the day during the first round when Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson, the 100m bronze medallist, jogged around in her heat and got eliminated.
Adrian McMurray8.55pm:Matildas ready for epic semi
Just minutes to go before the Matildas step out for their semi final against Sweden.
As reported earlier, Sam Kerr is indeed starting.
The winner of this match will take on Canada for the gold medal after they knocked off the US 1-0 in the other semi.
STARTING XI 🗒
— Matildas (@TheMatildas) August 2, 2021
Here's how we line up for #AUSvSWE#WeAreMatildas#GoAustralia#TokyoTogether
Callum Dick8.32pm:High jump pair get their shared gold
Winning gold is great, but sharing it with one of your good friends must be even better.
A day after Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Essa Barshim made history by choosing to share the Olympic high jump gold medal, the pair joined each other atop the podium for the presentation.
And they were clearly ecstatic to be there together for the honour, which included both the Italian and Qatari national anthems playing back-to-back.
It’s the most emotion on a podium this reporter has seen at the games so far – why did we wait 109 years to let it happen?
Madeline Crittenden8.21pm:Cate stays in Tokyo to lobby for powerful role
With Julian Linden
Cate Campbell has extended her departure from Tokyo to try and secure a spot on the International Olympic Committee’s athlete’s commission.
The vote is due to be decided on Wednesday at 4pm, with the star swimmer initially putting her hand up for one of four open positions in December 2019.
Thirty athletes from 30 countries are vying for the positions and athletes at the Games have been voting while in Tokyo.
AFP8.09pm:Canada beat US to make women’s football final
Jessie Fleming scored a second-half penalty as Canada upset four-time Olympic women’s football champions the United States 1-0 in Kashima on Monday to reach the final for the first time.
Fleming’s 74th-minute spot-kick earned Canada a first win over their neighbours since 2001 and set up a clash with Sweden or Australia for the gold medal.
Defeat ended the Americans’ 36-match unbeaten run against Canada. The world champions will face the losers of Monday’s second semi-final for the consolation of a bronze medal.
The US and Canada combined for seven goals the last time they met at the Olympics, a memorable 4-3 semi-final win for the US after extra time at Old Trafford in 2012.
US goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher, the hero of their quarter-final win over the Dutch on penalties, required lengthy treatment here to her right knee after landing awkwardly while trying to collect a cross.
Naeher, who saved a spot-kick in normal time and two more in the shootout against the 2019 World Cup runners-up, briefly battled on but was eventually replaced by Adrianna Franch in the first half.
It wasn’t until the introduction of Megan Rapinoe, Carli Lloyd and Christen Press on the hour that the US recorded a first shot on target, a curling strike from Lloyd tipped over by Stephanie Labbe.
Labbe stopped two as Canada edged Brazil on penalties in the previous round, and she produced another sharp save to keep out Julie Ertz’s header at a corner.
The US had advanced to every Olympic final aside from at Rio 2016, where they lost to Sweden on penalties in the last eight.
Yet they had won just once in four matches over 90 minutes in Japan, and fell behind when Canada were awarded a penalty following a VAR review.
Deanne Rose put Tierna Davidson under pressure and the Canadian went sprawling after a tangle of legs, with the referee pointing the spot after consulting the pitchside monitor.
Fleming tucked the resulting penalty beyond Franch, and there would be no comeback from the Americans – Lloyd’s header clipping the bar in the final minutes as their Olympics came to a tame end.
AFP
Ellen Whinnett8.01pm:Reporters given guidelines on how to cover trans athlete
With Jacquelin Magnay
Journalists covering transgender athlete Laurel Hubbard’s participation in the women’s +87 kilogram weightlifting competition have been given a 20-page set of guidelines on how they should report on transgender athletes.
The guidelines were distributed by the International Weightlifting Federation and prepared by three LGBT activist groups – GLAAD, Athlete Ally and Pride House Tokyo, and come amid controversy of Hubbard’s inclusion in the women’s event.
Hubbard, from New Zealand, competed as a man in junior weightlifting events, transitioned at the age of 35, and has won a place in the women’s super-heavyweight medal round at the Tokyo International Forum.
The guidelines distributed to journalists say that claims transgender athletes have an unfair advantage over others are “misinformation”.
“For perspective, since 2004, there have been over 54,000 Olympians and Paralympians and not a single athlete has been out as transgender, until New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard qualified this year,” the guidelines state.
It also lists the names of activist groups which it says have been campaigning against transgender inclusion and urges reporters to give “extra scrutiny” to these groups.
“There is no evidence that transgender athletes have unfair advantages or that they are – or ever will dominate – sports,” it states.
“It is critical that media recognise and report that transgender people have always existed throughout history and across cultures; that policies have been in place to include them in sports, including at the Olympics since 2004, and that despite misinformation about transgender athletes having an ‘unfair advantage’ this is the first time any have qualified for the Games in the nearly 20 years since inclusion.”
The guidelines give advice to the media including using a transgender person’s chosen name, using their current name and gender, using correct pronouns and avoiding focusing on medical issues.
It also lists terms to avoid, including “biological female/biological male. No one is born with a gender identity. Everyone is born a baby and their gender is assigned to them by doctors and family members based on physical sex characteristics that may not correspond to their gender identity as it develops over time.”
Jacquelin Magnay7.55pm:Rowers, rugby players reprimanded after trashing rooms
With Ellen Whinnett
Australian men’s rowing and rugby team members have been severely reprimanded for bad behaviour in the athletes village after a wild weekend in which rooms were trashed and cleaners called in to mop up vomit.
The drunken hijinks raged throughout Friday and Saturday nights, upsetting athletes who were still competing, including several from within the Australian contingent and rivals such as Team GB.
The Australian Olympic Committee confirmed “a few individuals did leave their rooms in a messy and unacceptable state”.
AFP7.45pm:Italy salutes its ‘Gods of Olympus’
Italy saluted its “Gods of Olympus” Monday after sprinter Lamont Marcell Jacobs won a shock victory in the Olympic 100 metres and high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi also took gold.
“No one faster, never so high,” read the headline of Il Messaggero daily Monday, under the beaming faces of Jacobs and Tamberi.
All of Italy’s newspapers celebrated the historic victories, with “La Stampa” citing “The Gods of Olympus.” With a European record of 9.80 seconds, the Texas-born Jacobs — a relative unknown who had never broken 10 seconds before this year — followed in the swift footsteps of retired Usain Bolt as champion of the blue riband event of the Olympic athletics programme on Sunday.
Tamberi clinched a rare shared gold with Qatari high jumper Mutaz Essa Barshim, after both recorded a best clearance of 2.37 metres.
After Jacobs’ win, the two Italians shared a joyous bear hug, an image played repeatedly on television Monday.
The dual victories cap a triumphant summer of sport for Italy, fresh from its European Championship football title last month.
The victory for the Azzurri over England was celebrated in Italy as a fresh start for a country pummelled by the coronavirus pandemic.
Italy coach Roberto Mancini applauded the Olympic winners Sunday, writing on Twitter that “History is you. All the medals of these Olympic Games are fantastic. Go Italy.
Hayden Johnson7.28pm:Aussies to ride for bronze after horror crash
Australia’s men have recovered from a horror crash to finish fifth in the men’s team pursuit qualifier at the track cycling in Tokyo.
In their second ride after Alex Porter’s crash the Australians posted a 3.48.44 – one second behind Great Britain.
The result eliminates Australia from a shot at gold, however it was a stunning ride for the squad after the crash half-an-hour earlier.
The men will ride for a bronze medal tomorrow.
Erin Smith7.17pm:Dream achieved but Australia’s oldest debutant falls short
It wasn’t the result he wanted but Shixin Li is holding his head high after his Olympic diving debut.
The 33-year-old is the oldest Aussie diver to make a debut at an Olympics.
Li performed six dives alongside 28 other competitors, in the 3m springboard event. Just the top 18 progressed to tomorrow’s semi-final.
Li finished with a score of 320.35 placing him in 27th place.
He started well, scoring 69.70 of his first dive.
An over rotation in his second dive did not impress the judges with Li recording just 47.6 points – it resulted in him dropping from 12th to 24th spot.
He wasn’t able to stick his third dive either scoring 40.25 and sinking to 27th spot.
Li pulled off a solid fourth dive with his back two-and-half somersaults recording 64.50 points.
Despite the low scores Li said his first Olympic experience had been “exciting”.
“It’s been a dream for a long, long time. Today’s were results were not very good but I can do better,” he said.
“Last year was very hard because of the virus and no more international competition.”
The accomplished diver said he planned to take a holiday with this family before preparing for the next competition.
Li was not the only one who struggled with Rio bronze medal winner Patrick Hausding (Germany) having to restart his third dive – leaving him with just 32.30 points after the two point penalty. He also finished outside the top 18.
The semi-final is on at 11am tomorrow, with the final to follow at 3pm.
Hayden Johnson7.08pm:Australia to get another shot at qualifying in team pursuit
Australia will have another shot at qualifying for the men’s team pursuit after a freak incident where the handlebars of Alex Porter’s bike appeared to snap – sending him face first into the track.
Australian officials have confirmed Porter is OK despite suffering scratches on his face and shoulder.
The four-man squad will have another shot at qualifying after the women’s sprint team sprint final this evening.
Australian Lucas Plapp is warming up as a precaution if Porter can’t ride.
Hayden Johnson6.57pm:Drama as Aussie’s handlebars snap
Australia’s Alex Porter has suffered a nasty crash in qualifying for the men’s team pursuit just a handful of laps into the session at Izu Velodrome.
Porter was riding fourth when his handlebars snapped.
He was able to walk away from the incident, however appears to have suffered significant abrasions.
Officials are working on whether Australia will be able to restart the qualifier.
AFP6.42pm:Biles set to return to competition
Simone Biles is set to return to competition at the Olympic Games for the closing women’s gymnastics beam final on Tuesday.
The US superstar’s name was included on the list of eight finalists for the beam released on Monday.
Biles, the four-time Olympic champion widely considered to have pushed the sport to new limits, has said she is struggling with the “twisties”, a condition where gymnasts lose the ability to orientate themselves in mid-air.
She dramatically pulled out of last week’s opening team competition after one vault, and subsequently withdrew from the all-around final and three of the four apparatus finals — the floor, vault and uneven bars.
The 24-year-old came to Tokyo seeking five gold medals to equal the Olympic all-time gymnastics record of nine.
She has documented her struggles with mental health during the Games in regular posts on her social media accounts.
AFP
Adrian McMurray6.25pm:Kerr to line up for Matildas
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson has confirmed Sam Kerr will play tonight.
There were doubts over the captain’s involvement against Sweden, but Gustavsson has told Seven she’ll be good to go tonight.
Swimming great Cate Campbell meanwhile hasn’t travelled back to Australia with the rest of the Dolphins, suggesting she’ll have some involvement in the closing ceremony.
Erin Smith5.53pm:Drama in 3m springboard
The men’s 3m springboard divers are pushing it to the limits today, but not everyone has been able to stick their impressive twists and tumbles in Tokyo.
Canada’s Cedric Fofana landed almost flat on his back after failing to pull off a reverse three-and-a-half somersaults with tuck.
Aussie diver Shixin Li also came unstuck with his second and third dives recording just 47 and 40 points due to overrotating.
Medal favourite and Rio bronze medal winner Patrick Hausding (Germany) had to restart his third dive – leaving him with just 32.30 points after the two point penalty.
Li is sitting in 24th spot with just two dives to go. Only the top 18 will progress to the semi-final.
5.13pm:How good is Australia’s swim team?
Take a bow @DolphinsAUS ðŸ‘ðŸ‘ðŸ‘#TokyoTogetherpic.twitter.com/QfJ8HUjREN
— AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam) August 2, 2021
Erin Smith4.20pm:Australia’s oldest Olympic debutant ready
Shixin Li, Australia’s oldest Olympic debutant will compete this afternoon – diving for a spot in tomorrow’s semi-final.
The 33-year-old, is a two-time world champion in the 1m springboard event, a discipline not offered at the Olympics.
Born in China, he is one of the most decorated divers on the FINA Circuit collecting more than 50 medals.
In 2014 he retired but a stint as a coach re-ignited his dream to compete at the Olympics.
He migrated to Australia with his wife and three children and in 2019 began representing Australia in international competitions – switching his speciality to the 3m springboard.
Li is one of 29 divers competing in today’s preliminary event.
He will be up against Rio silver medal winner Jack Laugher and Patrick Hausding who finished third.
Each diver will perform six dives with the top 18 progressing to the semi-final.
Madeline Crittenden4.05pm:Shooting hopefuls misfire
Aussies Dane Sampson and Jack Rossiter failed to qualify for the finals in the three-position 50m rifle event at Asaka Shooting Range on Monday.
Australia’s last hopes of a shooting medal rested on their shoulders, however Sampson finished in 27th position and Rossiter in 29th.
It was 24-year-old Rossiter’s second Olympic campaign, while Sampson competed in London 2012 and at Rio in 2016.
In Rio he finished the 50m Rifle 3 Position in 20th position, an improvement on 37th position in 2012.
This Olympics marks the first time Australia hasn’t won a shooting medal since London 2012.
Laetisha Scanlan came agonisingly close to winning a medal for Australia in the women’s trap final last week, finishing in fourth spot.
Tom Crystal3.30pm:Hockeyroos skipper breaks down after defeat
Australia’s Edwina Bone couldn’t hide her disappointment during a TV interview with Channel 7 after her team’s 1-0 loss to India.
Despite dominating for most of the quarter-final, a 22nd minute goal to Gurjit Kaur was enough to send the Australians out of the tournament.
“It’s really hard for these girls, we’ve worked really hard over the past 18 months, and probably three months into the lead-in to the Games,” Bone said.
“We started the tournament really well, we were putting together really good performances. But it just proves, you can finish on the top of your pool, and it all comes down to one match.”
Bone thought her team had done enough to win the match.
“I was really happy with how the girls played up front,” she said. “I thought we built the play really well, we created loads of opportunities, we could have put several in the back of the net. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t our day today.”
When asked to comment about her team-mates, Bone fought back tears.
“I’m really proud of them. It’s just a shame to end it this way,” she said. “We’ve worked really hard, come together as a really united group … it’s just a shame that it’s over.”
Amanda Lulham 3pm:Green machine fires into canoe semis
Australian surf life saver Tom Green has lived up to pre-race expectations by finishing second in his heat to advance directly into Tuesday’s semi-finals of the men’s K1 1000m on the first day of canoe sprint competition in Tokyo.
He will be joined there by his K2 teammate Jean Van der Westhuyzen, who made his way into tomorrow’s racing by winning his repechage.
Green is mentored by paddling great and fellow surf lifesaver Ken Wallace, who is in Tokyo as an assistant Chef de Mission and who won gold and bronze at the Beijing Olympics.
The 22-year-old from the Gold Coast made an impressive start to his Games campaign with his second behind Rio silver medallist Czech Republic paddler Josef Dostal.
Green, who is considered a rising star of the sport, exploded from the blocks and looked unaffected by the effort in soaring temperatures to advance into the semi-finals.
Van der Westhuyzen was forced into his repechage after finishing third in his opening race.
Christy Doran 2.35pm: Hockeyroos out in huge upset
Just like that, the Hockeyroos are out of the Olympics. Only tears remain in Tokyo.
At full-time, India cheered and squealed after pulling off an incredible upset while Australia painfully fell to the ground.
Coach Katrina Powell had warned on Saturday that their unbeaten start, in which they conceded just one goal and netted 13 themselves, meant nothing.
By Monday, they felt that painful lesson for the second straight Olympics campaign.
India, having scraped into the quarter-finals after winning just two of their five pool matches, are through to the semi-finals after upsetting Australia 1-0 at Oi Hockey Stadium.
A second-quarter goal to Gurjit Kaur from a penalty corner was the difference.
For a group that had gone through the ringer in recent years and come together at the eleventh hour by Powell, Monday’s defeat stings.
Hitherto, the Hockeyroos had been riding a wave of momentum.
Down and almost out, Powell said pre-tournament that she hoped the tribulation of the past 12 months, where an independent review made 29 recommendations to Hockey Australia earlier in the year and labelled the Hockeyroos’ culture as “dysfunctional”, would see the group fly under the radar.
With the benefit of a favourable draw, the Hockeyroos were at last singing from the same song-sheet under their two-time gold medallist.
But finals matches are a different animal and just like that, their dreams of taking home gold are over.
The Hockeyroos started sprightly, with Rosie Malone striking the near post from a threatening ball from the corner by young gun Amy Lawton.
From there, though, the Indians grew in confidence.
They did not so much as dominate, but they looked the more threatening side in front of goals.
They too struck the back post and had the Hockeyroos jittery.
In the end, those nerves got the better of them as they failed to deal with a penalty corner.
While the Hockeyroos had scored a convincing 6-0 win over China in their second match, their lack of firepower in front of goals was summed up by Powell following their 1-0 win over New Zealand late last week, when she described their lack of finishing as “the Australian way”.
Only Emily Chalker, the veteran striker who scored five goals in the pools, looked a genuine threat throughout the tournament.
Yet she too often found herself away from the goals and forced wide as the Hockeyroos struggled on the counter.
After failing to put a shot on goals from a number of penalty corners as they tried to be too cute with their variations, eventually Maddy Fitzpatrick fired three shots on goal late in the fourth corner, but each were well saved.
The Kookaburras play Germany in their semi-final on Tuesday night.
Madeline Crittenden 2.10pm:Aussie shooter off target
Australian shooter Sergei Evglevski has failed to qualify for the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol finals after admitting nerves got to him in the first qualification stage.
On Sunday he finished in 19th spot on 285 points. He competed in the second stage on Monday, earning him 287, taking him to a total of 572 points.
The score was enough to boost him to 17th position, but not enough to qualify for the finals – with the top six athletes going through.
The sport runs in Evglevski’s family, with his mother Lalita Yauhleuskaya a six-time Olympian, and his father Sergei Evglevski Snr twice acting as the Australian Olympic team gunsmith.
Tom Crystal 1.45pm:Hockeyroos in unfamiliar territory
The gold-medal favourites are trailing for the first time in this tournament, with India on top 1-0 at half-time in their quarter-final.
The Australians conceded just one goal heading into this match on the way to five-straight wins, but Gurjit Kaur broached their defence in the second term to give India a shock lead.
The Hockeyroos have had plenty of possession in attacking areas but haven’t managed to convert that into a goal.
Australia won the only previous meeting between these teams at Olympic level, in Rio in 2016, by a score of 6-1.
India reached the quarter-finals with a 3-2 win-loss record.
Agencies 1.35pm:Last leap seals thrilling win
Greece’s Miltiadis Tentoglou left it late to win men’s Olympic long jump gold in a thrilling competition on Monday, AFP reports.
The European champion leapt a best of 8.41 metres on his sixth and final attempt to snatch victory from Cuban Juan Miguel Echevarria, who also jumped 8.41m but had an inferior second-best jump.
Another Cuban, Maykel Masso, claimed bronze with 8.21m.
In hot, humid conditions at the Olympic Stadium, the 23-year-old Tentoglou was left punching the air after his sixth jump.
All eyes then turned on world bronze medallist Echevarria, but the Cuban pulled up on his final effort, going down on bended knees and hitting the runway in frustration.
Echevarria’s best second jump was 8.09m, 6cm short of the 8.15 his Greek rival managed on his fifth effort.
World champion Tajay Gayle could only manage 7.69m to finish 11th in the 12-strong field, having picked up a knee injury in qualifying.
JuVaughn Harrison, who doubled up in Tokyo, finishing seventh in Sunday’s high jump final, finished fifth in the long jump with a leap of 8.15.
— Agencies
Agencies 12.55pm:Puerto Rico claims historic gold
Jasmine Camacho-Quinn swept to victory in the Olympic 100m hurdles on Monday, claiming a first ever track and field gold for Puerto Rico, AFP reports.
The 24-year-old — who had set an Olympic record 12.26sec in the semi-finals — surged home to claim her first major title in 12.37sec.
World record-holder Keni Harrison of the US took silver in 12.52sec, while Jamaica’s Megan Tapper claimed bronze in 12.55sec.
Camacho-Quinn had got off to a smooth start, edging clear after 30 metres and never relinquishing the lead.
She clipped the penultimate barrier in an otherwise flawless display but it was not enough to stop her romping home for gold.
The defeat means Harrison’s long wait for a major outdoor championship title will go on.
The American failed to qualify for the 2016 Olympics after suffering a shock loss in the trials, and then finished fourth at the world championships in London a year later.
In Doha in 2019, she settled for a silver medal at the world championships behind surprise winner Nia Ali.
Ali skipped the Olympics this year after having a third child with her partner, the Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse.
The field was further depleted by the absence of reigning Olympic champion Brianna McNeal.
McNeal was ruled out of the Olympics after being handed a five-year ban for “tampering within the results management process” after a missed drugs test in January 2020.
— Agencies
Tom Crystal 12.15pm:Shock exit in 200m heats
The first round of the women’s 200m has not been without drama, after one of the event favourites, 100m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson, cost herself a place in the semi-finals.
The Jamaican produced a casual effort and coasted home, almost pulling up to a stop at the finish, seemingly in an effort to save some energy for the next round.
Her problem was that she’d miscalculated who was around her, and Italian Daila Kaddari kicked up from the outside lane to grab third.
Jackson and Kaddari were both awarded the time of 22.76sec but when it was expanded out the judges found 4/1000s in favour of the Italian.
The heat was much slower than several others which ruled Jackson, who switched from the 400m to sprints this season, out of sneaking in as one of the fastest qualifiers.
Australia’s Riley Day qualified for tonight’s semi-finals by finishing third in the final heat in 22.94sec behind American Jenna Prandini (22.56sec).
Channel 7 commentators Bruce McAvaney and Tamsyn Manou lashed Jackon’s effort describing it as “unprofessional” and “cocky”.
“Oh, I mean, she’s not even trying,” Manou said. “Look at her at the back of the field. It’s good to have confidence in sport but that’s just being a little bit too cocky, you can’t run like that.”
MacAvaney added: “Four one thousandths of a second would have got her through. I can’t believe the unprofessional way she went about that race.
“She’s showed a lack of effort, lack of purpose.”
Defending champion Elaine Thompson-Herah backed up from her 100m victory on Saturday night, finishing third in her heat (22.86sec).
Fellow Jamaican and 100m silver medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce impressed with an easy 22.23sec heat victory.
— Additional reporting Scott Gullan
Scott Gullan 11.50am:Race comeback a stunner
Miracle woman Sifan Hassan continues to defy belief in Tokyo.
First there is the fact the Dutch star is chasing a historic treble racing in the 1500m, 5000m and 10000m, which will require six races in nine days.
To do that you need everything to go according to plan which is exactly the opposite to what happened in the opening 1500m heat.
Just after the bell, Hassan, 28, found herself sprawled on the track after Kenyan Edinah Jebitok fell over in front of her.
For most that would mean the end of their race but Hassan quickly dusted herself off and began chasing the lead pack who were 30 metres ahead.
In a remarkable effort the reigning world champion made up the ground by the top of the straight and then cruised past her rivals to win the heat in 4min05.17sec.
Australia’s Jessica Hull was super impressive, finishing a step behind Hassan in second place (4:05.28sec).
She was joined in the semi-finals by her teammate Linden Hall, who qualified after finishing third in the next heat, clocking 4:02.27sec.
Brianna Travers 11.45am:Bol boosters revel in star showing
Australian 800m athlete Peter Bol has shared heartwarming footage of his extended family back home celebrating his gutsy performance in last night’s semi-final.
The footage of Peter Bol’s friends and family watching his race tonight at his mum’s house is so pure and is absolutely incredible!
— Lachlan McKirdy (@LMcKirdy7) August 1, 2021
🎥 Peter Bol/IG#Tokyo2020#Athleticspic.twitter.com/XtNcSmNZ3U
The footage captures his jubilant family and friends celebrating at his mum’s house throughout his incredible winning race.
By qualifying for the men’s 800m Olympic final, Bol has become the first Australian to do so since Ralph Doubell, who won gold at the 1968 games.
Bol, 27, fled Sudan’s civil war when he was a child and lived in an Egyptian refugee camp for several years before immigrating to Australia.
Brianna Travers 11.30am:Aussie athlete slams false-start shambles
Australian hurdler Liz Clay has taken to social media to express her frustration over multiple false starts in her semi-final.
Clay was devastated on Sunday night after she narrowly missed securing a spot in the 100m hurdles final despite running a personal best time of 12.71.
She was just 0.04 seconds off a berth in the final.
Good morning to everyone except the 3 false starts from last night 😤
— Liz Clay (@lizclay_) August 1, 2021
In the tweet on Monday Clay said: “Good morning to everyone except the three false starts last night.”
Technology that measures pressure on the blocks is used to determine when there’s a false start, but no runner in Clay’s race was found to have broken early.
Expert commentator Bruce McAvaney said the three false starts were “messy”.
“Whatever is happening it has to be sorted out,” he said. “This is messy.”
Later in the night Great Britain’s Zharnel Hughes was disqualified from the men’s 100m final after a false start.
Tom Crystal 11.15am:Aussie duo through to 1500m semis
Australia’s Linden Hall has finished third in her heat of the women’s 1500m in a time of 4min02.27sec, behind winner Faith Kipyegon, from Kenya, in 4:01.4 and Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo (4:02.24).
The results of the three heats puts Hall and compatriot Jessica Hull into the semi-finals on Wednesday night.
Tom Crystal 10.55am:Drama as favourite takes a fall
A stunner in the second heat of the women’s 1500m as dual world champion Sifan Hassan, who’s also competing here in the 5000m and 10,000m, goes down at the halfway mark of her final lap.
Hassan gets caught up in a tangle at the back of the field and trips over Kenyan runner Edinah Jebitok.
Incredibly, Hassan springs to her feet and sets off after the rest of the field. Not only does she catch up, the 28-year-old wins the heat in a time of 4min05.17sec, ahead of Australia’s Jessica Hull (4.05.28) in second place.
Tom Crystal 10.45am:Georgia hot and bothered
It’s a 14th placing for Georgia Griffith in the first heat of the 1500m, at the tail of the field in a tough Olympic Games initiation.
Canada’s Gabriela Debues-Stafford wins the heat in a time of 4min03.7sec, while the Australian clocks 4:14.43, which is a tick over 10 seconds outside her personal best.
It’s not even 10am in Tokyo but the temperature is already over 30C, and humid inside the main stadium, and today’s events will provide a real test of mettle for many of these athletes.
Tom Crystal 10.35am:Off and running on the track
Georgia Griffith is in the field for the women’s 1500m round-one heats in the main stadium in Tokyo, the first of three Australians in this event.
The 24-year-old, competing in her first Olympics, has been battling a nagging calf injury in the lead-up to this event.
Griffith finished 5th in the 1500m at the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast.
There are three heats of this event, from which the first six in each race advance, in addition to the next six fastest qualifiers, to the semi-finals on Wednesday.
Agencies 10.30am:Dutch runner faces hot competition
Ethiopia-born Dutch runner Sifan Hassan faces a daunting day on the athletics track in her ambitious pursuit of an Olympic treble, AFP reports.
On day four of the athletics in the sweltering Japanese capital, the 28-year-old Hassan will run in heats in the 1500m in the morning, before again taking to the track in the evening session for the final of the 5000m.
The two-time world champion will also go in the 10,000m later in the Games, which are now into their final week and hotting up in every sense — temperatures in Tokyo over the coming week are forecast to range from maximums of 30 to 34C.
— Agencies
Brianna Travers 10.15am:Cheat storm: Aussies accused after beating US
Angry American swimming fans have blasted Australia’s golden relay team, accusing them of cheating.
Australia narrowly defeated the US in the women’s 4x100m relay in a nail biting race for the ages but have been accused of breaking in the last changeover between Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell. Read more here
Agencies 9.55am:US star delivers first podium protest
US shot putter Raven Saunders has risked disciplinary action after making the first podium protest of the Olympic Games, AFP reports.
The 25-year-old African-American athlete crossed her arms in an “X” gesture during Sunday’s medal ceremony at the Olympic Stadium after claiming silver in her event earlier in the day.
US media outlets reported that Saunders, who is black and an outspoken supporter of LGBT rights, said her gesture was made in solidarity with “oppressed people”.
After clinching her silver medal on Sunday, Saunders said she wanted to represent “people all around the world who are fighting and don’t have the platform to speak up for themselves.” Saunders’ protest is the first test of International Olympic Committee rules which ban protests of any kind on the medal podium at the Olympics.
The IOC tweaked its rules regarding athlete protests ahead of the games, saying that peaceful protests before competition would be allowed.
However the Olympics governing body has maintained a strict rule against protesting on the medal podium.
It is unclear what sanction if any Saunders may face.
Updated IOC guidelines released last month say that disciplinary consequences for protests will be “proportionate to the level of disruption and the degree to which the infraction is not compatible with Olympic values.”
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee said before the games it will not sanction its athletes for protesting.
The USOPC softened its approach to athletes protesting on the podium after a review of rules following nationwide protests in the United States last year in the wake of the killing of George Floyd.
Experts say the IOC is unlikely to take a heavy-handed approach against athletes for protesting in Tokyo, mindful of the possible public relations backlash that would likely follow any sanction.
— Agencies
Jacquelin Magnay9.35am:‘Kidnapped’ athlete now ‘safe’
Belarus runner Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is feeling “safe’’ as Japanese authorities and diplomats from Europe negotiate her asylum after a dramatic late night appeal to Haneda airport security.
The 24-year-old sprinter told officials that she had been kidnapped and was being sent back to Minsk against her will after she had complained about team selections for a 4x400m relay.
The Turkish airlines flight departed without her and Tsimanouskaya has been taken to “a safe place’’ as authorities determine the next steps in the coming days. It has been suggested that Tsimanouskaya may seek asylum in Austria.
The International Olympic Committee stepped in during the early hours of Monday demanding an explanation from the Belarus Olympic committee.
In a statement the IOC said: “The IOC and Tokyo 2020 have spoken to Krystsina Tsimanouskaya directly tonight. She is with the authorities at Haneda airport and is currently accompanied by a staff member of Tokyo 2020. She has told us that she feels safe.’’
Tadeusz Giczan, the editor of the dissident Belarus media channel Nexta, said journalists supporting the Alexander Lushashenko regime had called Tsimanouskaya a bitch, prostitute, lousy and rotten, a white n**ger, and that they advocated she be raped.
He also released a 20-minute audio recording of a Belarus head coach threatening Tsimanouskaya that if she didn’t immediately return to Belarus, she would most likely ‘commit suicide’.
British MP and chairman of the foreign affairs committee Tom Tugendhat said: “This is the reality of tyranny. It reaches beyond borders and undermines freedoms around the world. Already Belarus has brought down an airliner, silenced journalists at home and violated elections.”
Scott Gullan8.45am:Split-second move that ended Aussie’s campaign
Rohan Browning knows he has learnt a crucial lesson about mixing it with the big boys on sport’s toughest stage.
What he also knows is he’s alerted the world about a serious player from Australia in the 100m ranks after finishing fifth in his first Olympic semi-final. Read more here
Scott Gullan8.25am:Track star plots Bol-over
Staring at a unique piece of Australian Olympic history, Peter Bol has charged into the 800m final on Wednesday night after lowering the Australian record in consecutive races. Read more here
Agencies8am:Transgender athlete goes for gold
Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard takes centre stage at the Tokyo Games on Monday, AFP reports.
New Zealander Hubbard, who was born male and competed as a man before transitioning to become a woman, will make her Olympic debut.
The IOC says she is the first openly transgender woman to compete at a Games, hailing it as a landmark moment for the Olympic movement.
“Laurel Hubbard is a woman, is competing under the rules of her federation and we have to pay tribute to her courage and tenacity in competing and qualifying for the Games,” IOC medical chief Richard Budgett told reporters in Tokyo.
Supporters say her appearance is a victory for inclusion and trans rights. Critics argue she has an unfair advantage over female rivals due to physical attributes locked into her body during her decades as a male.
— Agencies
Emily Bennamar7.10am:The leg cast the world is talking about
The Olympic spirit was on full display on Sunday night as two athletes agreed to share the gold medal in the men’s high jump. So why was one of them kissing an old leg cast?
There were tears of joy as Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi decided to share the Olympic gold medal, both athletes jubilantly celebrating in beautiful scenes.
As the reality of what he had just achieved set in, Tamberi collapsed to the ground in tears. Just a few metres away there was an old leg cast, he had kept it from an injury which ended his Rio 2016 campaign.
The casing read “Road to Tokyo 2020” before 2020 was crossed off for 2021.
“I was told in 2016 just before Rio there was a risk I wouldn’t be able to compete anymore,” Tamberi said.
“It’s been a long journey. After my injuries I just wanted to come back, but now I have this gold, it’s incredible. I dreamed of this so many times.”
Australia’s Brandon Starc finished fifth with a season-best clearance of 2.35m.
Joe Barton6.30am:Doubts swirl over Kerr ahead of Matildas’ semi-final
Australia’s women’s football team will tonight square off against Sweden in the biggest game in the Matildas’ history — but they do it with huge question marks over the match fitness of their captain and talisman, Sam Kerr.
Australia’s equal greatest-ever goalscorer has had an enormous tournament, but played through pain to finish the Great Britain match. There are some suggestions she might be deployed off the bench after a mighty workload in the past week-and-a-half.
“We have a couple of question marks (over player fitness),” Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson conceded.
“(But) it’s not just about the starting line-up, it’s about the finishing line-up as well. We won the (Great Britain) game with the game-changers coming in and winning the game for us. Who knows, it might be the same this time.”
Any Kerr absence would be disastrous for Australia, given her world-class qualities, while on the other side of the fence is Sweden’s “phenomenal” Stina Blackstenius, who is also in rare form and tore the USA to shreds in the group stage.
Beaten 4-2 by Sweden a week ago, Australia reached the final four in Tokyo with the most extraordinary 4-3 win over Great Britain on Saturday – but this one is going to be a different level once again.
“It’s absolutely massive. There’s never been a bigger game for the Matildas,” respected football voice and former Socceroo Robbie Slater told News Corp.
Yesterday, Gustavsson was adamant his side had dominated the earlier Sweden fixture and was capable of toppling the European giants.
“So far they’ve been the best team of the tournament,” Gustavsson said on Sunday.
“A lot of their attacking players are in the form of their lives… they score a lot of goals.”
While the winner on Monday will play for gold against the winner of the USA or Canada semi-final, the loser will still have a shot in the bronze medal clash on Thursday.
📢 Hear from Tony Gustavsson and Kyah Simon before #AUSvSWE kicks off tomorrow night!
— Matildas (@TheMatildas) August 1, 2021
â°: 9pm AEST
📺💻📱: Seven Network and the 7plus app (check your local listings)#GoAustralia#TokyoTogether#WeAreMatildas
Read more on the Matildas from Joe Barton and Selina Steelehere.
Ellen Whinnett6.15am:Police called as drinking session gets out of hand
Australian athletes have been mingling with others in the athletes village but were not at the wild, all-night party in the village which ended when police were called, the Australian Olympic Committee has clarified.
There was confusion about several gatherings in the village which occurred on Friday and Saturday nights.
On Friday an all-night party in the village park ended when police were called amid reports of injuries.
On Saturday, another late night took place, and while Australian athletes did spend some time mingling with other athletes, in a Covid protocol breach, there were no serious incidents and no disciplinary action will be taken.
The AOC was initially unsure of the timing of the incident involving the Australians, and the IOC also first identified the party as happening on Saturday, before clarifying it was on Friday night.
Games officials have confirmed a group of athletes and delegates had been busted with booze in an outdoor drinking session at the village park on Friday night.
Read the full story here.
Jacquelin Magnay6am:Athlete claims Belarusian officials kidnapped her
A Belarusian Olympic sprinter was seeking asylum at a Tokyo airport on Sunday night, claiming that Belarusian officials had kidnapped her and were trying to force her back to Belarus against her will.
Track athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya had been due to compete in the women’s 200m on Monday, but on Sunday was whisked to the airport after complaining about team selections on her Instagram account.
She told a Reuters journalist “the head coach came over to me and said there had been an order from above to remove me”.
At the airport she approached Japanese police and pleaded for help.
Tsimanouskaya’s complaints centred around her being selected for the 4x400m relay because other female athletes had been ineligible because they hadn’t undergone sufficient numbers of doping tests.
However in an exclusive interview with Newscorp Australia, a teammate of Tsimanouskaya, the Belarus bronze medal winning high jumper Maksim Nedasekau, said he didn’t support Tsimanouskaya because she was a ‘’troublemaker’’ and was always “explosive’’.
Read the full story here.
‘They will come’: Qld urged to bid on major events ahead of 2032
Sports presenting to the Queensland Government’s infrastructure review are calling for a formal body to bid for major events that can provide sustainable revenue generation for 2032 venues.
The rival Aussie gunning to take down Gout Gout
Teen sensation Gout Gout already has people gunning for his title as the hottest prospect in Australian sport — with a race on to become our next sub-10 second 100m runner.