2020 Tokyo Olympic Games

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Country With Just 63K Residents Wins First-Ever Gold

Bermuda is the smallest country ever to win gold medal at Summer Olympics

(Newser) - With a table-topping 10 gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, Japan has so far won one gold medal for every 12.6 million residents. In Bermuda, the ratio is one per 63,000 people. Flora Duffy won gold in the women's individual triathlon Tuesday, making Bermuda the smallest country...

Simone Biles: It Wasn't a Physical Injury

'I have to focus on my mental health,' says gymnast after exit from team competition

(Newser) - Simone Biles is shedding some light on the Olympic stunner that saw her exit from team competition on Tuesday. While USA Gymnastics cited a "medical issue," Biles herself clarified that it wasn't a physical injury, reports the Washington Post . "I just felt like it would be...

US Falls to Russia After Simone Biles Pulls Out of Finals

She left competition 'due to a medical issue'

(Newser) - The US Women's gymnastics team settled for silver on Tuesday after having to compete without golden girl Simone Biles, who USA Gymnastics confirmed had to exit the competition "due to a medical issue." It continued, "She will be assessed daily to determine medical clearance for future...

Japan's Darling Suffers Stunning Defeat

Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic beats Naomi Osaka

(Newser) - The host country’s superstar is out of the Tokyo Olympics. Naomi Osaka lost to former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4 in the third round of the Tokyo tennis tournament on Tuesday, the AP reports. The second-ranked Osaka, who was born in Japan and...

Alaska Has an Olympic Champion in an Unexpected Sport

Lydia Jacoby pulls off stunning swimming upset

(Newser) - Alaska is renowned for its majestic natural beauty. The snowy peaks. The glistening glaciers. The sparkling fjords. An Arctic paradise, for sure. Swimming? That’s never been much of a thing in the 49th US state. Until now. Seventeen-year-old Lydia Jacoby pulled off a stunning victory in the women’s...

'Wouldn't Be Here Without Her': Ledecky Is Dethroned

Australia's Ariarne Titmus wins 400-meter race, giving US swimmer a rare silver medal

(Newser) - As usual, Katie Ledecky collected a medal after an Olympic race. The unusual part on Monday was that it was silver instead of gold, reports the Wall Street Journal . Australia's Ariarne Titmus edged the US star in the 400-meter freestyle, despite trailing by a full body length at the...

Olympic Gymnast Ends Floor Routine With BLM Tribute

Luciana Alvarado of Costa Rica raised fist in the air, knelt

(Newser) - The first-ever Costa Rican gymnast to qualify for the Olympics used the end of her floor routine Sunday to make a big statement. Luciana Alvarado, 18, took a knee with one arm behind her back and the other raised in the air with a fist, NBC Olympics reports. (Watch the...

She Broke Away at Start of Race, Figured She'd Be Caught—but Wasn't

Anna Kiesenhofer stuns Olympic cycling with her gold medal win

(Newser) - As Dutch champion cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten crossed the finish line of the Olympic women's road race Sunday, she raised her arms in the air, assuming she'd come in first. Not so: Anna Kiesenhofer, an Austrian cyclist who wasn't on any pre-race list of contenders, had crossed...

False Start in Olympic Triathlon After Boat Gets in Way

Some competitors were stuck on dock as boat with cameras tried to reverse

(Newser) - Let's try that again, triathlon. The Olympic men's triathlon needed a do-over Monday when a bizarre start sent dozens of competitors into the water only to have others stuck on the dock, helplessly blocked by a boat containing cameras that got in the way, the AP reports. The...

Here's Who Won First-Ever Olympic Skateboarding Medals

Japan sweeps golds, takes first in both men's and women's contests

(Newser) - Thirteen-year-old Momiji Nishiya of Japan won the first Olympic skateboard competition for women on Monday, giving the host nation a sweep of golds in the street event after Yuto Horigome won the men’s competition, also the Olympics' first ever, the AP reports. Rayssa Leal, a Brazilian who is also...

America's First Medal of Tokyo Games Won by Swimmer

Chase Kalisz takes gold in the 400-meter individual medley

(Newser) - Chase Kalisz won the first American medal of the Tokyo Games, taking gold Sunday in the men’s 400-meter individual medley and putting an end to the US' one-day medal drought . The AP reports Jay Litherland made it a 1-2 finish for the powerhouse US team, rallying on the freestyle...

First Opening Day Since 1972 With No Team USA Medals

Women's soccer team got a win and Team USA softball is on a perfect streak

(Newser) - The USA Olympic team has scored at least one medal on the opening day of the Summer Games for almost 50 years. Not this year, though. Olympic historian Bill Mallon tweeted that USA was winless on day 1 for the first time since the 1972 Games in Munich, the Hill ...

Olympian Refuses to Face Israeli Opponent

Fethi Nourine bowed out rather than face Tohar Butbu

(Newser) - An Algerian athlete is being sent home from the Tokyo Olympics after refusing to face an Israeli opponent. Fethi Nourine bowed out of men's judo 73K division late Thursday and told Algerian television that his support for the Palestinian people precludes him from facing Tohar Butbul. Per Reuters , Nourine...

Opening Ceremony Kicks Off in Near-Empty Tokyo Stadium

Jill Biden is among the few VIPs present

(Newser) - After a yearlong delay caused by COVID-19, the 2020 Tokyo Olympics are finally underway—but with the pandemic still raging, the opening ceremony is being held in a near-empty stadium. The $1.5 billion stadium built for the Games can hold up to 70,000, but only 950 VIPs were...

Allegations Against US Fencer Keep Him Out of Olympic Village

Alen Hadzic appealed the decision, lost

(Newser) - An alternate on the US fencing team is in Tokyo with the rest of the team, but he had to fly separately and is not allowed to train or live in the Olympic Village due to accusations of sexual misconduct that three women have made against him. Alen Hadzic, 29,...

'We Cried, Then We Swore, Then We Cried Again'

4 Czech athletes at Olympics test positive for COVID, and team doctor may be to blame

(Newser) - Four athletes and two staffers from the Czech Olympic team have tested positive for COVID in Tokyo, and the team doctor is getting blamed in the media back home. On Thursday, the team announced that volleyball players Marketa Slukova-Nausch and Barbora Hermannova were barred from playing after their positive tests,...

IOC Does U-Turn on Footage of Athletes Taking a Knee

Players from 5 soccer teams kneeled before Wednesday's games

(Newser) - After images of Olympic soccer players taking a knee were excluded from official highlight reels and social media channels, the IOC said Thursday that kneeling protests will be shown in the future. Players from five women’s soccer teams kneeled in support of racial justice Wednesday, the first day such...

Olympics Opening Ceremony Director Fired for 1998 Joke

Kentaro Kobayashi made a Holocaust joke during a comedy show

(Newser) - The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee fired the director of the opening ceremony on Thursday because of a Holocaust joke he made during a comedy show in 1998, the AP reports. Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a day ahead of the opening ceremony that director Kentaro Kobayashi has been dismissed....

Richardson Runs to Kanye West Track in New Ad

Sprinter left off Olympic team appears in Beats by Dre commercial

(Newser) - Sha'Carri Richardson won't be competing in the Tokyo Olympics, but she can compete with the Games. The star sprinter, who was left off the US track team after a positive test for marijuana, appears in a new Beats by Dre commercial that ran during Game 6 of the...

Team USA Hit With Another COVID Case

This time it's reportedly beach volleyball player Taylor Crabb

(Newser) - Team USA has suffered another COVID case, this time in a player who was slated to compete in just days. Per NBC News' reporting, beach volleyball player Taylor Crabb has tested positive and could soon be headed back to Hawaii. USA Volleyball said only this: "The health and safety...

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