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SCMP Sport

This story has been made freely available as a public service to our readers. Please consider supporting SCMP’s journalism by subscribing.
We're halfway through the Games, and Hong Kong's athletes are mostly enjoying a day away from competition.
Siobhan Haughey had been expected to compete in the semi-finals of the 50m freestyle, but a back injury has seen her time in Japan come to an abrupt end.
China's 4x100m mixed medley team had to settle for silver, after Britain took gold in a world-record time of 3:37.58. China were 1.28 seconds behind them.
Still, there's plenty going on elsewhere – follow our live coverage of day 8 here.
Reporting by Paul Ryding and Jonathan White (in Tokyo), Patrick Blennerhassett, Chan Kin-wa, Nick Atkin, and Andrew McNicol.
 
 
 


Chinese authorities investigating ‘malicious’ cyberbullying of diving star Quan Hongchan

Olympic diving champion Zhang Jiaqi defends career switch, says she has to ‘find new job’

Chinese diving star Chen Yuxi says she has received threats, denies she ‘has connections’

Chinese swimmers’ doping tests: Wada launches Operation Puncture to probe leak

Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Tokyo Olympics: China grabs gold in windsurfing, weightlifting, but volleyball team crashes out - as it happened

Sport

Hong Kong


Yunxiu Lu won the women's RS:X windsurf class, Charline Picon of France was second, and Emma Wilson of Britian took bronze

Lyu Xiaojun won a gold medal in the men’s 81kg weightlifting




Yunxiu Lu won the women's RS:X windsurf class, Charline Picon of France was second, and Emma Wilson of Britian took bronze. Lyu Xiaojun won a gold medal in the men’s 81kg weightlifting.


Live

Morning, blog fans. Paul Ryding is at the Tokyo Olympic Stadium today for the track and field:
“Huge pity that this grand old stadium isn't playing hose to thousands of track and field fans during these Games, but the atmosphere is being held up by loud music and chatty commentators.
“Not a great deal for Hong Kong to keep an eye on today, given that Siobhan Haughey pulled out of the 50-metre freestyle last night, and Ian Ho and the 4x100m medley team failed to advance.
“Plenty more for us to follow, though. China has athletes competing here at the Olympic Stadium in the long jump and 100m hurdles, among other events.”



Day 8 under way


In the pool there will be no Siobhan Haughey or the Hong Kong team in action after injury saw the double silver medalist pull out of the 50m and the team fail to qualify in the relay but there’s plenty of action in the penultimate day of swimming.
China’s Wu Qingfei and double gold winning Zhang Yufei are in the same 50m semi heat as Sarah Sjostrom. It could be another huge day for Zhang.
World record holders China are in the mix in the mixed 4x100 IM relay at 11.43am – they are third fastest in Tokyo going into the final behind Britain and the US.
Zhang will be going for a third gold, swimming along with Yang Junxuan (who won the 200m free relay gold with Zhang and just missed out in the 200m free where she came fourth). Xu Jiayu and Yan Zibei make up the team.
Liu Yaxin and Peng Xuwei have already missed out in women’s 200m backstroke final, which has been won by Australia’s Kaylee McKeown.


Plenty to come


Are we looking at a repeat of Athens 2004?
The USA men’s basketball team, led by superstar Kevin Durant, continue their quest for gold tonight in their final group game against the Czech Republic at 8pm.
They lost a shocker to France, thumped Iran and are getting pounded by the US media for not looking spectacular.
Having famously lost to Argentina in the semifinals back in 2004, which was seen as a massive embarrassment, will these guys pull it together or are we in for another upset for the ages at some point?


Dream or nightmare?


Simone Biles has pulled out of two more Olympic finals at the Tokyo Games, USA Gymnastics said in a statement on Saturday, with her entire campaign now in serious doubt.
The 24-year-old gymnastics great came to Tokyo seeking five gold medals to equal the Olympic all-time career record of nine, but withdrew during the women’s team competition and also skipped her all-around title defence, citing mental health issues.
That left Biles, who won four gold medals at the 2016 Rio Games, with a potential four more medal events in Tokyo, but she pulled out of two of those on Saturday.
“After further consultation with medical staff, Simone Biles has decided to withdraw from the event finals for vault and the uneven bars,” the USAG statement said.
“She will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether to compete in the finals for floor exercise and balance beam.” (AFP)


Biles out


US star Katie Ledecky stormed to her third straight Olympic 800m freestyle title on Saturday with a dominant swim to bank her fourth Tokyo medal.
The 24-year-old touched in 8:12.57 to outpace Australian arch-rival Ariarne Titmus, who clocked a personal best 8:13.83 to earn silver ahead of Italy’s Simona Quadarella (8:18.35).
Ledecky’s young team-mate Katie Grimes, just 15, was fourth, signalling she has a big future ahead.
“It’s awesome, I wanted to finish on a really good note.” said Ledecky, who was bent over in exhaustion. “I’m so happy and I’m in a lot pain too.” (AFP)



Ledecky storms back


Caeleb Dressel wins his third gold medal of the Tokyo Games with a world record in the 100-metre butterfly on Saturday morning. 
Dressel led right from the start and held off Hungary’s Kristof Milak to touch in 49.45 seconds, breaking the mark of 49.50 that the American set at the 2019 world championships in Gwangju. 
Milak, winner of the 200m fly, earned the silver with a blistering 49.68. The bronze went to Switzerland’s Noe Ponti.


Gold for Dressel


Earlier, Australian swimming sensation Kaylee McKeown completed an Olympic backstroke double, adding the 200m title to her 100m crown.
The 20-year-old swam a blistering final 50m to touch in 2:04.68 ahead of Canada’s Kylie Masse (2:05.42), whom she also edged into silver over the 100m showdown.
Seasoned Australian campaigner Emily Seebohm (2:06.17) took bronze in her fourth Olympics.
McKeown paced her race perfectly, narrowly behind Masse until 150m when she put her foot to the floor to comfortably win gold. (AFP)


Backstroke double


China will not be celebrating the 20th gold of the Games just yet.
Great Britain have beaten the world record in the mixed 4x100m IM medley and take the gold. China in second for silver ahead of Australia.  Britain touched home in 3:37.58 with China 1.28 behind them.


China waits


Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen has seen off China’s Shi Yuqi in the badminton hall.
The Danish No 4 seed’s reward for beating the No 11 seed is the conqueror of Hong Kong’s Angus Ng Ka-long, Kevin Cordon, in the semi-finals. The Guatemalan dismissed South Korea’s Heo Kwang-hee in their quarter-final.
The final four will be the winner of Denmark’s Anders Antonsen and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia, against the winner of China’s Chen Long and Taiwan’s Chou Tien-chen.
With top seed Kento Momota gone the Taiwanese No 2 is the favourite but Antonsen (No 3), Chen (No 6) and Ginting (No 5) will all be eyeing gold.  The unseeded Cordon’s presence in this rarified air is quite the Olympics story.


Victory for Viktor

The Tokyo Olympic organising committee on Saturday reported 21 more Covid-19 cases related to the Games, none of them athletes, amid surging infections in the capital and some other parts of Japan.
The 21 cases, bringing the cumulative total to 241, comprise 16 residents of Japan and five from overseas. Of the daily total, 14 were contractors and seven games-linked officials, the committee said, adding none of them were staying in the Olympic village.
It compares with the highest daily count of 27 logged on Friday since the committee began tallying infections at the start of this month.
The figures of the committee do not include those announced by central and local governments in Japan.
As of Thursday, 40,558 people from overseas had arrived in Japan to take part in the Games, it said. (Kyodo)


21 more Covid-19 cases


New Zealand entered the women’s rugby sevens competition as favourites to upgrade their silver from Rio de Janeiro to gold at the Tokyo Games.
But the top-ranked world sevens series champions got a serious fright from a determined Fiji on Saturday, needing golden-point extra time to progress 22-17 into the final.
“That’s a soul effort – finding a way to win,” New Zealand coach Alan Bunting said. “I wish they’d do it another way.”
The Kiwis will play France later on Saturday for the gold medal, and Fiji will take on Britain for the bronze. No Fijian woman has ever won an Olympic medal, and that remains the team’s goal.
France beat Britain 26-19 in the semi-finals to maintain an unbeaten run that started with a narrow victory over Fiji on Day 1. (AP)


Sevens final set

A lack of wind has seen the start of Saturday’s sailing events, of which windsurfing is one, pushed back.
The women’s medal race for RS:X windsurfing was set for this afternoon but no word yet if and when Hayley Chan Hei-man might get going.


Hold-up for Hayley

The South Korean women’s badminton doubles team of Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan were relegated to the bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday, with another team from the country set to take a crack at reaching the final later in the day.
Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu of Indonesia defeated Lee and Shin 2-0 (21-19, 21-17) at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Tokyo.
On the other side of the bracket are Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong. They will face Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China. (Korea Times)


Badminton update


It took 97 years for the Philippines to win its first Olympic gold, a drought ended by weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz this week. 
The wait for the next one could be much shorter, with Filipino boxer Nesthy Petecio moving into the featherweight gold medal match after getting a split decision victory against Italy’s Irma Testa.


More gold for Philippines?


China’s Alex Hua Tian goes into Sunday’s cross-country discipline of the Tokyo Olympics eventing competition in third place overall, but wary that fortunes can change in minutes.
The 31-year-old Hua Tian – China’s first-ever equestrian representative when he made his debut in Hong Kong at the 2008 Beijing Games – occupied second place in the dressage event with Don Geniro until he was pushed down to third by penultimate rider Michael Jung and his horse Chipmunk FRH.
The German collected a measly 21.10 penalty points to take the lead ahead of Great Britain’s Oliver Townend and Ballaghmor Class (23.60) and Hua Tian (23.90).
The Chinese eventing team – making their Olympics debut – also enjoyed a strong start with Hua Tian, Bao Yingfeng and Sun Huadong in seventh places after the dressage.
Read Nazvi Careem’s full report here.


Hua Tian riding high

Chinese social media users have unleashed a new wave of hostility against Japanese athletes over the past week after China suffered two high-profile defeats against the Olympic hosts in events they have traditionally dominated.
Judges have been accused of bias and the Japanese team mocked with epithets such as “little Japan”, a derogatory label popular in east Asia after the second world war, following Japan’s upset win against China in the table tennis mixed doubles final and the artistic gymnastics men’s all-around event.
“If Japan hadn’t held the Olympics, the world might still sympathise with it. Now, not only is the Olympic spirit absent, the anti-Japanese sentiment has been awakened,” Yin Jiliang, a vlogger based in Shanghai with more than a million followers, wrote on Weibo, the Twitter-like Chinese social media platform.
Read the full story here.


Anti-Japanese sentiment

Yungxiu Lu of China held off a frenetic challenge from rivals to win the women’s RS:X gold medal on Saturday, edging out 2016 Olympic champion Charline Picon of France, with Britain’s Emma Wilson picking up the bronze.
The trio came into the 10-woman medal race knowing they would all be on the podium. Lu had a four-point lead over Wilson with Picon two points further back, so all that was left to be decided was the medals.
After a delayed start due to the lack of wind, the 36-year-old Picon attacked from the start and Lu struggled to keep up as she found herself slipping down the field.
Despite Picon’s lead, Lu knew that a top-four finish would be enough as long as Wilson didn’t win, and she recovered by the midpoint of the race, eventually crossing the line third behind Picon and Wilson.
Hong Kong’s Hayley Chan came home seventh in the final and finished eighth overall.


Windsurfing gold for China


Athletes can make statements in lots of ways, one of them being atop their heads.
Exceptional, and exceptionally weird hairstyles, have long been a staple of the Olympics throughout the years, and here are five we have spotted at Tokyo 2020 so far.


A statement (hair) piece

China are into the final of the women's doubles badminton after Chen Qingchen and Jia Yi beat out South Korea's Kong Hee-yong and Kim So-yeong at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza on Saturday.
Chen said the pair, who know face Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahyu of Indonesia for gold, were more relaxed than in their last match.
"We at least have the silver and we will try and get the gold,” Chen said. “Our rivals are the famous Indonesian pair, they are very strong. There are always wins and losses, but we will do our best."


Mixed doubles pair get shot at Badminton gold


Hayley Chan Hei-man may not have won a medal in the Tokyo Olympics windsurfing competition, but someone with Hong Kong connections finished on the podium.
Great Britain's Emma Wilson finished third behind gold medallist Lu Yunxia, of China, and France's silver winner Charline Picon.
The 22-year-old Wilson is the daughter of John Wilson, who coached the Hong Kong rowing team in 1989, taking them to the Asian Championships in India that year. He also worked in the city as a communications and PR professional.
He and Hong Kong head rowing coach Chris Perry previously shared a house in Loughborough with Wilson going on to become head coach at Oxford University and Cambridge University boat clubs.
Emma's mother is Penny Wilson (formerly Penny Way), who was seventh to Lee Lai-shan when the Hong Kong sailor won gold in windsurfing at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.


Hong Kong link to Brit’s bronze

Tokyo Olympics organisers say they are trying to improve conditions for athletes quarantined at the Games, following mounting complaints over a lack of air, food and basic necessities while in isolation.
Athletes and staff who test positive or are contact-traced are isolated in separate accommodation from their teams in an effort to contain the spread of the virus as the Japanese capital struggles with a rise in infections.
Conditions have been criticised by athletes, with some, such as Dutch skateboarder Candy Jacobs, who was quarantined early in the Games, calling them “inhumane”.
Germany’s independent elite athletes grouping Athleten Deutschland have urged the IOC to act.
“It... appears grotesque that athletes who test positive have to spend their quarantine in prison-like conditions, while IOC members stay in expensive luxury hotels and are provided with high daily allowances,” said Maximilian Klein, Athleten Deutschland’s representative for international sport policy.


‘Prison-like’ quarantine for Covid-hit athletes

Rowing coach Chris Perry has just completed his eighth Olympics, but isn’t going to be resting on his laurels any time soon.
The 59-year-old Englishman, who arrived in Hong Kong in 1986 on three-month contract, hopes to make a ninth Games, but whether it is as the Hong Kong Sports Institute’s head coach remains to be seen.
Read the full story here.


Hong Kong’s ‘Mr Fixit’ already eyeing Paris 2024


Chinese trampoline gymnast Dong Dong narrowly missed out on gold at the Tokyo Olympics today but became the first athlete in the sport to win four medals at four Games.
The 32-year-old, who won gold at London 2012, posted a score of 61.235 in the men’s final to take silver behind Belarus’s Ivan Litvinovich, who scored 61.715. New Zealand’s Dylan Schmidt won bronze.
Dong Dong, trampolining’s most decorated athlete, also took bronze at the 2008 Beijing Games and silver in Rio, along with a staggering 12 world titles.
“This medal means a lot to me,” he said. “I have competed in four Olympics and this medal is a dream come true. I didn’t get the gold, but this result is very satisfying to me.” (AFP)


China’s Dong Dong makes history

The Hong Kong Sports Institute is planning to build a new fencing stadium ahead of the 2024 Olympics, as interest in the sport soars in the wake of Edgar Cheung Ka-long’s historic gold medal win at the Tokyo Games this week.
Lam Tai-fai, the head of the sports school, revealed the plan on Saturday, saying the fencing facility could take up one or two levels in a new building that is set to get under way soon after having secured the chief executive’s approval and funding from the government.
“There are many talented fencers in Hong Kong besides Cheung Ka-long, and there will be many more. Our current fencing stadium can barely cater to all of them,” he said.
“I’ll have to discuss with the government. I hope that the building will be completed before the next Olympic Games, which will happen in three years.”
Read the full story here.


Hong Kong to build new fencing facility

China had another dominating day at the diving pool, taking the top two spots in the semi-finals of the women’s 3-metre springboard.
In a repeat of the preliminaries, defending Olympic champion Shi Tingmao posted the highest score over five dives and teammate Wang Han ranked second. The pair already teamed up to win the 3m synchronized event.
Shi led the way with 371.45 points. Wang (346.85) and Canadian Jennifer Abel (341.40) were the only ones even close to the leader, stamping China as huge favourites to earn its fourth diving gold in five events at these Games.
Americans Krysta Palmer and Hailey Hernandez also finished in the top 12 to advance to Sunday’s final, where the scores will be wiped clean and the final standings settled with another five more dives.


Dominating day in diving for China

It has been a good day for China in the sea. Bi Kun has won bronze in the men's RS:X to follow the gold of his fellow windsurfer Lu Yunxiu. Two more medals to add to the tally, which currently stands at 20 gold, 12 silver and 12 bronze. Japan are in second on 17 golds, while the 16 of the US puts them in third - though they lead the overall total with 45 to China's 44.


More success in windsurfing for China


China capped a memorable Olympic Games debut after beating the Russian Olympic Committee 22-10 to finish seventh overall.
Euan Mackintosh's team had to come back from 10-0 down within the first five minutes, but tries from Wang Wanyu, captain Yang Min, Xu Xiaoyan, top point-scorer Chen Keyi made it a comfortable win in the end.
Wang's 27 individual points from the tournament puts her just behind the likes of stars Tyla Nathan-Wong of New Zealand and Anne-Cecile Ciofani of France, while as a team they matched Fiji with 17 tries in total. China's over-achievements will likely help them become a mainstay in the World Rugby Sevens Series, where they finished a lowly 13th and 11th in the 2020 and 2019 seasons, respectively. The Russians finished 11th and seventh.


Memorable end to sevens for China’s women

Defending Olympic champions China are out of the women's volleyball ahead of their game against Italy tonight, after Turkey beat Argentina 3-0 and the Russian Olympic Committee beat the United States 3-0.
Coach Lang Ping and captain Zhu Ting's team crashed out in what is the country's worst result in 10 Olympic Games and the first time they have not reached the quarter-finals. They have won three gold medals since first participating in the 1984 Games.


Defending champions out of volleyball

Novak Djokovic lost his second singles match in as many days as Pablo Carreno Busta beat the world number one to win the Olympic bronze medal this afternoon.
Djokovic, whose Golden Grand Slam hopes were ended by Alexander Zverev on Friday, lost 6-4, 6-7, 6-3 as Carreno Busta won the match on his sixth match point.


Djokovic leaves empty-handed

China’s Lyu Xiaojun won a gold medal in the men’s 81kg weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics today but failed to break his own world record.
The 37-year-old lifted a combined 374kg, falling short of the 378kg he set to win gold at the 2019 world championships in Pattaya, Thailand, but set an Olympic record for all the three categories of the snatch, clean and jerk, and total.
Lyu has claimed his second gold after his victory in men’s 77kg category at the 2012 London Games. He also won a silver in the same category at the Rio 2016 Olympics.
Dominican Republic’s Zacarias Bonnat Michel won the silver and Italy’s Antonino Pizzolato won the bronze. (Reuters)


Lyu claims 81kg weightlifting gold


New Zealand won their first Olympic women's rugby sevens gold medal after outclassing France 26-12 in Tokyo Stadium this evening.
The Black Ferns took a commanding lead within the first minute thanks to top try-scorer Michael Blythe, and were able to neutralise most of the French attacks despite their threat throughout the qualifying repechage and journey to the final.
David Courteix's France side ran through last month's Olympic repechage qualifiers, beating Hong Kong 51-0 in the final.
Both sets of players were in tears at the final whistle. The Kiwis had lost to Australia in the 2016 Rio Games final, while France lost to Canada in the quarter-finals to finish 6th last time out.


Golden ferns claim women’s sevens win

That’s all for our coverage today, it’s been relatively quiet compared to the excitement of the past few days, but that is all going to change tomorrow.
Hong Kong’s gold medal-winner Cheung Ka-long and his teammates are back in action in the quarter-finals of the foil, while the men’s and women’s team event begins in the badminton.
Elsewhere, the world’s top men will complete the final round of the golf, and in athletics, China will be looking for success in the final of the women’s shot put.
Join us back here from 9am for coverage of day 9 of the 2020 Games.
