Tag: Japan

All-conquering US win seventh straight women’s Olympic basketball title

SAITAMA, Japan (AFP) — A rampant United States swept past Japan to their seventh straight women’s basketball crown Sunday, with Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi collecting their fifth Olympic gold medals to cap remarkable careers. Brittney Griner scored a game-high 30 points with five rebounds and two assists as the hosts were overpowered 90-75 by a team that stretched their Olympic win streak to 55 games dating back to their last defeat in the 1992 […]

Nagasaki marks atomic bomb anniversary with sombre ceremony

by Kyoko HASEGAWA TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — The Japanese city of Nagasaki on Monday commemorated the 76th anniversary of its destruction by a US atomic bomb, with the mayor calling for the global community to build on a new nuclear ban treaty. Nagasaki was flattened in an atomic inferno that killed 74,000 people, three days after the nuclear bomb that hit Hiroshima. The twin attacks rang in the nuclear age and gave Japan the bleak […]

‘Most challenging’ Tokyo Olympics declared closed

by Talek HARRIS Agence France Presse The Tokyo 2020 Games were declared closed by IOC chief Thomas Bach on Sunday, ending the “most challenging Olympic journey” after a year’s pandemic delay and threats of cancellation. Bach called them “unprecedented Olympic Games” as he addressed the 68,000-seat Olympic Stadium, which was bereft of fans as Japan battles to contain a record coronavirus outbreak. “In these difficult times we are all living through, you give the world […]

USA top Olympic medal table as delayed Games draw to close

by Talek HARRIS Eliud Kipchoge produced a marathon masterclass and the USA edged China at the top of the Tokyo Olympics medals table as the curtain fell on the biggest sports event since the pandemic on Sunday. After Kipchoge’s marathon win for Kenya, the United States scored victories in volleyball, track cycling and basketball to top the medals tally with 39 golds, just one ahead of China. The 339th and final gold medal went to […]

Counting the coronavirus cost at Tokyo’s Olympics

The pandemic affected almost every part of Tokyo’s Olympics, forcing a historic postponement, the banning of almost all spectators, and ending the dreams of more than a few athletes. As the Games wrap up, AFP looks at some questions and answers about how virus concerns played out during the pandemic Olympics. How many cases were there? From July 1 to Sunday, the final day of the Games, Tokyo 2020 says it identified 430 positive cases […]

Four hurt in Tokyo train stabbing: media

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Four people were injured on Friday in a stabbing attack on a train in Tokyo, with the suspect captured after fleeing the scene, leaving his weapon behind, local media said. Violent crime is vanishingly rare in Japan, and the reported attack comes with the capital on heightened security alert as it hosts the Olympic Games. The attack took place on an evening commuter train in Tokyo’s Setagaya ward, in the west […]

Virus cases surge in Tokyo as government expands restrictions

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo reported another large jump in virus cases on Thursday, again shattering records, as the government expanded restrictions to eight more regions just days before the Olympics ends. Tokyo is already under a virus state of emergency but is seeing an exponential growth in cases, driven by the more contagious Delta variant. On Thursday, the city reported 5,042 cases, up from 3,865 a week earlier, and 1,979 the week before that. […]

PH boxer Paalam now just a win away from Olympic gold as he defeats Japan’s Tanaka

  (Eagle News) – Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam gave his all and defeated Japanese boxer Ryomei Tanaka on Thursday, Aug. 5 by unanimous decision, and is now just a win away from another Olympic gold medal for the Philippines. The 23-year old Paalam dominated all three rounds of the men’s flyweight division in the Tokyo Olympics, defeating the hometown favorite 27-year old Tanaka. The Filipino boxer started the first round with fists blazing, while his […]

PHL gymnast Yulo narrowly misses Olympic medal after placing 4th in vault finals

  (Eagle News) – Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo narrowly missed winning a medal at the men’s vault finals at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, Aug. 2 after finishing fourth. The 21-year old Yulo scored 14.716, just .017 points from the third placer Arthur Davtyan of Armenia who scored 14.733. Yulo had scored 14.716 in his first attempt after his landing where his right foot stepped off the mat to balance himself, a minor error that […]

China’s Su blasts into Olympic 100m final, Bromell out

China’s Su Bingtian ran an Asian record of 9.83 seconds to qualify for the men’s Olympic 100m final on Sunday, while US medal hope Trayvon Bromell missed the cut. Su, 31, shattered his previous best of 9.91 to storm to an impressive semi-final win over American Ronnie Baker in a photo-finish. Italy’s Lamont Jacobs finished third in a European record of 9.84 and fourth-placed South African Akani Simbine in 9.90, the pair taking the two […]

Czechs Krejcikova, Siniakova take women’s Olympic doubles gold

Czech duo Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova added the Olympic women’s doubles title to their French Open crown by beating Swiss singles champion Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic in Sunday’s final. The top seeds edged a tight opening set before racing through the second to win 7-5, 6-1 on their fifth match point. Krejcikova, who also won the Roland Garros singles trophy earlier this year, and Siniakova had needed deciding tie-breaks in their last three […]

Dolgopyat wins Israel’s first Olympics gymnastics gold

Ukraine-born Artem Dolgopyat won the men’s floor exercise on Sunday for Israel’s first-ever Olympic gymnastics gold. He finished level on points with Spain’s Rayderley Zapata but won the tiebreak with a higher difficulty score. China’s Xiao Ruoteng took the bronze. Dolgopyat, who moved from Ukraine to Tel Aviv when he was 12, won only Israel’s second ever Olympic title in any sport after Gal Friedman’s 2004 windsurfing win in Athens. The 24-year-old came into the […]