Day four at the Tokyo Olympics will be headlined by one of the most anticipated events of 2021 — the women’s gymnastics team final.
However, an upset win for Alaskan teen Lydia Jacoby in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke provided an early highlight in Tuesday’s action. Jacoby edged U.S. teammate Lilly King, the defending champion in the event from the 2016 Games in Rio. King ended up getting bronze, one of three on the day for American swimmers.
After a not-so impressive qualifying round, the Simone Biles-led U.S. women’s gymnastics team will look to reclaim its status as heavy favorites and win a third consecutive team gold medal early Tuesday in the U.S. (6:45 a.m. ET).
Team USA can also secure another gold medal in softball after a walk-off win against Japan on Monday — the same team they will face in the gold medal game at 7 a.m. ET. U.S. softball will also look to avenge a gold-medal loss in the 2008 Olympics to Japan, the last time the sport was part of the Summer Games.
Meanwhile, the outdoor events could all face weather implications as tropical storm Nepartak is expected to hit Japan on Tuesday.
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DAY 3 RECAP: US sweeps gold in skeet shooting; gymnastics gold for Russian men
TOKYO – Alaskan teen Lydia Jacoby pulled off the upset in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, becoming the first American woman to win gold in swimming in these Olympics.
She beat U.S. teammate Lilly King, who was chasing her second consecutive Olympic gold medal in the breast.
Jacoby won in 1:04.95 followed by Tatjana Schoenmaker from South Africa and King, who took bronze.
King, 24, brashly predicted at last month’s U.S. Olympic trials that American women could win every individual race at these Olympics.
She also famously called out Russia’s twice-suspended Yulia Efimova, slapping the water in celebration after defeating her in Rio in 2016.
— Christine Brennan
The U.S. men’s rugby team fell to South Africa 17-12 to finish second in Pool C after posting a 2-1 record in round-robin play.
The U.S. will play Great Britain in the quarterfinals Tuesday at 5 a.m. ET. Great Britain won silver in the 2016 Olympics, which marked the return of rugby sevens to the Olympic docket after 92 years.
The other quarterfinal matches are New Zealand-Canada (4:30 a.m. ET), South Africa-Argentina (5:30 a.m. ET) and Fiji-Australia (6 a.m. ET).
Fiji are the reigning gold medal winners. The U.S. did not qualify for the quarterfinals in 2016.
— Jim Reineking
TOKYO — Ryan Murphy fell short of his goal of repeating as Olympic champion in the men’s 100 meter backstroke as Russian Olympic Committee swimmers Evgeny Rylov (51.98 seconds) and Kliment Koleskinov (52.00) took gold and silver ahead of him on Tuesday.
Murphy swam a 52.19 to claim bronze, despite entering the final with the top time of 52.24, five one-hundredths of a second ahead of Koleskinov.
The University of California-Berkeley graduate also won gold in the 200-meter back and the 4×100 medley relay in Rio, his first Olympics. He can still repeat in the 200-meter backstroke as qualifying heats begin on Wednesday.
— Chris Bumbaca
TOKYO – American Regan Smith, the former world-record holder in the women’s 100 backstroke, won the bronze medal Tuesday morning at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre
Current world-record holder Kaylee McKeown of Australia won gold in 57.47 seconds followed by Canadian Kylie Masse in 57.72. McKeown’s time was an Olympic record.
Smith was third in 58.05.
Smith, 19, one of 11 teenagers on the U.S. Olympic swimming team, the most since 1996, set the Olympic record in qualifying Monday in 57.86 seconds. She was the third swimmer to do it here, following Masse and McKeown. They are the only three swimmers in history to break 58 seconds.
— Christine Brennan
TOKYO – The second-seeded U.S. women’s beach volleyball duo of April Ross and Alix Klineman remain undefeated (2-0) in pool play at the Tokyo Olympics.
The pair easily defeated Liliana Fernandez Steiner and Elsa Baquerizo McMillan of Spain in straight sets under rainy and windy conditions at Shiokaze Park.
“When it’s windy you have to play a little lower, there’s just details you have to change. You can’t play the same way you always play, but it’s part of beach volleyball. We’re used to it.” Baquerizo McMillan said.
But the Spaniards’ preparation for the poor weather did not meet their match.
The Americans took the first set 21-13 on a statement ace by Ross, just as the rain was starting to pick up. The drizzle continued through the second set, but the U.S. pair finished off the game with a 21-16 set.
Next up, Ross and Klineman will face Sanne Keizer and Madeleine Meppelink of the Netherlands on Friday.
— Alex Ptachick
TOKYO – Track coach Alberto Salazar has been permanently banned by the U.S. Center for SafeSport for sexual and emotional misconduct.
Salazar has 10 days to appeal the decision, which was handed down Monday. The SafeSport center does not reveal details of investigations.
In 2019, a handful of runners, including Mary Cain, Kara Goucher and Amy Yoder Begley, revealed that they had been emotionally and physically abused while working with Salazar as part of the Nike Oregon Project team.
In January 2020, SafeSport temporarily banned Salazar. The decision Monday makes it a permanent ban, pending any appeal.
— Associated Press
At the age of 13, Momiji Nishiya made history on Monday as Japan’s youngest Olympic champion when she won the gold medal in the women’s street skateboard competition.
Nishiya edged another 13-year-old, Rayssa Leal from Brazil, at the Ariake Urban Sports Park. USA TODAY Sports looks back on this historic performance with seven memorable photos of Nishiya’s successful quest for gold.
Bermuda smallest country to ever win gold after triathlon win
Flora Duffy made history by winning gold in the women’s triathlon Tuesday as she made Bermuda the least-populated nation to ever win an Olympic gold medal.
The win also made Duffy the first person from Bermuda to win a medal of any kind at the Olympics since Clarence Hill in 1976. Bermuda has an estimated population of 63,903, according to World Bank. For reference, the entire population would be able to fit inside the 65,000 seat Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Duffy broke the record held by Liechtenstein, who won gold in the 1980 Winter Olympics in alpine skiing.
Duffy held on to the victory with a time of 1:55:36. She beat out silver medalist Georgia Taylor-Brown of Great Britain, who finished with 1:56:50. Katie Zaferes of the U.S. won bronze with a time of 1:57:03.
Grace McCallum replaces Jordan Chiles in U.S. women’s gymnastics lineup
This is the Olympics of the unexpected, and that includes the U.S. women’s gymnastics lineup for Tuesday’s team final.
Grace McCallum will compete on uneven bars and balance beam rather than Jordan Chiles, despite Chiles scoring higher on both events all year. The surprise move follows Chiles’ struggles in qualifying, as the Americans finished second for the first time since the 2010 world championships.
McCallum and Simone Biles will compete on all four events while Chiles will do vault and floor exercise and Suni Lee will do uneven bars and balance beam. Teams must count all three scores on each event, meaning the choice of McCallum over Chiles is not insignificant.
Chiles had been the most dependable of the U.S. women this year, not counting a single fall in her first four meets. That’s 32 events, for those keeping track. She outscored McCallum on both bars and beam at the U.S. Classic in May, Day 1 of the U.S. championship and both days of Olympic trials.
But Chiles had a rough day in qualifying, falling twice on beam and dragging her feet across the mat during uneven bars. The Americans dropped her score on each of those events.
The lineup decision will put additional scrutiny on national team coordinator Tom Forster, who initially said the selection committee would use scoring potential to choose the Tokyo team. But he went in rank order instead, selecting McCallum over Skinner despite Skinner giving the U.S. a higher-scoring team.
Asked to explain his reasoning, Forster said the gold medal wasn’t going to be decided by tenths of a point.
“Our athletes are so strong that I don’t think it’s going to come down to tenths of a point,” he said last month. “We didn’t feel like it was worth changing the integrity of the process simply for a couple of tenths.”
— Nancy Armour
Surfing finals condensed thanks to typhoon forecast
The first-ever Olympic surfing competition has faced challenges from Mother Nature throughout the qualifying rounds, and the finals are now being condensed due to volatile weather and surf conditions.
Tokyo organizers made the decision to run both the men’s and women’s finals back to back on Tuesday morning rather than running one final Tuesday and one Wednesday,
So far, waves have been few and far between for the Olympians competing in Tsurigasaki, Japan, but an impending typhoon is likely to provide better surf conditions on Tuesday.
According to Kurt Korte, the official forecaster for the Olympic surfing competition, the storm is expected to stir up waves up to seven feet high, but high wind speeds could lead to overly-choppy waters. The surf is expected to die down by Wednesday in Japan, so the surfing competition is taking advantage of the small but promising window to give athletes a competitive final.
— Emily Adams
