Article 5MJTY Day 2 Olympics news: Taekwondo’s Skylar Park eliminated in quarterfinals; France beats U.S. in men’s basketball; Canadian women win two silver medals

Day 2 Olympics news: Taekwondo’s Skylar Park eliminated in quarterfinals; France beats U.S. in men’s basketball; Canadian women win two silver medals

by
Star staff / wire services
from on (#5MJTY)
_1_diving.jpg

The latest Olympics news from Tokyo and around the world on Sunday. Tmes are EDT. Web links to longer stories if available.

11:05 a.m.: Taekwondo medal hopeful Skylar Park advanced the the quarterfinal of the women's 57-kilogram event before losing to Taiwan's Chia-Ling Lo.

Park had beaten her Taiwanese opponent in previous matchups but struggled against the taller Lo in the Olympic quarterfinal.

The goal for me was always the gold medal, but I think realizing what it means to be an Olympian and even to be here at the Olympics surrounded by the world's best athletes is incredible," said the 22-year-old from Winnipeg.

10:30 a.m.: In badminton doubles group play stages, Japan (Wakana Nagahara; Mayu Matsumoto), defeated Canada (Kristen Tsai; Rachel Honderich), 14-21, 21-19, 21-18.

10:02 a.m.: Rudy Gobert and France beat Kevin Durant and the U.S. in men's basketball 83-76 Sunday morning. It America's first Olympic loss since 2004 vs. Argentina. More to come.

10 a.m.: The arrow flies straight from Rio to Tokyo - well, a little waywardly - but for Jennifer Abel it finally hit its medal target.

Silver in synchronized diving for the veteran plongeuse from Montreal and partner Melissa Citrini-Beaulieu off the three-metre springboard Sunday.

Behind only the Chinese tandem. And China had a near sweep of the diving lucre d'or at the Rio Games - scooping seven of eight gold. It's the way the Red Dragon plunges, a tough podium to crack.

Abel knows that all too well. Five years ago, she left Rio heartbroken with that most cruel fate for athletes - a fourth-place finish, in both synchro, with then-partner Pamela Ware, and individual on the board, just out of the trinket zone. Devastating at the time, for someone who'd won bronze in London 2012 with Emilie Heymans, Canada's first medal of those Games.

Read the full column from the Star's Rosie Dimanno in Tokyo.

9 a.m.: Felix Auger-Aliassime doesn't always understand it even when he feels it happening, when things slip away. The Canadian star-to-be had just lost his opening Olympic match to an injury replacement in straight sets. He was sad, frustrated, disappointed. It was another piece of a young man who could be great, and sometimes is.

Sometimes it's tough to understand," said the 20-year-old Auger-Aliassime, after his 4-6, 6-7 (2) loss to 23-year-old Max Purcell of Australia, ranked 190th in singles and who was here for the doubles, replacing Andy Murray after the two-time Olympic champ withdrew.

I just feel like, I don't know, the focus, the energy is not right, exactly right. And I play one good point and then one bad point, and I can't play two, three good points in a row.

I think it's maybe another lesson in my career, in my life."

Read the latest column from Bruce Arthur here.

7:30 a.m.: Toronto's Summer McIntosh, at 14 years old the youngest Canadian at the Tokyo Olympics, had the fifth fastest time in the 400-metre freestyle to advance to the final.

McIntosh set a Canadian record with 4:02.72, breaking the previous mark of 4:03.43 set at the 2016 Rio Olympics by Brittany MacLean.

McIntosh swam in the same heat as legendary Katie Ledecky of the U.S. but the teen wasn't intimidated, leading for the first part of the race.

6:25 a.m.: Canadian swimmer Kylie Masse won her heat in the women's 100-metre backstroke, with a time of 58.17. Masse, a bronze winner in 2016, will move on to the semis.

5:40 a.m.: As Penny Oleksiak coiled and dove at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Sunday, with Canada running fourth place in the women's 4x100-metre freestyle relay and an Olympic medal in the balance, there were no spectators in attendance.

But there was quite a noise to be heard - both on the pool deck and, apparently, in Oleksiak's head. At these COVID Olympics, where Tokyo's citizens have been told to stay home even though they paid for the show, it seems as though the athletes will largely be their own cheering section. Fellow Olympic swimmers have been permitted to cheer for teammates from the stands, and Canada's small contingent was doing a nice job of making a ruckus for the team made up of Oleksiak, Kayla Sanchez, Rebecca Smith and Margaret Mac Neil.

But none of it could be mistaken for the booming roar of a full arena. So as Oleksiak waited for her turn, she wasn't afraid to raise the volume, both externally and internally.

Read the column from the Star's Dave Feschuk from Tokyo

4:30 a.m.: Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime was upset in straight sets by Max Purcell of Australia, 6-4, 7-6 (2).

Purcell was only playing because Andy Murray, the two-time defending Olympic gold medallist in men's singles, withdrew.

A reason for Murray's withdrawal wasn't given.

While the contest was a mismatch on paper, it was the 23-year-old Australian who dictated the proceedings. Auger-Aliassime, who turns 21 on Aug. 8, never got into any kind of rhythm, except for a three-game winning streak that saw him go from down 1-3 to up 4-3 in the second set.

3:50 a.m.: Canada will play for bronze in softball at the Tokyo Olympics.

Japan scored the game's only run in extra innings Sunday to defeat the Canadians 1-0 in round-robin action.

Veteran reliever Danielle Lawrie took the loss for Canada (2-2), while Miu Goto was lights out with six strikeouts in two innings of work for Japan (4-0) to get the win.

Eri Yamade singled to centre with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth to score Hitomi Kawabata and end Canada's gold-medal hopes.

2:50 a.m.: Canadian divers Jennifer Abel and Melissa Citrini-Beaulieu won silver in the women's three-metre synchronized springboard, giving Canada its second medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Abel, from Laval, Que., and Melissa Citrini-Beaulieu, from Saint-Constant, Que., overcame a slow start on their first two dives to finish with a total score of 300.78.

The Chinese pair of Shi Tingmao and Wang Han finished first with 326.4 points. Germany's Lena Hentschel and Tina Punzel were third with 284.97 points.

Abel picked up her second Olympic medal. She won bronze in the same event with Emilie Heymans at the 2012 London Games.

Citrini-Beaulieu is making her Olympic debut.

The pair had to overcome some early nerves. Synchronization issues had them sixth after the first two dives.

But the Canadians seemed to get better as the event wore on. While never threatening the Chinese pair, Abel and Citrini-Beaulieu distanced themselves from the rest of the competition by getting the second-highest score in each of the final three dives.

2:10 a.m.: Naomi Osaka is back and still winning.

The Japanese superstar who lit the Olympic cauldron defeated 52nd-ranked Zheng Saisai of China 6-1, 6-4 on Sunday in her first match in nearly two months.

1:40 a.m.: A typhoon is expected to hit Tokyo early next week, throwing an added complication into the schedule for the Summer Olympics.

Rowing events scheduled for Tuesday have been postponed as Tokyo braces for a typhoon in the upcoming forecast. Races planned for Tuesday have been pushed back to Wednesday and Thursday.

1:30 a.m.: Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics reported 10 new coronavirus infections linked to the Games, including two athletes. It brings the total to 132 cases, of which 13 are athletes and more than 100 are contractors and staff.

1:30 a.m.: Canada's Skylar Park defeated Australia's Stacey Hymer 25-15 on Sunday to reach the quarterfinals of the women's 57-kilogram taekwondo event at the Tokyo Olympics.

12:40 a.m.: American golfer Bryson DeChambeau, the 2020 U.S. Open winner, has dropped out of the Olympics after testing positive for the coronavirus. He will be replaced by Patrick Reed, the 2018 Masters winner.

11:41 p.m.: Andy Murray, the two-time defending Olympic gold medallist in men's singles, has withdrawn from the men's singles tournament at the Tokyo Games.

Representing Britain, Murray was scheduled to play his first-round match against Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime at Ariake Tennis Park Centre Court on Sunday. He was replaced by Australia's Max Purcell. A reason for Murray's withdrawal wasn't given.

11:20 p.m.: Canadian boxer and 11-time national flyweight champion Mandy Bujold lost a unanimous decision on points to Nina Radovanovic of Serbia to open her Tokyo Olympic campaign.

Previously, Bujold faced what she called the toughest fight of her career just to get to Tokyo after winning her human rights appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland to compete at the Games.

11:15 p.m.: With Penny Oleksiak putting in a clutch performance in a rousing final leg, Canada's women's 4x100-metre freestyle swim team won a silver medal on Sunday, writes Dave Feschuk.

It was the country's first podium finish at these long-awaited, no-expectations Tokyo Olympics, where Canadian Olympic Committee officials have insisted the conditions of the pandemic have made it impossible to set a performance standard for Canada's medal count.

But if recent history is a guide, it wouldn't be unreasonable to believe the relay medal is a harbinger of good times ahead - at least in the pool.

10:55 p.m.: The Canadian women's 4x100 freestyle team has swam to a silver medal. It's the first medal for Canada at the 2020 Tokyo Games.

More to come.

10:06 p.m.: Chase Kalisz won 400-meter individual medley Sunday at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, the first gold medal for the U.S at the Summer Olympics.

Jay Litherland, Kalisz's training partner, finished second, less than a second behind.

In the men's 400-meter freestyle, Kieran Smith won the bronze for the U.S.

10 p.m.: In fencing, Eleanor Harvey of Canada defeated France's Pauline Ranvier 15-9. Harvey finished seventh at the Rio Olympics in 2016, Canada's best ever individual fencing result.

Also representing Team Canada in the women's individual foil competition, Jessica Guo beat France's Anita Blaze 15-12, and Kelleigh Ryan defeated Sera Azuma of Japan 12-11.

9:54 p.m.: Margaret Mac Neil advanced in the semifinals of the women's 100m butterfly with a time of 56.56.

9:39 p.m.: Canadian Lynda Kiejko came in 47th in the 10m Air Pistol qualifying round.

9:39 p.m.: Rowing for Team Canada, Patrick Keane and Maxwell Lattimer have come in second place in the men's lightweight double sculls event, advancing them to the semifinals.

9:15 p.m.: The Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Skateboard confirmed that Annie Guglia has been selected to represent Team Canada in Skateboarding in the Women's Street event at Tokyo 2020.

The 30-year-old Montrealer missed the cut at last month's qualification event for the Summer Games, but jumped at the chance to travel to Japan as a substitute.

Canada now has 371 athletes competing at the 2020 games.

Get to know Canada's first Olympic skateboarding team here.

9 p.m.: In fencing, Dong Chao of China defeated Canada's Marc-Antoine Blais-Belanger 15-7.

8:44 p.m.: The Canadian women's 4x100 freestyle relay team of Penny Oleksiak and Kayla Sanchez of Toronto, Taylor Ruck of Kelowna, B.C. and Rebecca Smith of Red Deer, Alta., advanced out of Saturday's heats into the final Sunday morning, Saturday evening in Canada.

The final will take place at 10:45 p.m. ET.

More to come.

6 p.m.: The Canadian Olympic team may not agree with David Rose's stance on team sports, but they had no problem catching up with Rose family of Schitt's Creek" before Tokyo 2020's opening ceremony.

5:17 p.m.: Naohisa Takato won Japan's first gold medal at its home Olympics, beating Taiwan's Yang Yung-Wei in the men's 60-kilogram judo final on Saturday night.

Kosovo's Distria Krasniqi beat Japan's Funa Tonaki in the women's 48-kilogram final less than an hour before Takato made sure his team wouldn't have a double heartbreak on the opening day of competition in its beloved homegrown martial art.

4:30 p.m.: Kayla Alexander will stand proud with her Canadian basketball teammates on Monday in Tokyo, a long and at times difficult journey to the Olympic Games finally complete.

It will be a testament not only to her prodigious basketball skills that she's made it to the ultimate stage, but - more important - to her will, belief and ability to rebound from adversity.

Previously: Day 1 was as hot as the schedule was heavy. On this episode of Tokyo Daily, host Brendan Dunlop recaps Canada's 2-1 win over Chile in women's soccer with Laura Armstrong of the Toronto Star, and the first medals are handed out at the 2020 Olympic Games.

For full coverage of the Tokyo Olympics, click here.

External Content
Source RSS or Atom Feed
Feed Location https://www.thespec.com/rss/article?category=news&subcategory=local
Feed Title
Feed Link https://www.thespec.com/
Reply 0 comments