USA at Tokyo Olympics 2021: summary, results and medal count - 29 July
Tokyo Olympics: Day 6 recap:
Day 6 Olympics - Headlines:
- American pole vaulter Sam Kendricks out of the Olympics after testing positive for covid-19
- Dallas Mavericks' Doncic helps Slovenia to storm past Japan
- Sunisa Lee wins gold in the marquee individual competition of women's gymnastics
- Katie Ledecky leads USA to Silver
- Caeleb Dressel dominates men's 100m freestyle, sets Olympic record
- Team USA's Robert Finke comes from behind to clinch gold in inaugural men's 800m freestyle
- China wins women's 4x200 freestyle relay; all medalists beat world record
- Simone Biles' withdrawal calls attention to toll of the Games on athletes' mental health
- Who is Jade Carey, the gymnast replacing Simone Biles? Full story here.
- Check out theTokyo 2020 medal table
Take a look at some of our related articles:
Tokyo Olympics: Luka Doncic 'dominating the Games like no player in 30 years'
Slovenia superstar Luka Doncic goes from strength to strength, with a stunning all-round display drawing more plaudits on Thursday.
How many Olympic medals does Alex Morgan have?
One of the USWNT's most experienced players has won many trophies and medals, but only one at Olympic Games.
Basketball: Doncic on point again as Slovenia power past Japan
Slovenia rolled over Japan 116-81 in Olympic men's basketball on Thursday, overwhelming the heroics of Rui Hachimura for the host nation.
Slovenia improved to 2-0 in the group stage, scoring more than 100 in both games. Luka Doncic, who plays for the NBA's Dallas Mavericks, led with 25 points, but he got ample help in scoring from the starting five and the bench.
"That's the thing that separates Luka from other stars. Even in the NBA, he makes the team better," said team mate Luka Rupnik. "We have a lot of talent, and Luka just finds the better solutions."
By contrast, Hachimura was practically alone on the Japan side. The Washington Wizards star had 34 points, up from the 20 he had in Monday's loss against Spain.
Slovenia jumped ahead 53-41 in the first half on strong rebounding and accuracy in the paint. The team never fell behind and racked up the score with 15 3-pointers.
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 and matching their record haul from Athens 2004.
Wolf, 25, world champion in 2017, threw South Korean Cho Gu-ham to secure a dramatic ippon victory that ended over five minutes of gruelling Golden Score sudden death overtime in the men's -100kg final.
Wolf, whose mother is Japanese and father is from the United States, beat Uzbekistan's Mukhammadkarim Khurramov to make it to the quarters, where he overcame Israel's Peter Paltchik.
In the semi-finals, Wolf beat Georgian Varlam Liparteliani, the world number one and Rio silver medallist, with a dynamic o-uchi-gari throw to score a waza-ari victory.
South Korea's Cho won silver, while the bronze medals went to Jorge Fonseca of Portugal and Niiaz Iliasov of the Russian Olympic Committee.
Lee bags golds for USA
Sunisa Lee secures gymnastics gold and for the fifth time in a row, the women's gymnastics all-round final gold medal is heading to the USA
Gymnastics: Suni Lee takes gold for USA!
Suni Lee has pipped the Brazil and ROC athletes to the post to swipe the gold in the women's individual all-round. She finishes with a score of 57.433
Sunisa Lee leads for Team USA
Suni Lee nails her routine on the beam to score 13.833, which keeps her ahead of the two ROC athletes going into the final floor routine in the gymnastics women's all-round finals.
Disappointment for Team USA's Jade Carey in gymnastics indivual all-round final
Jade Carey falls on the balance beam, where the top group are in the third rotation. A hop backwards on her dismount. Just an 11.533 for Carey.
Fencing: Russian athletes take gold in the women's foil fencing with victory over France, who take silver. Italy won the bronze, as aforementioned.
Another gold for Japan in Judo as Wolf Aaron defeats CHO Guham of South Korea, who takes the silver. Bronze went to Jorge Fonseca (POR) and Niiaz Iliasov (ROC).
Djokovic looks set for semi-finals
The world number one is flying so far and is currently 6-2 5-0 against Kei Nishikori.
ICYMI!
Katie Ledecky started a length and a half behind China and almost won!
Team USA claim silver in the women's 4x200m free relay.
Simone Biles suffers twisties: What are they? How do they affect gymnasts?
The four-time Olympic gymnastics champion, who was expected to become the most-decorated gymnast in history this summer, paralyzed the world when her withdrawal from the individual all-around competition came public Wednesday.
“Emotionally, it varies on the time and moment. Coming to the Olympics and being the head star isn’t an easy feat,” said Biles to the NBC before confessing that what she was actually going through was not a physical issue but a mental related one known as the “twisties”.
Who is Jade Carey, the US gymnast replacing Simone Biles at the Olympics?
Women's gymnastics
More women's gymnastics is on the way, with the individual all-around final. Simone Biles initially qualified to compete in the event alongside, but after Biles withdrew from the team event, her status for the rest of the Olympics is now uncertain.
USA Gymnastics announced on Wednesday that Biles would be withdrawing from the individual all-around to focus on her mental health and said that she "will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next week’s individual event finals."
With Biles out of the all-around, Jade Carey will take her place in the event, while Suni Lee is now a gold medal contender. Lee had the third highest all-around score during the qualifying round behind Biles and Brazil's Rebeca Andrade.
Tokyo Olympics: Proud 'loner' Dressel intent on doing things his way after landing gold
Caeleb Dressel makes no apologies for being "a little bit of a weirdo", with the American swimming sensation determined to tackle his Olympic mountain on his own terms.
A first individual gold for Dressel arrived on Thursday when he edged out Australian rival Kyle Chalmers in a rollicking final of the 100 metres freestyle.
After the race, Dressel was left tearful when he was connected to family at home on a video link provided by a US broadcaster, with his parents and wife Meghan back in Florida celebrating the victory.
Golf leaderboard
Sepp Straka (AUT): -8 (F)
Jazz Janewattananond (THA): -7 (F)
Thomas Pieters (BEL): -6 (F)
Carlos Ortiz (MEX): -6 (F)
Joachim B. Hansen (DEN): -5 (F)
Jonatthan Vegas (VEN): -5 (F)
How tall and what age are the USA gymnasts?
Much of the discussion around the Team USA women's gymnasts has focused on Simone Biles, one of the most famous Olympic gymnasts in a generation. However, the team is greater than one person and Biles has five other teammates: Grace McCullum, Sunisa Lee, Jordan Chiles, MyKayla Skinner and Jade Carey.
Green, white and GOLD
A hero's welcome in the Olympic village for Irish rowers Fintan McCarthy and Paul O'Donovan after they claimed gold to be crowned Olympic champions in a thrilling Lightweight Men’s Double final that saw them cross the line in a time of 6:06.43.
Finke's last-gasp surge
Bobby Finke came out of nowhere to win Olympic gold on Thursday in the men's 800 metres freestyle, with an astonishing finish that the 21-year-old will never forget.
Statement from Australia - Australian athletics team gets all clear
The full statement from the Australian Olympic Committee:
Members of the Australian track and field team in the Tokyo Olympic Village have been cleared to return to their regular routines after earlier isolating in their rooms as a precautionary measure.
The all-clear comes after three members of the team underwent PCR testing following a brief casual contact with a US track and field athlete who had tested positive to Covid 19.
All three tested negative after undergoing a PCR Test this afternoon, while teammates remained in their rooms in line with AOC Covid protocols.
The three, who are all vaccinated, self-reported once they heard news of the US athlete testing positive late this morning. All daily tests of the trio in the Village had also returned negative results.
All members of the Australian Team at the Tokyo Games are tested daily.
Fifty four (54) members of the track and field team (41 athletes and 13 officials) were later given permission to leave after spending a little over two hours in their rooms.
The three team members tested this afternoon are now in isolation and will be tested daily. They will be allowed to resume training, subject to strict protocols that restricts their contact with others. At this stage all athletes are expected to compete as planned.
German Chiarviglio tests positive for covid-19
Argentine pole vaulter German Chiarviglio is out of the Games after testing positive for covid-19.
Spain into last 8
Spain beat Argentina to advance to the quarter-finals of the Games. Our front page on July 29.
First ever Olympic medal for San Marino
San Marino win their first ever Olympic medal, with Alessandra Perilli securing bronze in the Shooting trap women's final.
The outpouring of support from the friends and family of Olympians is sheer Olympic joy.
Their happiness for their beloved athletes is simply heartwarming!
Since when has golf been an Olympic sport and why?
The men's golf competition has kicked off, with recent Open champion Collin Morikawa of Team USA among the contenders getting their first round underway.
How long has golf actually been an Olympic sport?
Who is Jade Carey, the US gymnast replacing Simone Biles at the Olympics?
Now that Simone Biles has pulled out of the individual all-around event, it's time to get to know the person who has stepped up- and has some very big shoes to fill.
China wins the women's 4x200 freestyle relay gold with a new World Record!
Team USA takes the silver after a spectacular swim by anchor Katie Ledecky pulls them through from third place. Favored-to-win Australia settles for the bronze. All three teams beat the world record.
Truly a race for the books!
Simone Biles' withdrawal from gymnastic events has brought to the fore the toll that competing in the Tokyo Games has taken on the athletes.
Team USA's Caeleb Dressel dominates the 100m freestyle and sets a new Olympic record!
Australia's Kyle Chalmers wins the silver, while the bronze goes to Kliment Kolesnikov of the ROC.
China's Zhang Yufei sets an Olympic Record and grabs the gold in the women's 200m butterfly!
Team USA takes the other two medals- Regan Smith with the silver, Hali Flickinger with the bronze.
Australian Izaac Stubblety-Cook sets a new Olympic record and gets the gold in the men's 200m breaststroke!
Silver goes to Arno Kamminga of the Netherlands, while Finland's Matti Mattson wins the bronze.
Team USA's Robert Finke springs a surprise, coming from behind to clinch the gold in the inaugural men's 800m freestyle!
He edges out Italy's Gregorio Paltrinieri who has to settle for silver. Ukraine's Mykhailo Romanchuk gets the bronze.
Italy gets the last rowing gold of the day in the women's lightweight double sculls.
France wins the silver, while Team Netherlands edges out Britain by just 0.01 seconds to bag the bronze.
More medals in rowing! Ireland prevails in the men’s lightweight double sculls.
Germany gets the silver, while Italy clinches the bronze.
New Zealand grabs the gold in the women’s pair event.
ROC lands in second place, and Canada comes in third.
It’s a family affair! The first gold medal of the day goes to Croatia’s Sinkovic brothers for the men’s pair rowing event.
Martin and Valent are the first pair ever to win European, world, and Olympic gold in two different boats.
Romania wins the silver, Denmark takes home the bronze.
Rebeca Andrade chases first-ever medal for Brazilian women gymnasts
Rebeca Andrade's career has been plagued with injuries, but she has a chance to bring home Brazil’s first ever Olympic medal in women’s artistic gymnastics in the all-around final on Thursday.
There are two additional medal opportunities for the 22-year-old in apparatus finals after she placed third on the vault and fourth on the floor exercise in qualification.
Andrade travelled to the Tokyo Games without her team, which failed to qualify after four straight Olympic appearances. However, fellow Brazilian Flavia Saraiva, 21, secured a spot in the balance beam finals.
It has not been an easy road for Andrade, who in mid-2019 tore her anterior cruciate knee ligament for the third time in four years. Those injuries had kept her out of three of the four World Championships for which she was eligible.
Is Simone Biles out of the Olympics? Will she compete in the individual events?
The question weighing on the mind of Olympic fans: Will we see Simone Biles return to competing in the Tokyo Games?
US gymnast Mikulak on quest to improve athlete’s mental health after Tokyo
Gymnast Sam Mikulak praised his team mate Simone Biles for prioritizing her mental health and said he was keen to help other athletes cope with the pressures of performing on the world's biggest stage.
Biles withdrew from the individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, a day after pulling out of the team event citing mental health concerns.
Mikulak, 28, has publicly acknowledged his own mental health struggles.
"Everyone wants athletes to be indestructible and perfect all the time," said Mikulak, who finished 12th in the all-around final. "Sometimes it's too much. And when that is the case, you have to do what is best for you."
Mikulak, who will compete in the parallel bars final on Aug. 3, said he had spoken to Biles after she withdrew from the team event. He said she was in good spirits.
Team USA's Katie Ledecky thanks her supporters for all the love after bagging her first gold in the 1500m freestyle, and urges her team mates to keep up the good work!
No Biles for the US in women's all-around final
Simone Biles will be absent from the US' team for the women's all-around gymnastics final on Day 6, having also dropped out of the team final earlier this week.
Biles cited mental-health reasons for her withdrawal; it remains unclear whether she will return at any point in the Tokyo Games.
Full story:Biles to skip the all-around event
See also:Biles opens up the conversation about mental health
(Photo: Mike Blake/Reuters)
Since when has golf been an Olympic sport and why?
As the Olympic Games Men's Golf Competition gets going at the Kasumigaseki Country Club's East Course, located about 35 miles outside downtown Tokyo, we take a look back over golf's history at the Games...
Tokyo Olympics Day 6: live updates
Hello and welcome to our live coverage of Day 6 of the Tokyo Olympic Games. In all, 17 gold medals are up for grabs on a day that will witness 23 different sports, including the start of the men’s golf tournament.
Four Americans - Collin Morikawa, Patrick Reed, Xander Schauffele and Justin Thomas - are involved in that event, which began at 6:30pm EDT on Wednesday.
Among the other notable events on Day 6 are the women’s gymnastics all-around final, and five swimming finals all with US interest.