Latest Olympic highlights
OLYMPIC EVENTS FOR AUG. 1
- Andre De Grasse wins 100-metre bronze: Canadian sprint star Andre De Grasse posted 8.89 seconds to win a bronze medal in the men’s 100m final. After 13 medals won by Canadian women, the 14th is the first medal won by a Canadian man in Tokyo.
- Penny Oleksiak becomes Canada’s most-decorated Olympian: Canada’s swim team capped off their Tokyo Olympics with a sixth medal, this time winning the bronze medal in the women’s 4x100-metre medley relay. This made Penny Oleksiak, who earned her seventh Olympic medal despite injury challenges, Canada’s most decorated Olympian of all time.
- Beach volleyball: Canada has sent its second team to the quarterfinals of the women’s beach volleyball at the Tokyo Olympics. Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes overpowered Spain in their match, defeating the Spaniards in straight sets 21-13, 21-13. Canada did not qualify a duo on the men’s side of the beach volleyball event.
OFF THE FIELD
- Protests: Shot-putter Raven Saunders delivered the first political demonstration on the podium at the Tokyo Olympics when she raised her arms and crossed them in the shape of an “X” after receiving her medal. Saunders explains that she hopes to continue to inspire and motivate the LGBTQ community, African Americans, Black people around the world, and those struggling with mental health. Last month the International Olympic Committee relaxed its Rule 50, which had forbidden athletes from any protests. However, Saunders’ protest is a potential breach of rules banning protests on medal podiums.
- Belarus: Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a Belarusian sprinter who refused to board a flight after she said she was taken to the airport by her team against her will, is “safe and secure” in Tokyo, the International Olympic Committee said on Monday. Originally a head coach had turned up to her room on Sunday afternoon in the athletes village and told her she had to leave but she refused to board the flight, saying “I will not return to Belarus.” Tsimanouskaya has petitioned for asylum in Japan.
- Rugby Canada: Rugby Canada’s CEO Allen Vansen said he was unaware Canada’s players felt bullied and harassed, but that in firing two coaches in the last year – one in the middle of the Games for tweets in poor taste – everyone who should be removed from the organization, has been removed.
- Taiwan: Taiwan’s gold medal win over China in badminton has raised tensions between the two. On Saturday, Taiwanese badminton duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin prevailed over Liu Yuchen and Li Junhui of China, winning Taiwan’s first gold medal in the sport, sparking social media backlash.
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More Olympic updates for Aug. 1
- Women’s sailing: Canada’s Sarah Douglas placed sixth overall in the final race of the women’s laser radial class, marking an all-time best finish for a Canadian in the event at the Olympics.
- Men’s golf: Canada’s Corey Conners finished 13th in the final round of men’s golf, while Mackenzie Hughes places 50th.
- Women’s diving: Jennifer Abel’s wait for an individual Olympic medal continues after the Canadian diver finished eighth in the three-metre springboard final.
- Women’s wrestling: Canadian defending wrestling gold medallist Erica Wiebe lost her opening bout Saturday and has been eliminated from the Tokyo Games. Wiebe dropped a 5-4 decision to Estonia’s Epp Mäe in the women’s 76-kilogram round-of-16 matchup.
- Women’s basketball: After a 76-66 loss to Spain in women’s basketball Canada is on the brink of elimination. Ranked fourth in the world by FIBA, Canada needs a South Korean upset in that one to finish second in the group.
The Olympic experience
Globe visual journalist Melissa Tait is in Tokyo capturing Canada’s athletes as they chase the podium.
In photos: Andre De Grasse wins bronze, Penny Oleksiak’s seventh Olympic medal and other highlights from Tokyo
With a bronze medal in the women's 4x100m medley relay at the Tokyo Olympics, Penny Oleksiak became Canada's most decorated Olympic athlete of all time. See how she accrued this medal tally, starting with a gold in Rio in 2016.
The Globe and Mail
From The Globe’s Olympic team
Japan’s Tokyo Olympics nightmare is coming true with worst COVID-19 outbreak to date
Japan’s Olympics nightmare is coming true: a fast-spreading COVID-19 outbreak in the midst of the Games that the country’s leadership has been powerless to suppress.
In the months before the opening ceremonies, public health experts warned that it was foolhardy to assemble tens of thousands of people from around the world in the confined spaces of an international sporting event. Those fears have, so far, largely failed to materialize. The number of COVID-19 cases inside the Olympics have knocked a few athletes out of performance – with 259 cases in total – but had little effect on the overall Games.
Outside Olympics venues, however, the coronavirus has begun to infect people throughout Japan at an unprecedented pace, driven by the highly contagious Delta variant. And with the Olympics under way, authorities have made no effort to strengthen the measures currently in place – measures that have been openly ignored as the Games go on. Read Nathan VanderKlippe’s full story here.
Novak Djokovic’s exit at the Tokyo Olympics reminds us that no outcome is guaranteed – even for the very best
“It’s not often you can see that you know exactly how one of the world’s greatest athletes is feeling. But as Novak Djokovic was hammer-throwing his racquet into the empty stands at the Ariake Tennis Centre, you recognized the look. He’d had right up to here with the pandemic Olympics,” opines Cathal Kelly. “Every Olympics teaches a few unique lessons. This one is telling the very, very best in the world to be careful what they put on their vision board. What should happen is not always what happens. And when you come in a boldface name, stumbling here will become a major story.”
Keep up with the latest behind-the-scenes stories and images from the Olympics in our reporters’ notebook from Tokyo.
Tokyo Olympic events to watch tomorrow, Aug. 2
- Early in the morning: Canada’s women’s soccer team takes on the United States in the semi-final (4 a.m. ET).
- Later in the morning: Catch Canada’s Matthew Hughes and John Gay in the men’s 3000m steeplechase (8:15 a.m. ET) and Andrea Seccafien in the women’s 5000m (8:40 a.m. ET), both medal events.
Check the full Olympic schedule for the latest event times and competitors.
The Tokyo Olympics: Essential reads
Read a visual explainer on speed climbing, a new addition to the Olympics.
How did Canada’s swimmers use data to get stronger? Grant Robertson and Timothy Moore explain.
What athletes and teams should Canadians look out for? Consult our guide.