The Fiji Times

Swimming-McKeon on for record haul, Dressel goes for high five

Australian Emma McKeon could bow out of Tokyo 2020 on Sunday as the first female swimmer to win seven medals at a single Olympics. No Australian has ever won that many in one Games and Russian gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya, in 1952, is the only woman to have achieved seven in any other sport. McKeon goes...

Tennis-No medal for injured Djokovic for third straight Games

World number one and 20-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic will leave the Olympics without a medal for the third Games in succession after pulling out of Saturday’s mixed doubles bronze medal match with a shoulder injury. The Serbian, who won a singles bronze in Beijing in 2008 but failed to earn a podium place...

Athletics-U.S. 4×400 mixed relay team reinstated to final

The United States’ mixed 4×400 metre relay team has been reinstated into Saturday’s final due to an official’s error, a World Athletics spokesperson said, after they were disqualified on Friday for exchanging the baton outside the changeover zone. The American team, comprising Elija Godwin, Lynna Irby, Taylor Manson and Bryce Deadmon, were reinstated by jury...

Biles withdraws from two finals, Djokovic goes empty-handed again

U.S. gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from two more finals in Tokyo on Saturday, leaving it unclear whether she will compete again at the Games, and a listless Novak Djokovic failed to take bronze in tennis after his dream of a “Golden Slam” was dashed. The surprising setbacks for stars such as Biles and Novak have...

2020 Tokyo Olympics: Tabakaucoro fails to progress to semi-finals

Banuve Tabakaucoro finished eighth in his second outing in the Men’s 100 meters event at the Tokyo Olympics. He finished his run in a time of 10.70 seconds. It wasn’t enough to secure a spot in the semi-final round.

2020 Tokyo Olympics: Tabakaucoro finishes tied for third spot, through to next round

Pacific Sprint King Banuve Tabakaucoro has finished third in his Heat of the 100 meters. He clocked a time of 10.59 seconds and is through to the next round later this evening.

2020 Tokyo Olympics: Tabakaucoro to make Olympics debut

Banuve Tabakaucoro will make his Olympics debut today. He will take part in the second heat of the 100 meters at 2.43pm.

U.S. gymnastics reign continues as Biles lauds gold medallist Lee

Without Simone Biles, America’s dominance of women’s gymnastics continued on Thursday with a gold in the individual all-around competition for the fifth Olympics in a row. Sunisa Lee, the youngest member of the team, clinched the U.S. spot in the history books in the final rotation of the floor exercise with a total score of...

MLB roundup: Joey Votto homers in Reds-record 6th straight game

Joey Votto homered in a franchise-best sixth straight game and Tucker Barnhart ripped a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning to lift the visiting Cincinnati Reds to a 7-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday. Votto answered back-to-back two-homer performances by belting a two-run shot in the first inning. The 2010 National League...

Athletics-Americans eye up Semenya-free women’s 800

The women’s 800 metres, right in the spotlight of the “intersex athlete” debate, looks as if it could be a great race in Tokyo as the main contenders advanced from Friday’s opening round in the absence of all three banned Rio medallists. There was a very different feel to the race this time with the...

Basketball-U.S. women overcome Japan long ball game to seal second win

Team USA shut down Japan’s long ball game and improved to 2-0 in the preliminary round of Olympic women’s basketball on Friday. Japan led in the first quarter, boosted by accuracy from the three-point line. But the Americans adjusted defensively and were ahead 86-69 by the final whistle at the Saitama Super Arena, north of...

Olympics Gymnastics-Biles spells out struggles, no clear word on further participation

Star U.S. gymnast Simone Biles on Friday spelled out her struggles to perform, days after pulling out of the team and women’s all-around competitions in Tokyo, but shed no clear light on whether she would take part in further individual events. Biles shocked the world on Tuesday when she did one vault at the start...

U.S. swimmer sparks doping controversy, high octane BMX marred by crashes

An American swimmer sparked controversy at the Tokyo Games on Friday when he said it would take a long time to clear his sport of doping after losing his Olympic title to a Russian. Doping re-emerged as an Olympics theme on Day 7 of the Tokyo Games as the centrepiece athletics programme got off to...

Sailing-‘Last Airbender’ Badloe in control for final RS:X gold

A haircut that pays homage to a cartoon character has won Kiran Badloe almost as many fans as his windsurfing in Tokyo, and on Saturday the Dutchman is set to make history by winning the last Olympic gold medal in the RS:X class. The 26-year-old has swept all before him in a windsurfing category that...

Tokyo Olympics: Sponsors praise Simone Biles after withdrawal

Simone Biles’ sponsors, including Athleta and Visa, are lauding her decision to put her mental health first and withdraw from the gymnastics team competition during the Olympics. It’s the latest example of sponsors praising athletes who are increasingly open about mental health issues. Tennis star Naomi Osaka found widespread support when she withdrew from the...

Athletics-Without Bolt the 100m is suddenly a race again

The post-Usain Bolt era in the Olympic 100 metres begins this weekend as the United States seek to regain supremacy in the event they dominated for more than a century. Jamaican Bolt won the last of three straight titles in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro and since his retirement the following year nobody has really...

Cycling-American BMX rider Willoughby seeking golden end to cruel tale

American BMX rider Alise Willoughby and her husband Sam once both cherished the same ambition to win Olympic gold medals until a tragic accident sent their lives in a direction neither could have imagined. Shortly after the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics at the Chula Vista BMX track near San Diego, Australian Sam flipped backwards...

Swimming-Dressel takes Olympic record, Ledecky, Titmus set up showdown

American Caeleb Dressel equalled the Olympic record in the men’s 100 metre butterfly heats on Thursday and compatriot Katie Ledecky qualified fastest in the women’s 800m freestyle to set up another showdown with in-form Australian Ariarne Titmus. Riding on the adrenaline of his first individual Olympic gold medal earlier in the day in the 100...

Judo-Japan’s Hamada and Wolf win golds to match record haul

Japan’s Aaron Wolf and Shori Hamada grabbed gold medals in their respective judo finals on Thursday, taking the host nation’s tally to eight golds from the sport at the Tokyo Games andmatching their record haul from Athens 2004. Wolf, 25 and world champion in 2017, threw South Korean Cho Gu-ham to secure a dramatic ippon...

American Kendricks out for COVID-19 as pandemic casts pall on Games

American double world champion pole vaulter Sam Kendricks and rival German Chiaraviglio of Argentina were ruled out of the Olympics on Thursday after testing positive for COVID-19, sending a chill through the Games as infections spiked again in the host city. U.S. officials confirmed that Kendricks was ruled out of the Games due to a...

Swimming-Double gold joy for American men, Chinese women

Caeleb Dressel won the blue riband men’s 100m freestyle as the United States celebrated two gold medals in the Tokyo pool on Thursday while China’s women responded with two golds, and a world record, of their own in another thrilling day of swimming. Alongside Dressel’s triumph in the marquee event, fellow American Bobby Finke clinched...

Olympic champ Simone Biles withdraws from all-around competition

Simone Biles will not defend her Olympic title. The American gymnastics superstar withdrew from Thursday’s all-around competition to focus on her mental well-being. USA Gymnastics said in a statement on Wednesday that the 24-year-old is opting to not compete. The decision comes a day after Biles removed herself from the team final following one rotation...

Olympics-Athletics-Coe excited by 400m hurdles showdowns

TOKYO (Reuters) – World Athletics president Sebastian Coe is looking forward to some “sumptuous head to heads” when the Olympic athletics programme gets underway on Friday and said this edition could go down as one of the strongest competitions of any Games. Coe was speaking at a news conference as officials put the finishing touches...

Olympics – Pandemic takes toll on athlete mental health at Tokyo Games

TOKYO (Reuters) – Isolation and the absence of family and friends have taken a toll on athletes’ mental health at the Tokyo Olympics, with some struggling to cope with the challenges posed by the pandemic while carrying their country’s hopes on the global sports stage. After her stunning exit from the women’s gymnastics team event...

Olympics-Water polo-U.S. women suffer first Olympic defeat in 13 years

(Reuters) – Reigning world champions the United States lost 10-9 to Hungary at the Tatsumi Water Polo Centre on Wednesday – their first defeat at the Olympics since 2008 and ending the longest winning streak in women’s water polo at the Games at 12 matches. Gunning for their third straight gold in Tokyo, the U.S....

Olympics-Tennis-ITF accepts players’ requests to delay start due to heat

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tennis matches at the Tokyo Olympics will start from 3 pm local time from Thursday, governing body International Tennis Federation said after requests from players who had struggled in hot and humid conditions. World number two Daniil Medvedev gave a frank assessment of the stifling conditions on Wednesday when the visibly upset...

Olympics-Swimming-McKeon smashes Olympic women’s 100m freestyle record in heat

TOKYO (Reuters) – Australia’s Emma McKeon smashed the women’s 100m freestyle Olympic record in the preliminary heats on Wednesday with a personal best time of 52.13 seconds. She broke the 52.62 set by Sarah Sjostrom. Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey, who won silver in the 200m freestyle earlier on Wednesday, was second quickest in 52.70 ahead...

Olympics-Biles out of next Tokyo event, sharpening focus on mental health at Games

TOKYO (Reuters) -Gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from the individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, a day after she shocked the world by pulling out of the team event and put a sharp focus on mental health at the Games. American Biles will be evaluated to see if she can take part in...

Olympics-Hockey-Netherlands, Britain breeze to wins in women’s hockey

TOKYO (Reuters) -The Netherlands secured an easy victory over South Africa in hot, blustery conditions at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, while Britain defeated India and Spain won even as their head coach Adrian Lock remained in COVID-19 quarantine. The Dutch women’s team led by a goal at half-time, striker Frederique Matla having scored after...

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Swimming Fiji more than proud of swimmers’ performance in Tokyo