The U.S. women’s basketball team is headed to the gold medal game after defeating Australia 120-96 on Thursday in the gold medal game of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup, which is being held in Tokyo.
The U.S. men’s basketball team met their Australian counterparts in the gold medal match of the World Cup on Thursday. The Americans have been dominant in international play, and are looking for their fifth gold medal in the last seven Olympics. The U.S. may be playing their third group game in a row, but Australia has yet to post a win.
The U.S. men’s basketball team (men’s equivalent of the women’s team) is a favorite to win gold during the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. The U.S. team is the only one seeded number one in the 2016 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Olympic men’s tournament. The World Championship (WC) is held every four years and the last time the U.S. men’s team won gold was in the 1960s.
Tokyo time is 1:58 p.m. on August 5th.
Here’s what you should be aware of:
Credit: The New York Times/Hiroko Masuike
TOKYO, JAPAN — Following a convincing win over Spain, the American men’s basketball team faced Australia in a semifinal matchup on Thursday afternoon. The gold medal will be awarded to the winner.
The Americans’ win, loaded with NBA players, was far from assured: Australia defeated the Americans in a pre-Olympics exhibition game last month.
Semifinals of the men’s basketball tournament02:34 in the second quarter |
T | ||||
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Australia |
24 | 21 | – | – | 45 |
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United States of America of America of America of America of America of America of America of America of America |
18 | 16 | – | – | 34 |
On Day 13 of the Games, the United States women’s soccer team will be disappointed to have lost their own semifinal, but a consolation bronze is still possible if the Americans defeat Australia in Kashima at 5 p.m. in Japan, 4 a.m. Eastern.
The United States’ canoe/kayak aspirations are riding on the shoulders of Nevin Harrison, the defending world champion in the 200-meter canoe event.
April Ross and Alix Klineman have progressed to the semifinals of the beach volleyball tournament.
The first gold medals in climbing and karate will be given on Thursday as well.
The Most Recent Medal Count |
Total | |||
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United States |
27 | 33 | 24 | 84 |
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China |
32 | 23 | 16 | 71 |
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Comite Olympique Russe |
14 | 21 | 18 | 53 |
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Britain |
15 | 18 | 16 | 49 |
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Japan |
21 | 7 | 12 | 40 |
The Americans finished last in their 4×100-meter relay heat and will not compete in the final. Credit… Getty Images/David Ramos
TOKYO, JAPAN — After again bungling a baton handover and finishing sixth in their heat, the United States failed to qualify for the final of the men’s 4×100-meter relay.
The team was delayed by the baton malfunction, and they finished in 38.10 seconds. China, Canada, and Italy finished first, second, and third in the heat, respectively, to qualify for the final on Friday.
In the past, the baton exchange has caused problems for the American men. The United States finished third in the 2016 Rio Olympics, but the team was disqualified when the initial exchange was judged to have occurred beyond the exchange zone.
The men’s 4×100-meter relay team in 2008 and 2012, as well as the women’s relay team in 2004 and 2008, all failed to complete a successful lap of the track.
Despite the United States’ unrivaled sprinting depth, the men got off to a shaky start on Thursday with Trayvon Brommell, and poor baton passing spelt disaster.
After the race, Brommell stated, “I simply didn’t perform my job.” Coming into the Games, he was the fastest man on the planet, but he also failed to reach the final of the 100 meters.
The baton pass that knocked the Americans out occurred during the changeover between the second and third legs, when Fred Kerley passed the stick to Ronnie Baker much too slowly. Both men placed in the finals of the 100 meters, with Kerley earning silver.
The outcome prompted instant ire from America’s most famous track and field athlete.
In the men’s relay, the USA team did everything wrong. The passing system is incorrect, competitors are running on the wrong legs, and there is no discernible leadership. It was a huge disgrace for a USA team to look worse than the AAU youngsters I saw.
August 5, 2024 — Carl Lewis (@Carl Lewis)
On Twitter, Carl Lewis remarked, “The USA team did everything wrong in the men’s relay.” “The passing system is broken, players are sprinting on the incorrect legs, and there is no leadership,” says the coach. It was a terrible disgrace and totally inappropriate for a United States of America squad to look worse than the AAU youngsters I saw.”
Minutes later, Hansle Parchment of Jamaica beat world champion Grant Holloway in the 110-meter high hurdles, adding to the United States’ humiliation. Holloway had the lead early on but was unable to maintain it. Devon Allen of the United States was relegated to fourth place when Ronald Levy of Jamaica won bronze.
The sprint relay, on the other hand, remains a mystery to the American squad. It hasn’t won a medal in the competition since the Americans earned silver in 2004. The disappointment of not making it to the race’s final round is amplified. Chinese, Canadian, Italian, German, and Ghanaian teams all outran the Americans.
The US won the event in the 2019 world championships, although it featured Justin Gatlin, who did not make the Olympic squad, and Christian Coleman, who did not compete in the Olympics due to a drug ban.
In June, Olympic gold winner Ryan Crouser offered track and field fans a preview of what to anticipate at the Tokyo Games.
He broke the world record with a 23.37-meter throw on his fourth throw of the evening at the US Olympic trials.
Crouser had high expectations when he walked onto the pitch in Tokyo.
His first throw broke his previous Olympic record, which he had achieved at the Rio Games.
He broke another Olympic record with his following throw.
Then he repeated the process. Crouser established new Olympic marks in three different tries. With a throw of 23.30 meters, he came up barely short of his own world record.
Silver went to Joe Kovacs of the United States, while bronze went to Tom Walsh of New Zealand. At the 2016 Olympics, Crouser, Kovacs, and Walsh all won the same medals.
When Crouser was done, he had one thing to say. “Grandpa, we did it, 2024 Olympic champion!” he said to the camera, holding up a placard.
Hugues Fabrice Zango won bronze in the triple jump, giving Burkina Faso its first Olympic medal.
In the 110-meter hurdles, Hansle Parchment of Jamaica defeated Grant Holloway of the United States. In the 60-meter hurdles, Holloway, the incumbent world champion, established a world indoor record and came close to setting a world record during the U.S. Olympic trials in June.
At Tokyo’s Ariake Urban Sports Park, Japan dominated the first three skateboarding events. Credit… The New York Times/Chang W. Lee
An multinational group of skateboarders outshined the Americans in the last skateboarding event of the Olympics, demonstrating the sport’s global reach with a fresh wave of aerial acrobatics and dangerous board-flipping feats.
In a sport that it created and pushed into the Olympics, the United States failed to establish a medal stand. Only two of the 12 medals given in the Tokyo Games, which marked skateboarding’s Olympic debut, went to Americans.
Jagger Eaton won the first bronze in men’s street last week, while Cory Juneau won the second in men’s park on Thursday.
With a lineup full of American talent, the park competition, which included high-flying spins, precise board flips, and lengthy grinds on the lip of the bowl at Ariake Urban Sports Park, seemed to be the rescue for the United States.
Only Juneau, though, made it to the final. His best run there earned him 84.13 points, placing him third behind gold medalist Keegan Palmer of Australia (95.83) and silver medalist Pedro Barros of Brazil (84.13).
Heimana Reynolds of the United States, the world’s top-ranked park skater, and his American teammate Zion Wright both failed to qualify. Both had come with realistic expectations of winning medals.
Reynolds was 13th, while Wright was 11th. However, as Reynolds stated with a grin on his face and a smiley face painted on the middle finger nail, skateboarding as a sport and a culture is a worldwide export for the United States.
“Skateboarding doesn’t discriminate where you’re from, who you are or anything like that,” he said. “A lot of these people barely speak English, and they’re some of my best friends. We all share the same language of skateboarding, and I think that’s the most beautiful thing about it.”
Skaters speculated that the findings might have been influenced by the epidemic. Skateboarding’s competition circuit was closed for two years, so skaters worked on new feats privately before debuting them on the Olympic stage.
Luiz Francisco of Brazil, for example, took first place in qualifying with a sequence of daring flip feats in which the feet leave the board as it spins. One was a triple flip, in which the board rotates 360 degrees while also flipping.
“I certainly saw several things I hadn’t seen before when we initially came here, the first few days of practice,” Reynolds said. “It really opened my eyes to, like, wow, look at where skateboarding has progressed to today.”
The first three skateboarding events were won by Japanese skaters: men’s and women’s street, and women’s park. This could help to boost skateboarding’s appeal in Japan, where the sport’s lengthy history has mostly been hidden.
The ages of many of the best athletes was another trend for skateboarding at these Summer Games. Skateboarding has no minimum age restriction for participation in the Olympics, thus skateboarders made up five of the six youngest competitors, all of whom were female.
Two 13-year-olds and a 16-year-old were among the medalists in the women’s street competition last week. All of the medalists in the women’s park competition on Wednesday were adolescents, including 12-year-old Kokona Hiraki of Japan, who took silver, and 13-year-old Sky Brown of the United Kingdom, who won bronze.
The men’s events skewed older. The qualifying rounds even included 46-year-old Rune Glifberg of Denmark, who won an X Games medal in 1995, before most Olympic skateboarders were born. Another 46-year-old, Dallas Oberholzer of South Africa is a country in Africa. is a country in Africa. is a country in Africa., was also in the field, sporting a smile and graying stubble.
Both placed last in their heats and did not advance to the final, serving as a kind of connecting ambassador to skateboarding’s past.
On Thursday, Nevin Harrison of the United States won the gold medal in the women’s single 200-meter canoe final. Credit… Getty Images/Naomi Baker
TOKYO — The United States has a dearth of world-class canoers. There’s just one of them.
At the most recent canoe/kayak sprint world championships in 2019, Nevin Harrison was the only American to reach the finals at the age of 17. She was awarded the gold medal.
She was the first American canoe or kayak sprinter to qualify for the Olympics at the age of 19. She won a gold medal in the 200 meters again on Thursday.
Time |
||
|---|---|---|
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United States |
45.932 | |
|
Vincent-Lapointe, Laurence
Canada |
46.786
+0.854 |
|
|
Ukraine |
47.034
+1.102 |
|
| 4 |
Poland |
47.116
+1.184 |
| 5 |
Spain |
47.226
+1.294 |
| 6 |
China |
47.608
+1.676 |
| 7 |
Comite Olympique Russe |
47.777
+1.845 |
| 8 |
Canada |
47.834
+1.902 |
She won in 45.932 seconds, beating out Canada’s Laurence Vincent-Lapointe and Ukraine’s Liudmyla Luzan.
Harrison said after her victory, “I was certainly shaking a bit at the start.” “To put it mildly, it was terrifying.”
The 200 meters is the shortest event on the Olympic schedule, virtually a dead sprint from start to finish. Though Harrison claims she takes a break in the second half.
The gold medal is “such a crazy huge dream,” she added, “that it doesn’t even feel like it’s achievable.”
To differentiate it from the white-water canoe slalom events conducted earlier in the Games, the canoe/kayak sprint is sometimes known as flat-water. Women’s flat-water canoeing is making its Olympic debut in Tokyo; before, women had only participated in kayaking.
Harrison stated, “It’s been a difficult road since I didn’t have anybody to follow.” “For the future generation, I want to be that person.” She said that she will return for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
Harrison’s medal was the first for the United States in the canoe or kayak sprint since Greg Barton won four medals in total at the 1984, 1988, and 1992 Games (one of them with Norman Bellingham). Since 1964, no American woman has won a canoe/kayak sprint medal.
The United States’ April Ross and Alix Klineman will compete in their first gold medal match as a team. Credit… The New York Times/Chang W. Lee
April Ross will compete in beach volleyball for her third Olympic gold.
Ross and Alix Klineman of the United States beat Anouk Vergé-Dépré and Joana Heidrich of Switzerland in two sets, 21-12, 21-11, to progress to the gold medal game on Thursday morning, while the sand burned in the heat and a smattering of fans sought cover.
Ross earned a silver medal with her partner Jen Kessy in the 2012 London Olympics, and a bronze medal with Kerri Walsh Jennings at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Now that Klineman, an indoor volleyball player who switched to beach volleyball in 2017, has joined the team, Ross is hoping to add another gold medal to her collection.
They were anticipating a tough semifinal encounter. Vergé-Dépré and Heidrich had made a remarkable run to the semifinals, beating Brazil 21-19, 18-21, 15-12 on Tuesday.
Ross chuckled when asked whether trying for an Olympic medal had become old news.
“No!” she said vehemently. “We’re going to work as hard as we can to prepare and recuperate for tomorrow.”
Rest will be needed as soon as possible. The final will take place in the middle of the day in Tokyo. Ross and Klineman, on the other hand, seem unconcerned. They claimed they’re growing accustomed to the heat and are psychologically prepared for the scorching temperatures anticipated for the final.
They will compete against Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia, who are hoping to follow in the footsteps of Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst, who won a gold medal in the sport in 2000.
The gold medal game will take place at 11:30 a.m. in Tokyo on Friday, which is 10:30 p.m. Eastern time on Thursday.
In the 10-kilometer swim, Germany’s Florian Wellbrock won gold. Credit… Getty Images/Olivier Scarff/Agence France-Presse
TOKYO — They are among the Games’ early risers and toughest competitors, rising far before dawn to compete in an event that begins at 6:30 a.m. and involves jumping into a scorching, filthy bay that one participant compared to a “warm puddle.”
They slash a jagged line through the murky water for almost two hours, sometimes being struck by fish, until the end, when they thrash fiercely to a finish that defies the slow pace of the 10-kilometer swim, with gold and silver frequently separated by seconds.
Swimming in a marathon is quite different than swimming in a pool, which receives more attention during the Olympics. This isn’t simply due to the greater distance. It’s always done in open water, all over the globe, with low and high temperatures, flotsam and jetsam, marine animals, currents, and waves to contend with.
It’s part of the challenge, and Florian Wellbrock, 23, of Germany, rose to the occasion on Thursday, winning the men’s race in 1 hour 48 minutes 33.7 seconds.
After defeating 25 opponents, he remarked, “The temperature today was the greatest competition.” “I defeated it, as well as everything else in this race.”
He beat Hungary’s Kristof Rasovszky, who finished in 1:48:59, and Italy’s Gregorio Paltrinieri, who took bronze in 1:49:01.1.
Ana Marcela Cunha, 29, of Brazil won the women’s event in 1:59:30.8, defeating Sharon van Rouwendaal of the Netherlands in a stroke-for-stroke finish, while Kareena Lee of Australia claimed bronze in 1:59:32.5.
Van Rouwendaal, one of 25 swimmers in the event, stated, “It was difficult conditions towards the finish.” “As we raced faster and faster, it became warmer and warmer.”
The heat and smog in Tokyo presented difficulties that were out of the ordinary.
Despite the early start, the air temperature in Odaiba Marine Park stayed about 81 degrees, and it seemed much hotter. The water temperature, at 84 degrees, was close to the 88-degree threshold established by the sport’s governing body for safe swimming, a precaution taken particularly seriously after Fran Crippen, an American long-distance swimmer, died from heat stroke in an open-water competition in the United Arab Emirates in 2010.
| 10km women’s race |
Brazil |
| 10km men’s race |
Germany |
Swimmers in a pre-Olympics event in the bay compared the water to a toilet bowl, but Tokyo authorities maintained that a high-tech filtration system would keep E. coli bacteria levels low. They also put in a water circulation system that pumps cooler water from the bottom to the top.
On Wednesday, most swimmers recognized the difficulties but dismissed them as part of the sport. They are permitted to accept sips of bottled water carried to them on long poles by boats behind them, and many claimed they had made the most of the opportunity.
However, spinning at racing speed for almost two hours takes its toll.
A Dutch swimmer named Ferry Weertman trained on Curaçao. Despite the heat, he overtook a bunch of swimmers who had “gone gas” halfway through the race and were pursuing the leaders.
Weertman, who finished eighth in 1:51:30.8, said, “Florian had a huge gap in the beginning, and I was just a bit behind, and I simply couldn’t really catch up.”
The heat did not go down well with everyone. The silver medallist, Rasovszky, claimed he had practiced in a lake in Hungary when the temperature was above 90 degrees.
“So this was very amazing for me,” he added.
In 2018, Ryo Kiyuna competed in the karate world championships in Madrid. Credit… Getty Images/Javier Soriano/Agence France-Presse
TOKYO — Every Olympic host city advocates for sports that are popular in their home nation to be included in the schedule, and Tokyo is no exception. Baseball returned after a 12-year hiatus, while surfing made its debut, thanks to the efforts of Japanese organizers.
The International Olympic Committee also approved the proposal of the Japanese organizers to make karate a medal sport, up from its appearance as a demonstration sport in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
Karate is arguably the most well-known martial technique, thanks in part to Hollywood films. It is the foundation of many other martial arts, including taekwondo, and has a worldwide following.
Karate originated in the southern Japanese island of Okinawa, where it has been practiced for generations. Ryo Kiyuna, an Okinawan, is one of the gold medal favorites in the three-day competition, which starts on Thursday. Kiyuna, a three-time individual world champion, will participate in the men’s kata section of the competition on Friday, and if he performs as expected, he would become the first Okinawan to earn an Olympic gold medal.
Last year, he told Jiji Press, “Now that karate has finally been chosen as an official sport at the Tokyo Olympics, I’d want to show the world what karate is all about, both as a representative of Japan and as a representation of Okinawa.”
The sport of kumite, in which two fighters square off and attempt to strike and kick their opponents to earn points, is undoubtedly known to casual fans of the sport.
Kata, on the other hand, is performing the fundamentals of karate against an imagined opponent, a classic element of the martial art that purists like. Kata is a solo performance in which athletes demonstrate a sequence of attacking and defensive movements. The World Karate Federation has authorized 102 katas, or techniques, for use by karateka.
Technical competence, which includes concentration, breathing, timing, and postures, accounts for 70% of a judge’s score. The remaining 30% is dependent on athletics, such as strength and speed.
Kiyuna has dominated the kata world in recent years, becoming the first and only karateka to earn a perfect score, which he achieved in 2019. He started karate at the age of five, after being encouraged by a kindergarten buddy. He began winning contests and trained under Tsuguo Sakumoto, an Okinawan karate instructor. By 2014, Kiyuna has surpassed his main opponent, Venezuelan Antonio Daz. Damián Quintero of Spain, who finished second to Kiyuna in the previous two world championships, will be his primary rival in the Tokyo Games.
Kiyuna possesses outstanding speed, sharpness, strength, and precise techniques, according to Masahiro Ide, who maintains a karate fan newsletter.
“His movements are so powerful that the judges can sense his strength simply by looking at him, which enables him to earn high scores,” said Ide, who believes Kiyuna will win gold. “He can also draw strength from inside himself.”
Karate enthusiasts will be disappointed to learn that the sport will not be included at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Karate supporters believed that its participation in Tokyo would increase the sport’s appeal, similar to how taekwondo benefitted from its inclusion in the Olympic program at the 2000 Sydney Games.
For the time being, the sport will get plenty of attention in Tokyo this week, with Kiyuna and Okinawa serving as two of the major draws.
“The Japanese believe karate is theirs and want to reclaim dominance,” said Sherman Nelson Jr., an NBC Sports karate expert. “The rest of the world caught up. The sport is a melting pot of cultures. Everyone must change.”
Adam Ondra has won many indoor climbing competitions, but he has struggled in the Olympic event, which combines several disciplines. Credit… The New York Times’ James Hill
Eight men have progressed to the final, which will be held on Thursday in Tokyo, in sport climbing’s maiden appearance at the Olympics.
Among them is Adam Ondra of the Czech Republic is a country in Central Europe. is a country in Central Europe. is a country in Central Europe. is a country in Central Europe., generally regarded as the greatest indoor and outdoor climber in the world. The greatest issue is whether he can turn his skills into a gold medal in sport climbing at the Olympics.
Ondra has climbed some of the world’s most challenging routes outdoors, on actual rocks. He has won a spate of world championships and World Cup competitions inside, using artificial obstacles and holds.
This, on the other hand, is distinct in a number of respects. Climbing’s inclusion in the Olympic schedule was largely contingent on a compromise: several disciplines were merged into a single medal event.
Ondra placed 18th out of 20 in the qualifying round’s speed part on Tuesday, and he may finish last in the final. That deficit may lose him a gold since the points are pooled to decide the winners.
Some of his competitors, like Tomoa Narasaki of Japan, a boulder expert who finished second in the speed qualifier, have found a solid rhythm on the speed wall. Others who seemed to have a strong chance of winning a medal, such as Alex Megos of Germany, Jongwon Chon of South Korea, and Kai Harada of Japan, were knocked out in the qualifying round.
On Monday, Greece’s Maria Alzigkouzi Kominea and Evangelia Papazoglou competed in synchronized swimming at the Tokyo Aquatics Center. Credit… The New York Times/Alexandra Garcia
On Thursday, Tokyo 2024 organizers reported 30 new coronavirus infections among Olympic credentialed individuals, a new record for the second day.
A synchronized swimmer from Greece is among the new instances, having tested positive as the team’s newest member. After at least seven athletes and staff members were discovered to be sick, the whole team withdrew from participation.
According to organizers, at least 358 individuals linked to the Games have tested positive in Tokyo since July 1, including 32 competitors. The majority of those infected are Japanese citizens, including contractors and those who work at Olympic sites.
While a carefully regulated bubble has prevented the virus from derailing the Olympics, infections are spreading throughout Japan, with over 10,000 new cases reported every day, the highest pace since the epidemic began. According to statistics from the New York Times, despite limits on alcohol sales and other efforts in Tokyo and most of the nation, average daily cases have increased by 219 percent in the last two weeks.
The Japanese government is contemplating extending emergency measures to five additional prefectures, according to the Kyodo news agency, as authorities warn that the highly infectious Delta form is putting a burden on the medical system.
According to Kyodo, Yasutoshi Nishimura, the minister in charge of Japan’s coronavirus response, warned a conference of specialists that illnesses were rising “at an unprecedented rate” in several areas of the nation.
Athletes who have been found to be infected with the coronavirus
Positive tests are anticipated with daily testing procedures, according to scientists, even among the vaccinated. Some competitors who tested positive have remained anonymous, while others who tested positive were subsequently cleared to compete in the Games.
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The US water polo team’s Max Irving during a preliminary round match against Greece. Credit… The New York Times/David Mills
Here are some highlights from Wednesday evening and overnight TV coverage in the United States. All timings are in Eastern Standard Time.
FIELD AND TRACK The women’s pole vault, men’s shot put, men’s triple jump, and men’s 110-meter hurdles are among the running finals airing tonight on USA Network. Keep an eye out for Grant Holloway, the American who dominated the 110-meter hurdles to earn a spot in the Tokyo Olympics. At 8 p.m., the action starts.
SKATEBOARDING In skateboarding, Japan has won all three gold medals thus far. The fourth and final event, men’s park, will be broadcast on CNBC at 11:30 p.m. The preliminary round of the competition will broadcast on the network at 8 p.m.
POLO DE WATER In the quarterfinals, the youthful American men’s team, which features many first-time Olympians, was defeated by Spain. The replay will begin at 8 p.m. on NBCSN.
VOLLEYBALL ON THE BEACH In this rematch of the men’s quarterfinal, Norway takes on Russia at 9 p.m. on NBCSN.
BASKETBALL Breanna Stewart scored 23 points in the United States’ 79-55 quarterfinal win against Australia, putting the Americans one step closer to winning their eighth straight Olympic gold medal. The game will be replayed on NBCSN at 10 p.m. Following a 2-0 loss to Spain on Tuesday, the US men’s team is settling in. The squad will play Australia in a semifinal at 12:15 a.m. on Peacock and NBCOlymics.com, with Kevin Durant leading the way.
CANOE/KAYAK The last races will be shown on CNBC at 1:15 a.m.
Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica celebrates after winning the women’s 100-meter final on Saturday. Credit… The New York Times/David Mills
Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica was briefly banned from posting on Instagram on Tuesday afternoon after uploading a video of her Olympic races. Thompson-Herah made history in Tokyo by being the first woman to win gold in both the 100 and 200 meters in the same Games.
“I was banned on Instagram for uploading Olympic races because I didn’t have the legal right to do so. So see you in two days,” she tweeted on Tuesday.
Because I did not have the legal permission to publish the Olympic races on Instagram, I was banned. So, I’ll see you all in two days.
August 3, 2024 — Elaine Thompson Herah (@FastElaine)
She was given access to publish again hours following her tweet. She said on her Instagram story on Tuesday night, “My block has cleared,” with two embracing face emoji.
Because the International Olympic Committee controls the intellectual property connected with the Olympic Games, athletes and other credentialed staff are limited in what they may post to their social media profiles, including certain pictures and videos from the Games.
A representative for Facebook, Instagram’s parent company, acknowledged that a video had been deleted, but that Thompson-account Herah’s had been suspended inadvertently.
When the individual or group that owns the rights to the material reports it, Instagram removes it, according to the spokesman.
Thompson-Herah set a Jamaican record for the women’s 200 meters with a time of 21.53 seconds and an Olympic record in the women’s 100 meters with a time of 10.61 seconds, breaking the American Florence Griffith Joyner’s mark of 10.62 from 1988.
Her next event is the women’s 4×100-meter relay, which she will participate in on Thursday.
Runners navigate the water pit in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase on Wednesday, which is 12 feet square and 70 cm, or more than two feet, deep at its deepest. Credit… The New York Times/Hiroko Masuike
The steeplechase, with its obstacles and water jumps that are similar to those in the horse race it is named for, is one of the most exciting — and hardest — events in track and field.
Horses and riders began racing from one town’s steeple to the next in Ireland in the 18th century because of their visibility over great distances, with contestants overcoming different hazards in the countryside along the route. The Grand National, which has been held in Liverpool, England, since 1839, is the most renowned steeplechase race in the world.
The two-mile cross-country races held at Oxford University in the mid-nineteenth century are the origins of the track and field sport. At the 1879 English Championships, it was changed to a track event with obstacles. Since 1920, the men’s steeplechase has been an Olympic event, but the lengths have varied until being set at 3,000 meters. At the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase made its debut.
Competitors must negotiate 28 permanent obstacles and seven water jumps on the course. Top steeplechasers, like horses, need exceptional agility in addition to strength and endurance.
The steeplechase barriers are bigger and more sturdy than those used in track and field hurdle races. Athletes may walk over the barricades in contrast to those races. In the men’s event, the height of each barrier is 36 inches, while in the women’s event, it is 30 inches.
The water jump consists of a hurdle and a 12-foot-square water pit that is 70 cm (more than two feet) deep at its deepest point. To keep their pace, athletes attempt to leap further to avoid water. The water jump is not part of the oval circuit; it is located either inside or outside the second curve of the track (on the inside in Tokyo).
The steeplechase, unlike several other track events, does not require competitors to remain in their lanes. Instead of a bunched standing start, they may break for the inner lane right away.
In the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, one of the most memorable Olympic disasters occurred in the steeplechase event. The competitors ran approximately 3,460 meters, and the authorities lost track of the number of laps.
The activities of the Tokyo Olympics did not disappoint, despite the fact that they were not nearly as spectacular.
Uganda’s Peruth Chemutai won gold in the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase on Wednesday, with a time of 9 minutes 1.45 seconds. Courtney Frerichs, a 28-year-old from Nixa, Missouri, won silver in 9:04.79, while Kenya’s Hyvin Kiyeng got bronze in 9:05.39.
Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco won gold in the men’s event two days earlier in 8:08.90, becoming the first non-Kenyan to do so since Bronislaw Malinowski of Poland in Moscow in 1980. Ethiopia’s Lamecha Girma came in second with a time of 8:10.38, while Kenya’s Benjamin Kigen came in third with a time of 8:11.45.
Kenyan athletes have dominated men’s steeplechase since 1968, winning gold in every Olympics except those in Montreal in 1976 and Moscow in 1980, which they boycotted, and sweeping the medals in the 1992 and 2004 Games.
In the women’s event, Peruth Chemutai (left) and Hyvin Kiyeng (right) won gold and bronze, respectively. Silver was won by Courtney Frerichs of the United States, who was in the lead below left. Credit… Ben Stansall took this picture of the pool.
Credit: The New York Times/Hiroko Masuike
Credit… Reuters/Fabrizio Bensch
The steeplechase is named after the horse race of which the Grand National, which was held here in 1997, is the most renowned. Credit… Reuters/Denis Owen
Credit… Reuters/Hannah McKay
The New York Times’ James Hill is to thank for this image.
Soufiane El Bakkali of Morocco won the men’s steeplechase in Tokyo in an upset. Since Bronislaw Malinowski of Poland in 1980, he is the first non-Kenyan to win Olympic gold in the men’s event. Credit… Getty Images/Cameron Spencer
In the field hockey semifinals, Belgium will face India. The Belgians will now face Australia in a game that will be played at night, something they are grateful about. Credit… The New York Times/Alexandra Garcia
TOKYO, JAPAN — The goalies in field hockey may be the sexiest athletes in the Tokyo Olympics.
Consider the weather for Tuesday’s semifinal match between Belgium and India: a heat index of 100 degrees, an artificial grass pitch with little to no cloud cover or breeze, and a 10:30 a.m. kickoff. Woof.
Listen to what Belgium goalie Vincent Vanasch wore during his team’s 5-2 victory at Oi Hockey Stadium: a helmet, a black long-sleeved shirt, shorts, and padding over his hands, shoulders, chest, knees, shins, and feet — ideal for a rocketing ball, but not for Tokyo summers.
“Inside it feels like 50 degrees,” said Vanasch, 33. From Celsius, that translates to roughly a million degrees Fahrenheit. (Actually 122.) He continued, “But you just cope with that.”
The second-ranked Belgian team has done so much to deal with the Tokyo heat that it is only one victory away from winning its first Olympic gold. And it all started in what amounted to a thermal chamber at a university back in the United States.
Mick Beunen, a former Belgian national player who has been in charge of the team’s training since 2010, graduated from Katholieke Universiteit Leuven with a degree in physical education and training science. He met Peter Hespel, an exercise physiology and sports nutrition professor, there.
Beunen, 49, has previously sent athletes for assessments to the university’s Athletic Performance Center, which is headed by Hespel. Last year, though, he sent all prospective national team players to Tokyo to prepare for the terrible humidity and heat.
They can replicate temperatures ranging from 12 to 40 degrees Celsius (approximately 54 to 104 degrees Fahrenheit) and elevations ranging from sea level to nearly 7,000 meters in a “environmental facility,” Hespel said in an email. They adjusted the temperature at 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) with 70% relative humidity, as it would be on a normal summer day in Tokyo, then had the players exercise to simulate the stress of a game.
Sweat rate, sweat composition, body core and skin temperatures, as well as players’ feelings of tiredness and overheating, were all assessed, according to Hespel. They ranked all players based on their risk of heat-related tiredness, sickness, or injury, he added, and trainers devised “heat acclimation plans” tailored to each participant.
The information was utilized to determine which players were most impacted by the heat and to assist them improve, according to Beunen.
In a phone conversation, he added, “We simply want to be the fittest squad, so there’s been a lot of effort done over the years to make everyone better.”
Belgium’s squad trainers have gathered valuable information in other ways as well. They take temperatures of the players before, during, and after practice. And, according to Beunen, the club has utilized wearable technology to track players’ heart rates, sprint speeds, distance traveled, and other data that assist coaches and trainers detect who is at danger of injury or becoming tired.
The data, which is available in real time on a smartphone or tablet, enables Beunen to assist head coach Shane McLeod in fine-tuning his replacement strategy during games, he added.
“If you see the numbers in hot weather, you can adjust to it and assist the players overcome it,” Beunen said.
The Belgian squad, which is accustomed to considerably milder summers back home, arrived in Japan early and trained for a week in Hiroshima to acclimatize.
During games and before they start jogging about, players drink slurries, which are basically electrolyte-rich beverages combined with crushed ice, according to Beunen, to decrease body temperatures even somewhat. Vanasch also said that he has been drinking just water continuously from dawn to evening.
Fortunately, Vanasch, the goalie, does not have to sprint around the field like his teammates, but he does have to carry a lot of gear, so he wears a cooling vest underneath it all and also uses a cooling spray. At halftime of Tuesday’s game, he changed into clean clothing.
Late in the game, Belgium’s training shone through. Despite playing its eighth game in 11 days and being tied at 2 with fifth-ranked India after three quarters, Belgium easily won the fourth session.
“We knew the circumstances would be difficult,” forward Cedric Charlier, 33, said after the win, his face dripping with perspiration. “We pushed ourselves harder, performed a lot of double training sessions, and are ready to dig deep into what we have.”
The most difficult test will be on Thursday, when Belgium, who won silver at the 2016 Olympics, takes against top-ranked Australia. The team’s performance so far, according to Beunen, proves that its preparations for the Olympics and the heat were successful. Despite the fact that Belgian athletes had previously participated in hot climates such as Australia and India, he said that the Tokyo Games were the “hardest competition they had ever played.”
Fortunately, Vanasch added, the final game would take place at night in Tokyo, away from the scorching heat of the day. He said, “We are ready to press another gear.”
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