USA top Olympic medal table as delayed Games draw to close

TOKYO, Japan -- Eliud Kipchoge produced a marathon masterclass and the USA edged China at the top of the Olympics medals table as the curtain was set to fall on the biggest sports event since the pandemic on Sunday.

After Kipchoge's marathon win for Kenya, volleyball, track cycling and basketball wins put the United States top of the medals tally with 39 golds, just one ahead of China in a battle for bragging rights.

With just handball and water polo finals still to come, the 2020 Games were all but done after defying an extraordinary build-up when they were postponed last year and veered close to the first cancellation since World War II.

Thirty-three sports have been contested across 16 days in largely empty stadiums, with fans barred over coronavirus risks and athletes living in strict biosecure conditions.

"Some were already speaking of 'Ghost Games'," Olympics chief Thomas Bach told an International Olympic Committee session on Sunday.

"What we have seen here is that on the contrary the athletes have brought soul to the Olympic Games."

A succession of big names have failed to perform in Japan but marathon world record-holder Kipchoge showed his class, kicking in the closing stages and clocking 2hr 08min 38sec to retain his 2016 title.

The Games have been plagued by low Japanese support over super-spreader fears and the marathon, moved north to Sapporo to avoid Tokyo's summer heat, was one of the few events to allow spectators.

"I know there were a lot of people against holding this Olympics due to the coronavirus," said a flag-waving, 47-year-old fan on the marathon route who gave his name as Tsujita.

"But I am glad it took place. This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience for everyone."

However, Sunday's closing ceremony will take place at a largely vacant Olympic Stadium, rounding off an extraordinary Games conducted mostly without live spectators but in front of a TV audience of billions.

- Trans athletes and 'twisties' -

Athletes, ordered to wear masks when not competing, training, eating or sleeping, have endured the extra psychological strain of strict "bubble" conditions in Tokyo.

Victory celebrations have been low-key, with lonely laps of honor and sparsely attended medal ceremonies. But the emotions of the competitors have been on full view.

Superstar gymnast Simone Biles provided the most jaw-dropping moment when she abruptly pulled out of competition over a bout of the "twisties", a disorientating mental block.

Biles, widely acknowledged as the greatest gymnast in history, recovered sufficiently to return for the final event, the beam, claiming a redemptive bronze.

Weightlifter Laurel Hubbard became the first openly transgender woman to compete at the Games and Canada's Quinn became the first openly transgender Olympic medallist, with gold in the women's football.

In other highlights, the US men's team won their fourth consecutive men's basketball crown and US swimmer Caeleb Dressel took over the mantle of Michael Phelps with five gold medals in the pool.

Among the final events on Sunday, Canadian cyclist Kelsey Mitchell took gold in the women's sprint while Jason Kenny won the men's keirin to become the first Briton to win seven Olympic titles.

The Americans started the day two golds behind China but the women's basketball and volleyball titles and US track cyclist Jennifer Valente's omnium victory put them top of the final table.

Uzbekistan's Bakhodir Jalolov beat US fighter Richard Torrez in the super-heavyweight boxing final, while Britain's Lauren Price and Ireland's Kellie Harrington also boxed their way to gold.

The Olympic flag will pass to 2024 hosts Paris at the closing ceremony. But the circus will reconvene in just six months' time when Beijing, faced with boycott threats and a renewed coronavirus emergency, holds the Winter Games in February.

Agence France-Presse

‘Bonded for life’: Kevin Durant revels in his 3rd Olympic gold

Kevin Durant said he is "bonded for life" with his US teammates after they beat France to win basketball gold Saturday, ensuring the Brooklyn Nets star joined all-time great Carmelo Anthony with a third Olympic title.

The 32-year-old has been the backbone of the team for a decade, scoring more Olympic points than any player in US men's basketball history, and he was again the standout against France.

He drilled 29 points to go with the 30 he bagged in the 2012 final against Spain and 30 in the 2016 decider against Serbia, reinforcing his incredible consistency. 

In doing so, he became the first American player to score more than 100 points in three different Olympics, accumulating 124 in Japan. 

"When you are part of a team that is evolving by the second, it's just amazing to see. Every game we continued to grow," he said, after the US were stunned in their opening group game by France.

"It's just that journey that is so important, you realise. You finish the job and get the gold medal, but when you go through that journey, man, it is just so special.

"I am bonded with these guys for life, it's a family for life. I am grateful we all committed to this (Olympics) early and finished it off." 

Durant who is poised to sign a four-year, $198 million contract extension with the Nets, according to his manager, scored 21 of his points Saturday in the first half.

He was quieter in the fourth term until he drained a pair of crucial free throws with eight seconds left.

Durant said he was reluctant to compare the gold medal in Japan with his previous two "because everything is its own memory". 

"But this is one of those special journeys that is hard to describe," he added.

"Each one of us put in that work every single day. From the coaches, to the trainers, to the players.

"We all came in with the goal of let's finish this thing off, let's build a family, let's build a team, let's finish this thing off."

US coach Gregg Popovich said he was "totally frozen" when his team won, calling it "an out of body experience when you are in those kinds of games".

"Every championship is special, every group is special, but I can be honest and say this the most responsibility I've ever felt, because you're playing for so many people that are watching it for your country," he said.

Popovich had special praise for Durant, whose experience proved vital to taking home the title.

"The relationships he builds with team-mates, the respect he garners, the joy he has in playing is like osmosis. It goes into all the other players," he said.

"That sort of love of the game and of people is what makes him more special as a player."

Agence France-Presse

Carlo Paalam advances to boxing finals

Carlo Paalam of the Philippines turns emotional after beating Ryomei Tanaka of Japan in their Tokyo Olympics men’s flyweight semifinals at the Kokugikan Arena on Thursday. The 23-year-old Pinoy boxer, who won 5-0, will be competing against Galal Yafai of Great Britain at the boxing finals on August 7 at 1 p.m. 

-reuters-

Japan's Yosozumi wins battle of the teens for Olympic skateboarding gold

TOKYO -- Japan's Sakura Yosozumi won the women's park competition to maintain the hosts' stranglehold on Olympic skateboarding on Wednesday and stop Kokona Hiraki and Sky Brown becoming the Games' youngest-ever gold medallists.

The 19-year-old carved up the Ariake Urban Sports Park with a flowing opening run in the final and her 60.09 points proved enough for victory ahead of teammate Hiraki, 12, and Brown, 13.

Despite missing the title Hiraki, who scored 59.04, becomes the youngest Olympic medalist since French rower Noel Vandernotte in 1936.

Brown, now Britain's youngest medalist, threatened to snatch a dramatic win with a flawless closing routine but her 56.47 was only good enough for bronze. 

"It was unbelievable," Brown said of her closing run. "Even right now it feels like a dream. It's insane. 

"I'm so happy and so thankful and so proud of every one of the other girls, too."

There was heartbreak for world number one Misugu Okamoto, who missed a medal when she fell on all three runs in the final to finish fourth.

Japan also snapped up the men's and women's street titles and they have bagged five of the nine medals so far as skateboarding makes its Olympic bow.

Skateboarding is one of four debut sports intended to reach new audiences and in an ultra-young field, only eight of the 20 competitors were out of their teens. The podium had a combined age of 44.

Both Brown, at 13 years and 28 days, and Hiraki (12 years and 343 days) were bidding to break an 85-year-old record to become the youngest champions in Olympic history.

They had a shot at bettering American diver Marjorie Gestring, who won 3m springboard gold aged 13 years and 268 days at the 1936 Games in Berlin.

For Brown, who is also Britain's youngest-ever Olympian, it completes a comeback just over a year after a horrific fall in training left her with skull fractures and a broken wrist and hand.

The accident would have ruled Brown, just 11 at the time, out of the 2020 Olympics if they had not been postponed for a year over the coronavirus pandemic.

"Everyone did amazing, everyone was doing so good, I'm so proud of everyone," she said on Wednesday, paying tribute to her friend Yosozumi.

"Just being on the podium with my really good friend is just insane."

Brown, born to a Japanese mother and a British father, opted to compete for Britain in 2019, saying the team offered a more relaxed approach.

Agence France-Presse

Greece, Spain advance to water polo semifinals

TOKYO (AP) — Greece is one win away from its first men’s water polo medal at the Olympics.

Konstantinos Genidounias scored five goals to lead Greece to a 10-4 victory over Montenegro in the quarterfinals of the Tokyo Games, and Spain also advanced with a 12-8 win against the United States on Wednesday.

Greece is making its first appearance in the semis since it finished fourth at the 2004 Athens Olympics. It finished sixth at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.

Next up is the winner of the Croatia-Hungary quarterfinal. Genidounias said winning a medal for Greece “means absolutely everything.”

“We’re not fighting for just the 13 of us and the coaching staff,” he said. “We’re fighting for (the) entire county. It would mean everything for us.”

Backed by a noticeable cheering section comprised of people from the country’s Olympic party, Greece limited Montenegro to one goal in the first half. Genidounias then scored three times in the third quarter to help his team open a 6-1 lead.

“We brought the good defense from the preliminary round, which was our goal,” Genidounias said. “One hundred percent it’s what gave us the win.”

Spain improved to 6-0 in Tokyo, outscoring its opponents 73-39, but it was pushed into the second half in the United States’ best performance of the tournament.

Spain was clinging to a 7-6 lead in the fourth quarter when a video review showed U.S. attacker Luca Cupido entered too early after an exclusion. Alberto Munarriz Egana buried the ensuing penalty shot, and Blai Mallarach Guell and Roger Tahull Compte added big goals down the stretch.

“It was not easy. It’s Olympic Games, it’s like that,” Spain captain Felipe Perrone said. “But it was important that we keep playing our way of playing.”

Daniel Lopez Pinedo, who turned 41 on July 16, made 11 saves for Spain, which will play the Italy-Serbia winner in the next round.

Hannes Daube scored three times for the U.S., which has dropped four straight. Alex Obert had two goals, and Alex Wolf finished with eight stops.

“We were great. I’m proud of my guys,” said U.S. coach Dejan Udovicic, who declined comment when asked about the video review that led to the penalty shot.

The 6-foot-4 Daube, the youngest player on the U.S. roster at 21, is considered a rising star, but he has struggled with inconsistency in his first Olympics. He scored five goals in five games during group play.

“Every game’s different,” Daube said. “So I try to go out there, do my best, stay confident, and my teammates have my back and I have their back.”

-Associated Press-

Simpler. Cheaper. Safer? Tokyo 2020's unanswered questions

TOKYO -- The year-long postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics due to coronavirus has presented organisers with unprecedented challenges and questions over costs, sponsorship and safety.

With one year to go, many of these questions remain unanswered, with surveys suggesting Tokyo residents are beginning to cool on the idea of hosting the Games during a global pandemic.

- What will a post-COVID Games look like? -

In a word, "simpler" -- the new buzzword for Olympic officials.

Tokyo 2020 chief Yoshiro Mori put it best when he said the Olympics "used to be conducted in an extravagant, grand, splendour. But the point is that in the face of COVID, would that kind of Games be accepted?"

With millions around the world losing jobs and the global economy facing the worst downturn since the Great Depression, officials are at pains to dial down the razzmatazz.

"We are looking, together with our Japanese partners and friends, on ways to simplify the organisation of the Games, how we can reduce the complexity of the Games, how we can save costs for these postponed Games," International Olympic Committee boss Thomas Bach told AFP in an interview last month.

But exactly how remains unclear. Tokyo 2020 has said there are 200 possible cost-cutting measures under discussion, without revealing examples.

Plans said to be on the table include cutting the number of spectators and reducing participation in the opening and closing ceremonies.

- How much will it cost? -

Again, we don't really know.

According to the latest budget, the Games were due to cost $12.6 billion, shared between the organising committee, the government of Japan and Tokyo city.

But the postponement has thrown up a plethora of new costs -- from re-booking venues and transport to retaining a huge organising committee staff for an extra year.

The IOC has already set aside $800 million to help organisers and sports federations meet the extra costs of a postponed Olympics, $650 million of which is earmarked for the Games.

Tokyo 2020 officials have remained tight-lipped about additional costs, saying they need to finalise the organisational side of things before working out the bill.

- What are the main headaches? -

Almost every aspect of the Olympic Games, after seven years of preparation, needs to be unpicked and started again. Let's take two of the major problems: sponsorship and venues.

Just before the year-to-go landmark, Tokyo 2020 said it had secured 100 percent of the venues for next year, leaving the competition schedule broadly unchanged.

But it remains unclear how much rearranging the venues will cost -- including buying out organisations that had reserved them for 2021.

Another major problem is the athletes' village, with many units already sold off as luxury bayside apartments.

The postponement and continued uncertainty surrounding the Games is also making sponsors jittery, with doubts over the $3.3 billion they were expected to stump up -- more than half Tokyo's revenue.

A poll published last month by Japanese public broadcaster NHK suggested 65 percent of sponsors had not decided whether to extend their financial backing for another year.

- Will they even happen? -

Senior officials from Prime Minister Shinzo Abe downwards have conceded a second postponement would be virtually impossible and that if the Games are not held next year, they would have to be scrapped.

Bach said he understood Japan's view that 2021 was the "last option" for the Tokyo Games, stressing postponement cannot go on forever.

Even the biggest optimists admit no one can be certain the coronavirus situation will allow the Games to happen.

"To be honest with you I don't think the Olympics is likely to be held next year," said Kentaro Iwata, a professor of infectious diseases at Kobe University.

"Japan might be able to control this disease by next summer, I wish we could, but I don't think that will happen everywhere on Earth, so in this regard I'm very pessimistic," he said.

- Will it be safe? -

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike told AFP last month that she would be making a "120 percent" effort to ensure the safety of everyone attending the Games, but this is no easy task.

Organisers have vowed to look at coronavirus countermeasures "from this autumn forward" but the scale of the challenge was encapsulated by John Coates, a top IOC official in charge of working with the Tokyo 2020 team.

"Do we quarantine the Olympic village? Do all athletes when they get there go into quarantine? Do we restrict having spectators at the venues? Do we separate the athletes from the mixed zone where the media are?"

"We've got real problems because we've got athletes having to come from 206 different nations," said Coates.

"There's a lot of people."

Agence France-Presse