Tag: Japan

Zverev routs Khachanov to win Olympic tennis gold, first single gold for Germany since 1988

Alexander Zverev brushed aside Karen Khachanov in straight sets on Sunday to seal the Olympic men’s singles title. The fourth seed, who ended Novak Djokovic’s Golden Grand Slam bid in the semi-finals, produced a dominant display to win 6-3, 6-1 after just 79 minutes on court. Zverev becomes only the second German to win an Olympic singles gold after Steffi Graf in 1988, while Boris Becker and Michael Stich took the men’s doubles crown four […]

Heatwave hits Japan site of Olympic marathon

Japan’s northern Hokkaido region was supposed to offer cooler climes for next week’s Olympic marathons and race walks, but now the area is battling a heatwave. Olympic organisers moved the two events from Tokyo in 2019, worried that even shifting the start times to dawn would not be enough to keep athletes safe from the heat. The summer temperatures in Hokkaido’s Sapporo were expected to be kinder — around five or six degrees Celsius cooler […]

American Robert Finke wins 1500m to seal Olympic distance double

America’s Robert Finke secured the Olympic distance double Sunday by winning the men’s 1500m gold medal to go with his 800m title. The 21-year-old delivered a devastating final 50m to pull clear of a tight field in a race that was neck-and-neck from the off. Finke touched first in 14mins 39.65secs ahead of Ukrainian Mykhailo Romanchuk (14:40.66) and Germany’s Florian Wellbrock (14.40.91). Gregorio Paltrinieri would ordinarily have been favourite as defending champion and second fastest […]

1964 Tokyo Games weightlifter wants to meet Hidilyn

By Lade Jean Kabagani MANILA – Artemio Rocamora, 88, is looking forward to meeting his fellow weightlifter, Olympian and Philippine Air Force officer Hidilyn Diaz. Rocamora placed 19th in the light heavyweight division of the 1964 Tokyo Games while the 30-year-old Diaz will be etched in history books as the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist. She also snatched a silver at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. Incidentally, the ongoing Games are also being held in […]

US star Dressel wins 50m freestyle for fourth Tokyo gold

Caeleb Dressel claimed his fourth Tokyo gold and earned the title of world’s fastest swimmer Sunday with an Olympic-record 21.07 seconds in the 50m freestyle final. The American was untouchable in an event he has dominated in recent years, hitting the wall ahead of France’s Florent Manaudou (21.55), who won gold at London in 2012 and silver at Rio 2016. Brazilian Bruno Fratus (21.57) was third. Dressel had his usual powerful start off the blocks […]

Olympic organizers defend coronavirus measures as cases rise

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Tokyo Olympics organisers dismissed any link to rising coronavirus cases in Japan on Thursday after reporting 24 infections among Games participants, the highest yet. At least 193 athletes, media and Olympic employees and contractors have now tested positive for the virus, according to Tokyo 2020 figures that do not include some cases at airports and in training camps. On Wednesday, Japan reported 9,583 cases nationwide, the first time the figure […]

Record virus cases in Tokyo as more regions weigh emergency

  TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — Daily virus cases in Tokyo topped 3,000 for the first time on Wednesday, as several neighbouring regions weighed emergency restrictions to tackle a surge in infections. Tokyo, which is already under a virus state of emergency as it hosts the Olympics, reported 3,117 cases, and Governor Yuriko Koike called on people to avoid “unnecessary, non-urgent outings.” Japan’s vaccination programme started slowly, and only just over 25 percent of the population […]

Tropical storm makes landfall in northern Japan

TOKYO, Japan (AFP) — A tropical storm hit northern Japan on Wednesday but there were no immediate reports of damage and Olympic football matches in the region were due to go ahead. Local authorities issued non-mandatory evacuation orders and set up emergency shelters as Tropical Storm Nepartak made landfall in northern Japan’s Miyagi region shortly before 6:00 am (2100 GMT Tuesday). The storm is passing south of Morioka city in Iwate prefecture, bringing “strong” but […]

Osaka says painful home Olympic defeat ‘sucks’

by Martyn WOOD Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka conceded the pressure of trying to win an Olympic gold at home was a “bit much” after a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to Marketa Vondrousova ended her title dreams on Tuesday. Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron and was one of the faces of the Games, struggled in an error-strewn display that blew the draw wide open after the earlier exits of world number one Ashleigh Barty and […]

Tokyo Olympics: Carlo Paalam takes down Irish foe

Filipino boxer Carlo Paalam opened his bid for the Tokyo Olympic gold on a good note after beating Irish opponent Brendan Irvine in the first phase of the men’s flyweight event at the Kokugikan Arena in the Japanese capital on Monday. Paalam dominated Irvine in the first round, gaining the nod of all five judges. Irvine somehow got his bearing in the second round, impressing Judges Wulfren Olivares and Bakytzhan Bekpenbetov enough to give him […]