Tokyo Olympics Day 6: American Suni Lee wins gold in women's all-around, Canadians Hillary Janssens, Caileigh Filmer win bronze in pairs rowing; Women’s basketball team bounce back to beat Korea
The latest Olympics news from Tokyo and around the world on Thursday. Web links to longer stories if available:
9:03 a.m.: Sunisa Lee, an American gymnast who spent a lifetime aspiring to finish second to Simone Biles in the all-around because that was the best anyone could do, exceeded those expectations Thursday night, winning the Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo Games.
With Biles out of the event after withdrawing because of mental health concerns, Lee took advantage of the opening left behind by the gymnast considered to be the best of all time. Lee, 18, from St. Paul, Minnesota, hit routine after routine, often as if she were at practice, not at the most important competition of her life.
She won the gold in the all-around, which determines the best overall gymnast, just two days after rallying her teammates to win silver in the team final. Biles had pulled out of the team event after competing on the vault, the first of four events. On the next event, the uneven bars, Lee decided to perform her hardest bars routine - which is the most difficult in the world - instead of the easier one she had planned because she knew the team would need every tenth of a point to win a medal. Her 15.4 points on bars was the highest score of the night.
An American gymnast has won gold in the individual all-around event every Olympics since 2004.
7:40 a.m.: If Justyn Knight missed the Olympic standard by a little more than a second in the lead-up to Rio Games, his personal best now surpasses it by more than 20 seconds, which is why he's currently ensconced in Tokyo, where he'll begin competing next week in the 5,000 metres. If the evolution in goal-setting is a sign of Knight's growth from college phenom to international professional at age 25, Knight will tell you without hesitation that that evolution has also been shaped, in no small part, by the performance of a certain Canadian teammate.
At age 30, Mohammed Ahmed of St. Catharines is already the greatest distance runner in the history of Canadian track - that is, if you'll kindly hand him the designation for holding the national record in both the 5,000 metres and the 10,000 metres, not to mention Canada's first and only world championship medal in either the 5,000 or 10,000, a bronze which he won in 2019 in the 5,000.
Read Dave Feschuk's story, Tokyo Olympics amounts to an unprecedented moment for Canadian distance running
7:30 a.m.: Corey Conners and Mackenzie Hughes have spent nearly their whole golfing lives following the same path, so it makes sense they would shoot matching scores in their Olympic debuts.
Both Conners, of Listowel, Ont., and Hughes, of Dundas, Ont., started the Olympic golf competition with matching 2-under 69s. They trail Sepp Straka, the surprisingly first-round leader, by six but are by no means out of the race to the podium.
7:21 a.m.: A German cycling official will be sent home from the Tokyo Olympics after using a racist slur during the men's time trial, the country's team said Thursday.
German cycling federation sports director Patrick Moster had been overseeing the cycling squad at the Tokyo Games. He used the slur while urging German rider Nikias Arndt to catch up to riders from the African nations of Algeria and Eritrea during Wednesday's time trial. It was heard on TV broadcasts and widely condemned in Germany.
5:45 a.m. (updated): Canadian judoka Shady El-Nahas finished just off the podium after losing the bronze-medal match in the men's 100-kilogram division.
The 23-year-old from Mississauga lost to Jorge Fonseca of Portugal by waza-ari.
5:10 a.m.: Canada's Corey Conners and MacKenzie Hughes are both six strokes back of the leader Sepp Straka of Austria in men's golf after the first round.
The Canadians each shot a 2-under 69.
4:55 a.m.: Canada is looking for its third bronze medal in judo after Shady El Nahas beat Peter Peltchik of Israel in the repechage in the 100-kg division.
El Nahas will battle for a bronze later Thursday against Jorge Fonseca of Portugal.
4:15 a.m.: Canada's women's rugby sevens team's record fell to 1-1 after losing to Fiji 26-12.
Canada got off to a flying start with a 33-0 rout of Brazil in the opening match of the group play stage for both teams.
Read Rosie DiManno's story from the games.
2:30 a.m.: Every race is a snapshot, a moment, and for Canada this moment was disappointing. They swam what would have been the third-fastest time in history in the women's 4x200 freestyle before these Olympics. They finished fourth. Sometimes you're great, and others are greater. It happens.
I mean, It'd be nice to get a medal," said Penny Oleksiak. But you can't get all the medals all the time."
The latest from the Star's Bruce Arthur: Canada just short of 4x200 relay podium in Olympic swimming, Summer McIntosh shows future promise
1:58 a.m.: Sam Kendricks, the reigning world champion in the men's pole vault, was ruled out of the Tokyo Games after he tested positive for the coronavirus, U.S. Olympic officials announced Thursday.
His positive result had immediate repercussions inside the athletes' village. The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the entire Australian track and field team had been asked to return to their rooms and isolate because of fears that a number of the team's athletes had interacted with Kendricks. One of Australia's pole-vaulters has been identified as a close contact.
1:09 a.m.: Canadian judoka Shady El-Nahas is heading to the repechage round of the men's 100-kilogram division after losing his quarterfinal match at the Tokyo Olympics.
The 23-year-old from Mississauga, Ont. won his two first matches before being defeated by world No. 1 Varlam Liparteliani of Georgia.
12:45 a.m.: In fencing, the Canadian women's foil team (Jessica Zi Jia Guo 2-0-1; Alanna Goldie 2-1; Eleanor Harvey 2-0-1), defeated Hungary (Fanni Kreiss 0-2-1; Flora Pasztor 0-2-1; Kata Kondricz 1-2), 45-33, 53:18.
12:10 a.m.: Canada has finished fourth in the women's 4 x 200-metre freestyle relay at the Tokyo Olympics.
The team of Summer McIntosh, Rebecca Smith, Kayla Sanchez and Penny Oleksiak set a Canadian record with a time of seven minutes 43.77 seconds. It wasn't quite enough to make the podium, as the Chinese team set a world record to win gold at 7:40.33, with the U.S. close behind to take silver and Australia taking bronze.
12:03 a.m.: A dominant night on the boards for the Canadian women's basketball team- Canada outrebounded Korea 54-32 and had 22 offensive boards - and a defensive intensity that has been the team's trademark, led Canada to a 74-53 win over Korea in what was a virtual must-win outing.
Canada is now 1-1 in its three-game preliminary round and still has to face Spain on Saturday. A win there would guarantee a spot in the quarterfinals. They could advance even with a defeat, but a loss to Korea would have been crippling.
The Star's Doug Smith in Tokyo: Canadian Olympic women's basketball team rebounds with win over Korea
12 a.m.: Australia's rising star Ariarne Titmus pulled off yet another upset over Team USA's Katie Ledecky as she set an Olympic record and won gold in the women's 200-meter free.
Titmus not only finished first but she set a new Olympic record in the women's 200-meter free with 1:53.50.
11:54: In Judo's round-of-16, Canadian Shady Elnahas beat Zelym Kotsoiev of Azerbaijan by Ippon.
11:47 p.m.: Bridget Carleton had 18 points and seven rebounds as Canada's women's basketball team cruised to a 74-53 win over South Korea on Thursday, improving to 1-1 at the Tokyo Olympics.
Natalie Achonwa added 14 points and 10 rebounds for the Canadians, while Kayla Alexander chipped in with 10 points.
11:30 p.m.: Penny Oleksiak will race for a medal in the women's 100 m freestyle after posting the fifth-fastest time in the semifinals (52.86).
In the men's 200 m backstroke semifinals, Canadian Markus Thormeyer came in eighth with a time of 1:59.36.
11:27 p.m.: In fencing, France's foil team (Pauline Ranvier 2-1; Anita Blaze 3-0; Ysaora Thibus 3-0), def. Canada (Kelleigh Ryan 0-1; Eleanor Harvey 1-2; Jessica Zi Jia Guo 0-3; Alanna Goldie 0-2), 45-29, 68:00.
11:11: Canadian Shady Elnahas defeated Ivan Remarenco of the United Arab Emirates by Ippon, 2:05.
10:50 p.m.: Canadian rowers Hillary Janssens and Caileigh Filmer had a specific approach to Thursday's gold-medal final in the Olympic women's pair.
The only goal was to make it hurt," Janssens told CBC. And we did."
If it wasn't so much a tactic as a commitment to physical torture, it worked. Janssens and Filmer stormed to a commanding lead in the early going and led the race at the halfway mark of the 2,000-metre course. And while they were eventually passed by a dominant crew from New Zealand and a surging duo from Russia, the Canadians were able to endure the pain to finish third and deliver Canada's moribund rowing program its first medal of the Olympic regatta.
The latest from the Star's Dave Feschuk: Canadian rowers Hillary Janssens, Caileigh Filmer go through agony for the ecstasy of bronze
10:43 p.m.: The Canadian women's basketball team beat South Korea 74-53 in the Group A preliminary round.
10:37 p.m.: In the badminton singles round of 16, Nozomi Okuhara, Japan, defeated Canadian Michelle Li 21-9, 21-7.
10 p.m.: Team Canada's Penny Oleksiak, Summer Mcintosh, Kayla Sanchez and Rebecca Smith will soon be competing in the 4x200-metre freestyle relay finals at Tokyo Olympics at 11:30 p.m. ET.
If they win, Oleksiak will officially set the record for most Olympic medals won by a Canadian.
More to come.
9:56 p.m.: In women's beach volleyball, Canadians Melissa Humana-Paredes and Sarah Pavan defeat Switzerland's Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre, 21-13, 24-22.
9:35 p.m.(Updated): Canada's quest for another medal in women's rugby sevens got off to a roaring start on Thursday as the Canadian squad routed Brazil 33-0 in the opening match of the group play stage for both teams.
Veteran captain Ghislaine Landry led a balanced scoring attack for the Canadians, making four out of five conversion attempts and adding a try for 13 points.
9:15 p.m.: Equestrian Jessica Phoenix of Cannington, Ont., and her 19-year-old gelding Pavarotti have withdrawn from eventing at the Olympic Games because of the horse's injury.
8:50 p.m. (Updated): Canada has its first rowing medal at the Tokyo Olympics after Caileigh Filmer and Hillary Janssens took bronze on Thursday in the women's pair with a time of six minutes 52.10 seconds.
The 2018 world champions finished behind the gold-medal winning duo of Grace Prendergast and Kerri Gowler of New Zealand and the ROC's Vasilisa Stepanova and Elena Oriabinskaia.
Conlin McCabe of Brockville, Ont., and Kai Langerfeld of North Vancouver, B.C., were the other Canadian rowers in a final Thursday, finishing fourth in the men's pair.
Canada's women's eight will race for a gold Friday.
7:50 p.m.: Canada's Tyler Mislawchuk has withdrawn from Saturday's mixed triathlon relay at the Olympic Games because of an Achilles tendon injury he sustained in the men's race.
The 26-year-old from Oak Bluff, Man., placed 15th in the men's race Monday. The mixed relay, featuring two men and two women from each country, makes its Olympic debut in Tokyo.
Alexis Lepage of Gatineau, Que., draws into Canada's relay team joining Joanna Brown of Carp, Ont., Amelie Kretz of Blainville, Que., and Victoria's Matt Sharpe.
Earlier Wednesday, Canadian gymnast Ellie Black withdrew from the all-around final event at the Tokyo Olympics with a sprained left ankle.
7:40 p.m.: Cyclist Leah Kirchmann's second trip to the Summer Olympics was as successful as it was exhausting.
The 31-year-old from Winnipeg rode to a 12th-place finish against a formidable field during the women's cycling time trial at the Tokyo Games on Wednesday.
Kirchmann completed the a 22.1-km course in a time of 33 minutes and 1.64 seconds, which was 2:48.15 behind Dutch gold medallist Annemiek van Vleuten. Canadian teammate Karol-Ann Canuel of Amox, Que., was 14th.
6:35 p.m.: Gael Mackie never called them the twisties. But she knew. Within split nanoseconds - the units of time in which gymnasts live their lives - she knew exactly what Simone Biles was talking about.
They saw it a little bit in practice. Having a little bit of the twisties," Biles had said Tuesday in Tokyo. They" were her teammates. The twisties?" Well, whatever they were, they had terrified the iconic gymnast's U.S. colleagues. And they had played a part in forcing the greatest to ever do it to step away from doing it at all, on the biggest stage of all.
The latest from Joe Callaghan: Simone Biles got the twisties, too:' Olympian connects with former gymnasts over the feeling of disconnect in the air
5:39 p.m.: The U.S. women's 3x3 Basketball team cruised to a 18-15 win over the Russian team in the gold medal game - their first in the sport. Stefanie Dolson led the team in scoring with 7 points.
5:35 p.m.: How lovely it is to watch Jose Bautista playing baseball again. Even if the former Blue Jays star isn't playing baseball very well as an Olympian for the Dominican Republic, writes Rosie DiManno.
The surprising thing, I suppose, is that it must be good enough for him. This is a man so prideful, of such towering hauteur, forever entwined with the most epic bat flip in history - his defining moment in Major League Baseball - humbled by the game he loves, yet refusing to walk away even when it is done with him.
The Star's Rosie DiManno has the story from Tokyo: Jose Bautista is back in baseball, an Olympian at age 40, but the shine is gone
4:20 p.m.: Dara Howell was pushing herself hard physically and mentally in 2018, trying to prove she was back on top of the freestyle skiing world, when she tore her ACL on a jump gone awry. Howell, the Olympic gold medallist in slopestyle in 2014, says she was distracted by negative thoughts when the injury occurred at the first World Cup of the 2018-19 season.
So when U.S. gymnastics star Simone Biles said she was pulling out of the team final and the all-around competition at the Tokyo Games this week to focus on her mental well-being, Howell commended that decision.
The latest from Laura Armstrong: Tokyo 2020 Olympics are providing a global platform for women to speak their minds
3 p.m.: On today's episode of Tokyo Daily, Brendan Dunlop talks with Sportsnet's Arash Madani about Penny Oleksiak's greatness, Simone Biles' decision to withdraw from competition, Felix Auger Aliassime's first Games, the story to watch in the sand - Canadian women's beach volleyball duo Sarah Pavan and Melissa-Humana Paredes - and much more.
2 p.m.: It's going to be another busy night in the pool for Team Canada. Here's a quick recap of swimmers to watch in the finals:
Women's 100 freestyle: Penny Oleksiak (52.95) and Kayla Sanchez (53.12), both Toronto, earned semifinals berths after placing sixth and 10th in qualifying.
Women's 200 breaststroke: Kelsey Wog; Winnipeg, placed 16th in qualifying with a time of 2:24.27 and advanced to the semifinals.
Women's 4x200 freestyle relay: Canada (Mary-Sophie Harvey, Trois-Rivieres, Que.; Sydney Pickrem, Halifax; Katerine Savard, Pont-Rouge, Que.; Kierra Smith, Kelowna, B.C.) posted the fourth-fastest time in qualifying (7:51.52) to earn a berth in the final.
Women's 200 backstroke: Kylie Masse tries for a second Olympic medal as she swims in the heats of the 200 m backstroke with Taylor Ruck.
Men's 200 backstroke: Markus Thormeyer, Delta, B.C., will compete in the semifinals after placing 16th in qualifying with a time of 1:57.85.
Previously: Penny Oleksiak wins bronze in 200-metre freestyle - and became Canada's most decorated Summer Olympian; Four-time Olympic gold medallist Simone Biles drops out of all-around gymnastics final; Maude Charron wins gold in weightlifting (64-kilogram category); Canada earns their first win in women's water polo in 21-1 blowout against South Africa.
For a full write-up of what you missed on Day 5 of the Tokyo Olympics, click here.