Tokyo 2020 Olympics swimming athletics plus GB win gold in triathlon relay and more live
Gold - Kaylee McKeown (AUS)
Silver - Kylie Masse (CAN)
Bronze - Emily Seebohm (AUS)
Swimming: Masse (CAN) leads from McKeown (AUS) and Bacon (USA) at halfway. The Canadian looks in superb form.
Swimming: Quickly into the final of the women’s 200m backstroke. A pair of Aussies, a pair of Americans, a pair of Canadians, and a pair of Chinese swimmers. 100m gold medalist Kaylee McKeown and fastest qualifier Emily Seebohm carry Australian hopes.
Swimming: That was a demonstration from Caeleb Dressel, who joins Mark Spitz as the only men to do the 100 free/100 fly double at the same Games. That’s his fifth career gold, and he sets a new world record at 49.45 too. Milak came strong at the end, and also finished inside 50 seconds, but he couldn’t do enough. Bronze for Switzerland some way back. Australia’s Temple came a creditable fifth.
Gold - Caeleb Dressel -
Silver - Kristof Milak (HUN)
Bronze - Noe Ponti (SUI)
Swimming - Ok, into the pool we go. Today should be Caeleb Dressel’s day. He’s in the 100m fly any second now, then he has the 50m free heats, followed by the 4x100m mixed medley. Hungary’s Kristof Milak will be no pushover in this first final of the day. Keep an eye out for Australia’s Matthew Temple too.
Rugby Sevens: Australia’s women’s team are through to the fifth-placed match.
AUS Olympic Team (@AUSOlympicTeam)Full time and your #Aussie7s have had a big win over Russia! #TokyoTogether #Aussie7s #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/4dTUvCkkzk
July 31, 2021This session should bring an expected outcome - Katie Ledecky winning the 800m freestyle for the third Olympics in a row - but there are one or two quirks to watch out for.
Even a swimmer as gifted as Caeleb Dressel might be feeling a little weary by the end of this session in the Tokyo Aquatics Centre. The American star is going for gold in the men’s 100m butterfly final at 10.30 local time - then races in the 50m freestyle semifinals 46 minutes later. Then goes for gold in the mixed 4x100m medley relay less than a half-hour after that. No wonder he’s taking the anchor leg (all the other finalists have picked women to go last) - he could use all the recovery time he can get.
Men’s Pole Vault - Duplantis has registered a height in his second vault. He went miles over the bar at 5.50m. Australia’s Kurtis Marschall also nailed 5.50m with ease. Automatic qualifying is 5.80m.
Badminton - If you wondered why we dropped in a pic of Guatemalan badminton contender Kevin Cordon, here’s why. He’s 34, world ranked 59, at his fourth Games, named after former England striker (and manager) Kevin Keegan, and he’s through to the men’s singles semi-finals. In their entire history, Guatemala have only ever won one Olympic medal, silver in the 20km walk in 2012.
Men’s 800m- Australia’s Peter Bol broke the national record to reach the semi-finals. Compatriot Charlie Hunter is not an automatic qualifier, but could sneak in among the fastest losers.
Pole Vault - Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, one of the faces of track and field, has just failed with his first vault of the Games. The world record holder failed at 5.50m, and he was closely followed with a surprise failure by the man he took the world record from, France’s Renaud Lavillenie. If you’re unfamiliar with Duplantis, check him out, he could be The New Bolt™.
Thanks Tom. Hello everyone. Deep breath.
There’s not just a lot going on right now, there’s too much. If some of it could just chill out for a while, I’d be grateful.
Attention here will be trained on the pool for the next couple of hours. It’s the penultimate day in the Tokyo Aquatics Centre and there are four golds up for grabs:
In amongst all that we have the semi-finals for the men’s and women’s 50m freestyle.
Away from the pool there’s track and field heats to keep an eye on, plenty of team sports, and the exhilarating BMX freestyle. As always, if you think something deserves more attention than it is receiving, shoot me an email or tweet.
All set? No, me neither, oh well - in we go…
And that’s it for me. Jonathan Howcroft will be here shortly to take you through a big day in the pool (and elsewhere).
USA’s Kelly Claes and Sarah Sponcil secure the No 4 seed going into the beach volleyball knockout rounds with a win over Brazil’s Rebecca Cavalcanti and Ana PatrÃcia Ramos.
One highlight from today’s action-packed program at the pool is the mixed medley relay - the first time the men and women have swum together in a relay at the Olympics. Australia are having a bumper relay meet, winning four medals from four relays, and are hoping to continue that streak. I dived into Australia’s ‘relay project’ for a weekend long-read.
The third round of the men’s golf is underway. Xander Schauffele of the US leads on -11, followed by Carlos Ortiz of Mexico on -10 and home hope Hideki Matsuyama on -9. Rory, McIroy, competing for Ireland is on -7 as is GB’s best-placed player, Paul Casey. Australia’s Cameron Smith is on four-under.
The fifth and final heat of round one of the women’s 400m hurdles. As expected the superb Dalilah Muhammad eases home in first. “I’m feeling good. I’ve been training in Fort Worth, so I’m familiar with the humidity,†she says after the race.
Germany’s Carolina Krafzik, Switzerland’s Lea Sprunger and Joanna Linkiewicz of Poland also make it into the semi-finals.
USA’s Dalilah Muhammad, the Olympic champion, runs in heat five of the women’s 400m hurdles. She has a very good chance of gold in this one, despite world record holder Sydney McLaughlin’s presence.
Heat four is won by Netherlands’ Femke Bol. GB’s Jessica Turner, Barbados’ Tia-Adana Belle and South Africa’s Wenda Nel also qualify. Australia’s Sarah Carli gets a season’s best but is out of the qualification spots. Sadly for fans of brilliant names Trinidad’s Sparkle McKnight did not start the race.
GB’s Jessie Knight, the British No 1, falls before the first hurdle, strikes it and is out of the race - and Olympics. USA’s Sydney McLaughlin jogs home in first, five seconds off her world record. No need to tire herself out early on... Panama’s Gianna Woodruff, Sara Slott Petersen of Denmark and Leah Nugent of Jamaica also qualify. Oh, Nugent has been DQ’s and Vietnam’s Thi Lan Quach goes through in her place.
Another Ukrainian in the hear three of the women’s 400m hurdles! Is it the national sport? Sydney McLaughlin the world record holder should win this. GB’s Jessie Knight is in lane one.
Viktoriya Tkachuk of Ukraine and Anna Ryzhykova also of Ukraine - don’t enter a 400m hurdles race in Kiev - won heats one and two. USA’s Anna Cockrell and Canada’s Sage Watson also made the next round. GB’s Meghan Beesley came seventh in her heat and did not progress
It’s the women’s 400m hurdles heats now. Sydney McLaughlin, the world record holder, is only 21. By her age I had not broken any world records but I did get my school swimming certificate. But I think maybe they just gave those to the kids who didn’t win anything else because I wasn’t particularly outstanding at swimming. And, come to think of it, I got the swimming certificate when I was seven, so the next 14 years were pretty barren on the prizes front. Anyway, you can read more about Sydney here:
Dan Christmas writes in on that triathlon relay: “So it was all bluster from France’s Luis. It was some bluster though - I was sold,†he writes. Me too - he was gunning it on the bike and looked like he had Yee’s measure but the 23-year-old looked smooth on the run and Luis didn’t have the legs. Which I believe are important when you’re running.
BMX freestyle makes its Olympic debut this weekend. Riders have 60 second runs to pull all the tricks and flips they can think of in a skate park arena. It is truly remarkable. Before the Games I interviewed Australia’s gold medal favourite in the men’s event, Logan Martin, and he described it as ‘gymnastics on a bike’. For those watching from home, the BMX freestyle is highly-recommended. The seeding rides are today, followed by the medal rides tomorrow.
That relay win for GB now means Jonny Brownlee has his first Olympic gold in what is almost certain to be his final Games. He won bronze in 2012, silver in 2016 and gold this time. If he decides to come out of retirement in 2024, he’ll get ... platinum?
Yee comes home in gold 14 seconds ahead of Pearson of USA in silver. Luis is 23 seconds back in bronze for France.
France were the favourites coming into the race but Luis had a big lead to make up and hurt himself on the bike and faded on the run. GB converted their two silver individual medals into gold in the relay. And a great effort by Pearson of the US to win his country silver.
Yee looks shattered (physically) at the finish line. A gold and silver in these games for him though - not too bad! Australia, the No1 ranked team coming into the race, come home in ninth.
Triathlon relay final leg: USA’s Pearson has put time between him and France’s Luis in bronze. GB’s Yee is still out front in first.
Triathlon relay final leg: GB’s Yee lopes ahead of France’s Luis in second. The Briton has a 11 second advantage over Pearson (USA) and Luis (France) with 1km to go.
Triathlon relay final leg: And we’re on to the run for gold. GB’s Yee and France’s Luis are neck and neck but USA’s Pearson is still in this a few seconds back. It’s going to be a very entertaining 2km â€" they’re all strong runners (for triathletes. For normal people they are EXCELLENT runners).
Triathlon relay final leg: GB’s Yee is a good runner so will fancy his chances if it’s even when they get to the run. But Yee may have tired himself finishing second in the individual race - France’s Luis was only 13th. USA are still in bronze.
Triathlon relay final leg: France are on a charge! Luis is now up into second. He finished 13th in the individual but is making strides in the relay and is catching up with GB’s Yee in first. And he’s past Yee! It’s now France, GB and USA. But Yee and Luis are neck and neck, all still to play for as we reach the final lap of the bike.
Triathlon relay final leg: GB’s Alex Yee comes off the swim 17 seconds ahead of USA’s Morgan Pearson. Vincent Luis of France is in bronze, 19 seconds behind Yee. Australia, who are second in the world rankings in the triathlon relay, are around two minutes off the pace.
Triathlon relay: And we’re on to the final leg. Alex Yee, the individual men’s silver medalist, will look to anchor GB home to gold. The British have a 21 second advantage over USA in second as Yee starts the swim. Yee is a very strong runner so if he has an advantage when we get to the run, it will be a good sign for GB. France are 33 seconds off the lead in bronze.
Triathlon relay: USA’s Taylor Knibb has eaten into the lead of GB’s George Taylor-Brown as they go into the run. USA are now just nine seconds back from the British team, having been 23 seconds back not too long ago. Did Taylor-Brown go too hard too early? Germany are in third, around 27 seconds behind Knibb.
For our Australia readers: more success today in Tokyo today? Almost certainly! It’s Titmus v Ledecky round four, while Matthew Denny has a shot at gold in the discuss later on.
You can read the full rundown of Aussie hopes/dreams/aspirations here:
The final lap on the bike for the women on leg three. GB still lead the US by 22 seconds. Netherlands, Germany, France and Belgium are 38 seconds off GB in a pack.
By the way, the individual gold medalists - Flora Duffy of Bermuda and Kristian Blummenfelt of Norway are not in this. Bermuda, understandably, don’t have four world-class triathletes while Norway had three qualified men but only one woman.
Taylor-Brown’s campaign in the individual triathlon earlier this week was hit (deflated?) by a puncture. It looks like she has some frustration to let off and has set a blazing pace in the swim. She comes out of the water with a 23 second advantage over the US in second. The favourites, France, are 26 seconds off first - and are moving up the rankings in third. Germany are 28 seconds off GB in the lead. Australia and NZ are still a good distance back and it would take a miracle for them to finish in the medals.
Jonny Brownlee hands over to Georgia Taylor-Brown for the third leg and GB have a nine second lead over the US in second. Netherlands and Germany are 13 seconds behind that. Advantage Great Britain at the moment.
We’re on the run of the second leg of the triathlon relay now. A brief reminder of the rules: each country has four triathletes: two women and two men. The women go on the first and third legs, which I guess means the men go on two and four. Each athlete does a mini triathlon of a swim for 300m, cycle for 8km and a run for 2km.
It’s Great Britain and Jonny Brownlee in the lead by about two seconds, closely followed by USA, the Netherlands and Germany. Then there’s a gap of around 25 seconds to Italy, Belgium and France. France had been expected to challenge in this event thanks to their strength in depth but they’re struggling to make an impact. Australia and New Zealand are near the back around 90 seconds behind the leader.
Hello! It’s Saturday in Tokyo and we have a spectacular run of events coming up. Here’s my colleague Martin Belam with his rundown of the highlights for the day.
All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Gateshead, 13 hours for New York and 16 hours for San Francisco. You’ve got this sorted now, right?
🌟If you only watch one thing: 9am-12.30pm and 7pm-9.50pm Athletics â€" so much to watch. The morning sees preliminaries in the men’s 100m, heats in the 800m and the pole vault qualifiers. The women are doing 100m hurdles, 400m hurdles and discus. Then in the evening there’s more men’s 100m races and the long jump qualification. The women have their 800m semi-finals. The medals? At 8.15pm the men’s discus final starts. At 9.35pm there’s the 4x400m mixed relay final. The session finishes at 9.50pm with the women’s 100m final.
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You can find our full interactive events schedule here. Not only does it tell you what is coming up, it has results of everything that has been on, and also carries scores and standings of everything live.
As it standsHere’s how the emoji table stood at 11.15pm Tokyo time
1 🇨🇳 China 🥇 19 🥈 10 🥉 11 total: 40
2 🇯🇵 Japan 🥇 17 🥈 4 🥉 7 total: 28
3 🇺🇸 USA 🥇 14 🥈 16 🥉 11 total: 41
4 â—½ï¸ Not Russia 🥇 10 🥈 14 🥉 10 total: 34
5 🇦🇺 Australia 🥇 9 🥈 2 🥉 11 total: 22
6 🇬🇧 Great Britain 🥇 6 🥈 9 🥉 9 total: 24
7 🇰🇷 South Korea 🥇 5 🥈 4 🥉 6 total: 15
8 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🥇 3 🥈 7 🥉 5 total: 15
9 🇫🇷 France 🥇 3 🥈 5 🥉 5 total: 13
10 🇩🇪 Germany🥇 3 🥈 4 🥉 9 total: 16
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