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-

PH boxer Eumir Marcial advances to Tokyo Olympics semi-final round

Eumir Marcial of the Philippines reacts after winning against Arman Darchinyan of Armenia during the Tokyo Olympics men's middleweight quarterfinal at the Kokugikan Arena in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday. Marcial advances to the semi-final round to compete against Oleksandr Khyzhniak of Ukraine on Aug. 5, at 2:03 p.m.

-reuters-

Nievarez wraps up Olympic campaign in rowing

Filipino Olympian Cris Nievarez competes in the men's single sculls in rowing at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics at the Sea Forest Waterway, in Tokyo, Japan on Friday. The first-time Olympian and only Southeast Asian qualifier in Tokyo wrapped up his campaign at 23rd overall. 

-reuters-

Weightlifter Diaz gets 1st Philippines gold, no China sweep

TOKYO (AP) — Hidilyn Diaz became the first Olympic gold medalist from the Philippines on Monday, winning the women’s 55-kilogram category to stop China’s bid for a perfect Tokyo Games in weightlifting.

At her fourth Olympic Games, Diaz overtook Liao Qiuyun of China on her last lift in the clean and jerk to win with a total 224 kilograms. That was one more than Liao.

The Philippines has competed at every edition of the Summer Olympics since 1924 — except for a boycott of the Moscow Games in 1980 — with three silver and seven bronze medals before Diaz’s win. She previously won a silver medal in 2016, which was at the time her country’s first appearance on an Olympic podium for 20 years.

China had won all three events so far in the weightlifting competition and was hoping to sweep the gold medals in the eight competitions its athletes have entered. No country can enter more than four men’s and four women’s events. Liao came into the competition as the world record holder with a total 227kg.

Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan took bronze with 213kg. Chinshanlo won what was then the 53-kilogram class at the 2012 London Olympics but was stripped of her gold medal after a positive test for two banned steroids found when her sample was retested in 2016.

Uzbekistan’s Muattar Nabieva led the competition with a snatch lift of 98kg but was 9kg behind Chinshanlo on the clean and jerk and placed fourth, missing the podium by one kilogram.

-Associated Press-

History-seeking Biles makes flawed entrance at Tokyo Games

TOKYO, Japan -- American gymnastics superstar Simone Biles got off to a shaky start in her quest for five gold medals and Olympic history in Tokyo on Sunday, as an Uzbeki mother-of-one bid a poignant farewell after a remarkable career spanning eight Games.

At 46 years old, Oksana Chusovitina, gold medallist at her debut Olympics in Barcelona in 1992, has earned the right to occupy her time in more sedate ways than exploding up a 25 metre runway and somersaulting backwards over a vault against competitors younger than her son.

Among those rivals is Biles, who kept the wheels on her bid to level Soviet great Larisa Latynina's record of nine gymnastics gold medals, but her qualifying performances were peppered with rare imperfections.

On the floor, Biles over-rotated after one series of mesmerising tumbles and went off the mat, drawing a gasp from at least one onlooker in the near-deserted Ariake Centre.

She rolled her eyes after another unsteady landing over on the vault, and her performance director Tom Forster expressed disbelief after an untidy end to her beam routine.

"Simone took three big steps on the beam dismount, I've never seen her do that before," said Forster.

Biles qualified top in the all-around and vault, and was second on the floor, with the USA occupying the same position behind the Russians for Tuesday's team final.

But in the beam standings she paid for her flawed ending to lie sixth of the eight progressing.

Biles also booked a place for the uneven bars final, though, which the 19-time world champion missed at Rio 2016, as the eighth qualifier.

While there were many moments of dazzling Biles brilliance, Forster was thankful this was only qualifying.

"We're going to be okay... this is not the finals, this is getting into the finals, this might be a great awakening for us," he said.

He said there was work to do. "Mostly fixing steps on the floor. Staying in bounds would help," he added, putting the lapses down to "nerves".

Biles later chose to focus on the USA's team title defence rather than any personal ambitions of adding to all the precious metal on her sideboard.

"I feel we did a pretty good job. Obviously there are little things we need to work on, so we'll go back and practise and work on that, just so we can do our best performance at team finals, because that's what matters."

One gold medallist from Rio out of luck on Sunday was Sanne Wevers.

- 'Tears of happiness' -

The Dutch beam outgoing champion had to wait 13 minutes for the judges to announce her score but when they did it sent her not to the final, but to the airport.

"They've just told me I will be on the plane home tomorrow. So, my short-term future is just about packing my bags and going home," she said, adding that she had reached the same assessment of her routine as the judges "in a lot less time!".

Another gold medallist, but from much further back than Rio, departing Tokyo was the evergreen Chusovitina.

She received a hugely affectionate ovation from her team, rivals, media and photographers when she narrowly failed to qualify for the vault at her eighth and last Olympics.

Born in 1976, Chusovitina's Olympic odyssey began in Barcelona in 1992, where she won team gold, adding silver in the vault in Beijing 2008.

"We thank her for her contributions to artistic gymnastics," the stadium announcer said as teams, officials and journalists applauded.

She said later she had been crying "tears of happiness, because so many people have supported me for such a long time.

"I'm just so grateful."

Monday sees the first gymnastics title on offer with the men's team final.

Agence France-Presse

Swimming: After humbling Phelps, Schooling seeks another shock at Tokyo Olympics

Singapore's Joseph Schooling famously upset the great Michael Phelps to win Olympic gold but he said "my biggest rival is myself" as he bids to return to form at the Tokyo Games.

Schooling, the Southeast Asian city-state's first Olympic champion, said the year's pandemic delay had given him extra time to prepare after a disappointing world championships in 2019.

The 25-year-old caused a sensation at Rio 2016, when he beat his idol Phelps -- who has a record 23 Olympic gold medals -- by a fingertip to win the 100m butterfly.

Five years on, Schooling again looks an outsider and although he still wants to win "more than ever", he admitted much of his fate was beyond his control.

"It is always a never-ending pursuit of trying to get better. Win or lose, you're going to give it your best," he told AFP via email.

"In the past, I was always focused on winning, and I still am, I still want to win more than ever. But at the same time, it is also important to find a balance -- the push and pull, letting go of what you can and can't control."

- 'Had to make some changes' -

Schooling hasn't been at his best since Rio, and he crashed out in the heats of the 100m butterfly at the 2019 world championships in South Korea.

Later that year, he won only one individual title at the Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines, and was criticised by fans for being out of shape.

"I simply wasn't as prepared as I should have been for those two meets," Schooling said. "Having said that, I recognised that I had to make some changes which I did."

Schooling has been allowed to defer his compulsory national service -- set at two years for all Singaporean men -- since 2014, with an extension granted last year when the Tokyo Games were postponed.

"Despite the Tokyo Olympics being postponed, I think you can find positives out of every negative," he said. 

"It gives me an extra year to get physically and mentally stronger, working on the things that can get me to where I want to be... I look at the extra year as a positive boost for myself."

Swimming against Phelps was a clear motivator for Schooling, who was photographed with the now-retired American legend as a boy.

Now, he said: "My biggest rival is myself. I want to perform at the best of my ability.

"You can't control what other people do, you can only control yourself and what you’re able to do," Schooling added.

"Right now my aspirations would just be to put myself in the best position possible to do the things I want, and win or lose, I'll be happy if I give it my all."

Agence France-Presse

100 days to go until Tokyo Olympics

The Rainbow Bridge is illuminated with Olympic colors on Wednesday to mark the 100 days countdown to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics that were postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 outbreak in Tokyo, Japan. A Kyodo News poll showed more than 70% of people in Japan want the Tokyo Olympics to be cancelled or delayed due to COVID-19 fears as Tokyo recently began measures to curb a fourth wave of infections. 

-reuters-

New lockdowns in Europe, overseas fans banned at Tokyo Olympics

PARIS - Several European countries introduced new lockdown measures Saturday as they battled surging coronavirus infections, while Tokyo Olympics organizers were forced to announce an "unavoidable" ban on overseas fans to keep the Games safe.

Residents in Poland, parts of France and Ukraine's capital Ukraine all faced new restrictions, with most shops shut and people urged to work from home. 

Elsewhere in Europe, frustrations with COVID-19 curbs were spilling over, with scuffles breaking out at a large anti-restrictions protest in the German city of Kassel, and thousands joining similar demonstrations in Liestal, Switzerland and London.

"End the lockdown" and "Corona rebels", read signs held by demonstrators at the protest in Kassel, which was organized by a group that has drawn in activists from both the far-left and far-right as well as anti-vaxxers and conspiracy theorists.

In Africa, Madagascan President Andry Rajoelina reiterated his own vaccine skepticism, adding that it would be an untested herbal remedy he has previously touted "that will protect me and my family". 

The pandemic is still speeding up worldwide, with the number of new COVID-19 infections rising globally by 14 percent over the past week, according to AFP data. 

Pakistan's Prime Minister Imran Khan became the latest world leader to test positive -- two days after receiving China's Sinopharm vaccine. 

The former cricketing legend is self-isolating with mild symptoms, his spokesman said.

FRANCE'S 'LOCKDOWN-LITE'

More than a third of France's population is now under a renewed lockdown as the country, along with several European neighbors, battles a third wave of the virus. 

But the curbs are lighter than those enforced at the height of the pandemic last year, with schools remaining open and hairdressers, shoemakers and chocolate shops added to an expanded list of businesses allowed to accept customers.

The government has also scrapped the forms once required to justify all trips outside the home, which were widely derided as an example of excessive French bureaucracy.

On the sunny banks of the River Seine, some Parisians questioned whether the restrictions could really be described as a "lockdown" at all. 

"I can't see any change, apart from the closed shops," said a resident named Philippe, strolling with his daughter in the midst of cyclists and joggers. 

ASTRAZENECA ROW ESCALATES

The row over AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine meanwhile shows no signs of abating, with EU chief Ursula von der Leyen threatening to halt exports of the jab if the bloc does not receive its deliveries first.

The Anglo-Swedish pharma giant has delivered only 30 percent of the 90 million vaccine doses it had promised for the first quarter of the year, blaming production delays at its EU plants.

"We have the option of banning a planned export. That's the message to AstraZeneca: you fulfil your contract with Europe first before you start delivering to other countries," von der Leyen told Germany's Funke media group.

European officials are furious that AstraZeneca has fallen short on the continent while fully delivering on its UK commitments -- something that has allowed the recently-departed EU member to give half of its adult population at least one jab as of Saturday.

AstraZeneca has also had to contend with worries that its jab may cause blood clots, with more than a dozen countries pausing its use recently.

Several European countries including Germany and Italy resumed AstraZeneca vaccinations Friday after an all-clear from EU regulators and the World Health Organization.

But Scandinavian nations Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland have all said they want more information before deploying the vaccine again.

Seeking to reassure their populations, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his French counterpart Jean Castex both received a dose of AstraZeneca on Friday.

"I literally did not feel a thing. It was very good, very quick," said Johnson who became seriously ill from COVID-19 last year.

Brazil, meanwhile, said it was in talks with the US to import COVID-19 vaccines that Washington is not currently using and has already vowed to share with Mexico and Canada.

FOREIGN FANS BANNED FROM OLYMPICS

With more than 400 million vaccine doses already injected globally, organizers of the Tokyo Olympics had previously billed this summer's Games as a chance to provide "proof of humanity's triumph over the virus".

But on Saturday, Olympics chiefs announced that overseas fans would be banned as it remains too risky to invite large international crowds to Japan.

"We have to ensure a safe and secure environment for all the participants," said Tokyo 2020 chief Seiko Hashimoto. "It was an unavoidable decision."

The unprecedented ban will make the Tokyo Games the first ever without overseas spectators.

Agence France-Presse

Singapore Olympic champion Schooling gets national service delay

Singapore's Olympic swimming champion Joseph Schooling was handed a fresh national service deferment on Tuesday, allowing him to compete in next year's postponed Tokyo Games.

The city-state requires all male citizens and permanent residents aged 18 to serve two years in the military, the police or emergency services.

But Schooling was allowed to defer national service in 2014 to train for Rio 2016, where he famously beat his idol Michael Phelps to win the 100 metres butterfly -- Singapore's first and only Olympic gold medal.

The 25-year-old was given another reprieve to train for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but the Games were moved to next year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The defence ministry said it "will grant extensions of deferment" for Schooling and another Tokyo-bound Singaporean swimmer, Quah Zheng Wen, "to train for and compete in the Olympic Games".

Both, however, will be scheduled for enlistment should the postponed Games be cancelled, the ministry said.

"Deferment may be granted to exceptional sportsmen who are assessed to be potential medal winners for Singapore at top-tier international competitions like the Olympic Games," a ministry statement said.

"Applicants will have to show why deferment is necessary for them to compete successfully at these competitions and bring national pride to Singapore."

It said Schooling and Quah have met the criteria and have committed to be focused in their preparations.

In 2018, the defence ministry refused an application by Singaporean footballer Ben Davis to defer national service so he could play in the English Premier League, saying he did not meet the criteria.

Davis signed a deal with Premier League side Fulham anyway, and could now face jail for missing his national service if he returns to Singapore. 

Schooling faces a tough fight to repeat his 2016 success -- he was criticised for being out of shape at last year's Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines, where he won only one individual gold medal.

Agence France-Presse

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

Half of Tokyo residents oppose Olympics in 2021: poll

TOKYO, Japan -- Just over half of Tokyo's residents don't think the postponed 2020 Olympics should be held next year, backing either a further delay or outright cancellation because of fears over the coronavirus, according to a poll published Monday.

The survey carried out by two Japanese news organisations is only a single data point, but comes after health experts warned that even a year's delay may not be sufficient to hold the Games safely.

The poll conducted over the weekend found 51.7 percent of respondents hope the Games in 2021 are postponed again or cancelled, while 46.3 percent want to see the rescheduled Olympics go ahead.

Among those opposed to a 2021 Games, 27.7 percent said they want them cancelled altogether, while 24.0 percent would prefer a second postponement.

The telephone poll, conducted by Kyodo News and Tokyo MX television between June 26-28, received 1,030 replies.

Of those who said they want to see the Games held next year, 31.1 percent said the event should be in a scaled-back form, including without spectators, while 15.2 percent said they wanted to see a full-blown Olympics.

Tokyo 2020 was postponed in March as the coronavirus spread across the globe, causing the worst disruption to the Olympics since two editions were cancelled during World War II.

The Games are now scheduled to begin on July 23, 2021, although they will still be known as the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Officials from Japan and the International Olympic Committee have warned it will not be possible to postpone again, and even the year-long delay has created significant financial and logistical headaches.

The poll, conducted ahead of the Tokyo gubernatorial election on July 5, also found incumbent Yuriko Koike leading her opponents "by a large margin".

Her precise lead was not specified, in keeping with a media tradition of not publishing polling figures in the days before a vote.

Koike has been heavily involved in preparations for the Games, travelling to Rio for the handover ceremony after the last Summer Olympics.

Earlier this month, she told AFP that the rescheduled Olympics will be safe despite the coronavirus pandemic, pledging a "120-percent effort" to ensure the first-ever postponed Games can go ahead.

Agence France-Presse

Fear of the unknown: Locked-down athletes face mental health challenge

MELBOURNE - When Olympic swimming champion Kyle Chalmers completed what he knew would be his final training session before the coronavirus shutdown, his overwhelming feelings were of sadness and the fear of what was to come.

Fear does not come easily to the strapping 21-year-old Australian, who has endured two heart operations since winning the 100 metres freestyle title in Rio and raises crocodiles and pythons for a hobby.

While it took some "processing" to digest the fact that his dream of defending his Olympic title in Tokyo had been shifted back 12 months, it was the prospect of not setting foot in a swimming pool for half a year that really had him rattled.

"That was my hugest fear, not being able to do what I love which is swimming, and if I couldn't do that for six months, I was getting pretty edgy about it," Chalmers told Reuters by phone from South Australia.

"I love training and I love exercising. I think I love training more than I love racing."

Chalmers is one of thousands of athletes whose dreams have been put on hold following the postponement of the Tokyo Olympics, while thousands more around the world are in lockdown with their sporting careers shelved indefinitely.

"Unknowns are quite challenging, especially for athletes whose days are mapped out from the minute they wake up to the minute they go to sleep," Chalmers added.

"And that's everybody's fear, and especially mine, getting out of that structured routine and just trying to work out what to do with that free time now."

SHOCK PHASE

Health experts warn that a prolonged isolation could take a big mental toll on people whose livelihoods and self esteem are intrinsically linked to competition.

"A lot of athletes are still in an initial shock phase, probably confused and also with some relief after all the chaos," Caroline Anderson, a psychologist who works with professional and Olympic athletes in Australia, told Reuters.

"Probably their two main coping strategies in life are having that competitive edge and being able to really push themselves physically for six-seven hours a day. They haven’t got that anymore which is very difficult."

Chalmers has taken to yoga, hiking and an exercise bike to keep in shape mentally and physically while he awaits the arrival of a loaned swimming pool housed in a shipping container for his back yard.

Former Olympic butterfly champion Chad le Clos is trying to make the best of the situation by tethering himself to a bungee cord as he swims in his own small backyard pool in Cape Town.

"It is not ideal, but you have to be creative given the limitations you have," the South African told Reuters.

"That will help to keep me going."

The top athletes possess exceptional drive, talent and the ability to perform under relentless pressure but they are no less vulnerable to mental health problems.

Many have spoken openly of their battles with depression and their recoveries from nervous breakdowns. Others carry their burdens quietly. A slew have committed suicide in recent years.

Self-isolation raises the threat of acute psychological events, and not just for athletes with pre-existing conditions, psychologist Anderson said.

"That sudden stopping of the sport, from a physiological or biological standpoint, there’s a reduction in endorphins but also (a loss of) identity," she said.

"They see themselves as athletes and sport is very tied up in that. Without the sport, the inability to train, these are absolutely risk factors."

'WIGGING OUT'

Many athletes are putting a brave face on the lockdown, converting garages and bedrooms into home gymnasiums and posting cheerful videos of themselves on social media keeping fit by "bench-pressing" their children.

Tennis great Roger Federer cheered fans with a video of himself practising trick-shots against an outdoor wall as it snowed at his Switzerland home.

American middle distance runner Emma Coburn, who took bronze in the 3,000-metre steeplechase at Rio, told Reuters: "I'm not feeling stress or anxiety about it. I enjoy in general being at home."

But the weeks and months of the lockdown will be a time when mental health experts on the payroll of teams and federations earn their keep as they try to plot a path for athletes in what is effectively uncharted territory.

Frustration at the confinement has already spilled over on occasion, with high profile soccer players getting into hot water for breaching government orders on social distancing by hosting parties and drinking sessions.

Such incidents usually occur as celebrations after competition, said Gearoid Towey, the founder of Crossing the Line, a charity focusing on the wellbeing of athletes.

"I think this is slightly different. There isn’t anything, per se, to celebrate. People are locked up in their houses," he said.

"You're probably going to get some incidents but with all the mental health resources in place, sports will generally know which athletes might be prone to 'wigging out'.

"You'd like to think they’d have extra support for them."

(Reporting by Ian Ransom, Nick Mulvenney in Sydney, Amy Tennery in New York and Nick Said in Cape Town. Writing by Ian Ransom and Nick Mulvenney, editing by Peter Rutherford)

-Reuters-

USA Gymnastics says its athletes want Tokyo Olympics postponed

The majority of USA Gymnastics athletes support the idea of postponing the July 24-Aug. 9 Tokyo Olympics due to concerns about the coronavirus crisis, the federation said on Monday.

The national governing body had asked gymnasts to complete an anonymous survey to ensure their voices were heard on the topic of whether to delay the two-week showcase event.

"After considering the responses from athletes who participated in our survey & the 62% who were in favor of delaying the Games, we are adding our voice to the chorus advocating for postponement," Li Li Leung, president and chief executive officer of USA Gymnastics, said in a news release.

"We are grateful to have our athletes' insight and input to guide this decision."

The U.S. women, spearheaded by four-time Olympic and 19-time world champion Simone Biles, are favourites to complete a hat-trick of team titles in Japan should they ultimately attend an event whose organisers are facing global pressure to postpone.

Detailed results of the survey, which followed recent calls from USA Swimming and USA Track and Field to postpone the Tokyo Olympics, were not disclosed.

Earlier on Monday, International Olympic Committee member Dick Pound said the IOC has decided to postpone the Games in light of the pandemic with an eye towards possibly staging them next summer instead.

Major sporting nations Australia and Canada had already withdrawn on Monday as organisers came under global pressure to postpone the event for the first time in its 124-year modern history. 

(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto and Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Ken Ferris)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Japan says Tokyo Olympics may be postponed due to coronavirus

TOKYO - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said for the first time on Monday that the Tokyo Olympic Games may need to be postponed if the event cannot be held in its "complete form" due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Sunday after an emergency meeting that it is stepping up its "scenario planning" for the 2020 Games due to start on July 24, including a possible postponement.

Abe said that while cancelling the Games was not an option, a delay was now on the cards if that was the only way to hold the event in its complete form.

"If that becomes difficult, we may have no option but to consider postponing the Games," he told parliament.

He said he had conveyed his views to Tokyo Games chief Yoshiro Mori on Sunday evening, who then discussed the issue with IOC President Thomas Bach.

Under mounting pressure from athletes, federations and national committees to postpone the Games, the IOC did a partial U-turn on Sunday after long insisting, with Tokyo organisers, that the Games would go ahead as planned.

Tokyo 2020 organisers have started drafting alternative dates for the Olympics, sources have told Reuters.

More than 13,000 people have died globally since the coronavirus outbreak began in China late last year, with the epicentre now in Europe.

As of Sunday morning, Japan had 37 deaths and 1,055 coronavirus cases, excluding those from a cruise ship that was quarantined near Tokyo last month and returnees on chartered flights from China, a tally by public broadcaster NHK showed.

Abe said all travelers from the United States, including Japanese citizens, would be asked to go into quarantine for 14 days after their arrival in Japan.

In the United States nearly one in three residents has been ordered to stay at home to slow the spread of the flu-like virus as cases nationwide topped 32,000, with more than 415 dead, according to a Reuters tally.

Japan's foreign ministry has advised citizens to avoid non-essential and non-urgent travel to the United States. 

(Reporting by Leika Kihara; Editing by Chang-Ran Kim and Stephen Coates)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Virus sparks wild stock market swings

TOKYO - Global stock markets suffered wild swings on Friday over the spiralling coronavirus crisis that has killed nearly 5,000 people and disrupted sport, schools and society across the planet.

The virus has affected all walks of life, not sparing sports stars, celebrities or world leaders, with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announcing he was in self-imposed quarantine after his wife tested positive.

It has also forced the sealing off of entire countries, draconian government measures not seen in peacetime, and the scrapping of global sporting and cultural events from Broadway to basketball.

Japan's stock market plunged more than 10 percent at its low on Friday, following the worst day on Wall Street since the crash of 1987 as traders scrambled to sell everything on fears the virus will catapult the world into a deep recession.

But the Nikkei rallied to close 6 percent down on huge volatility as traders weighed emergency big-bang measures by central banks in the United States and eurozone, and government fiscal stimulus packages.

An extraordinary day of trade in Australia saw the main stock market close higher by four percent after falling by eight percent at one point, with some players apparently seeing buying opportunities in the carnage.

Forager Funds' Steve Johnson described the day's trade as "completely and utterly nuts".

'Worst in a century'

The human toll also continued to rise, with nearly 131,500 people infected across 116 countries and territories, and 4,925 dead, according to an AFP tally.

The virus, which first emerged in China in December, has quickly spread around the world even as cases in Asia have leveled out in recent days.

China claimed "the peak" of the pandemic had passed its shores, but infections and deaths jumped dramatically in Italy, Spain and Iran, which announced 75 new deaths on Thursday.

French President Emmanuel Macron said it was "the worst health crisis in France in a century" as he ordered schools and universities closed "until further notice" -- following similar moves in many other countries.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson issued a grim warning to the public over the virus, which has predominantly killed the elderly and other people with already weakened immune systems.

"More families, many more families are going to lose loved ones before their time," Johnson said, as he urged people with symptoms to stay at home.

With countries imposing travel bans -- Australia was the latest to recommend citizens reconsider foreign travel -- global tourism has ground to a halt, and many people have been left stranded as dream holidays turned to nightmares.

Betul Akcagoz, a tourist from Turkey on holiday in Vienna, told AFP: "So bad. There is nothing to do. I hope we can go back to Turkey because in our country, they said they might close the borders too."

"I hope they won't because we don't want to be stuck here."

The chaos extended to Europe's airports, where confused passengers scrambled to redraw their plans after US President Donald Trump this week banned all travellers from mainland Europe for the next 30 days.

"We just got off our plane and we're going to go straight back -- we can't believe it," said 29-year-old Tiara Streng, queuing with three friends at London's Heathrow Airport for a return flight to Colorado.

'A little bit crazy'

The virus has cut a swathe through sporting events around the planet.

The NBA basketball league in the United States was this week shut down for 30 days.

The season-opening Australian Grand Prix became the latest high-profile casualty on Friday, with the event cancelled just hours before the action was due to start after a McLaren team member tested positive.

In England, Chelsea's players and coaching staff were ordered into isolation as Callum Hudson-Odoi became the first Premier League player confirmed positive, as doubts swirled over the rest of the season.

The virus has placed a major question mark over the "Greatest Show on Earth", the Tokyo Olympics, with Trump saying "maybe they postpone it for a year."

But Japan's Olympic minister said neither organizers in Tokyo nor the International Olympic Committee were thinking "at all" about delaying or cancelling the Games, due to open on July 24.

With authorities warning large gatherings should be avoided during the outbreak that the WHO has officially classified as a pandemic -- entertainment venues like Disneyland have been closed and the curtain this week also came down on Broadway.

Ted Levitt, a 63-year-old pensioner came to New York from Maryland with his daughter to watch "Hamilton" and thought the measures were overblown as he learned on Thursday the show was cancelled.

"I think it's not as bad as they say but I guess you've got to stop it somehow. I think everybody's getting a little bit crazy," he told AFP.

source: news.abs-cbn.com

NBC plans for Tokyo Olympics as coronavirus worries advertisers

If NBCUniversal is anxious about how coronavirus may affect its plans for the Olympic Games, it is trying not to show it.

“The Olympics are obviously on everybody’s mind,” Brian Roberts, chief executive of Comcast, NBCUniversal’s parent company, said at a conference Tuesday. “What I know is, it’s full steam ahead. We’re getting ready. We’re excited.”

The media giant has been the main broadcaster of the Summer Games since 1988 and the Winter Games since 2002. In 2014, it paid roughly $7.7 billion to retain the US broadcast rights to the Olympics through 2032.

NBCUniversal has sold more than $1.25 billion in advertising commitments, or nearly 90 percent of the available ad space, to go with 7,000 hours of broadcast, streaming and social media content, the company said Tuesday. It plans to deploy more than 2,000 people to Japan for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which start July 24.

The coronavirus could disrupt not only NBCUniversal’s coverage of the Games but also its advertising arrangements, sponsorship deals and promotional events.

As the outbreak expands, killing more than 3,200 people and infecting an estimated 92,000 in dozens of countries, Japanese officials and Olympics organizers have said the Games will proceed as planned. But companies that have signed up for ads are increasingly concerned that the most-watched sporting event in the world may be canceled, rescheduled or diminished.

John Shea, president of marketing and events for Octagon, a sports agency working with several Fortune 100 companies on Olympics deals, said advertisers were taking the threat seriously.

“You’re planning for the world’s biggest event, and there are tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars attached to these opportunities,” Shea said, “so these questions are being asked at every level of our clients’ organizations.”

“We have to anticipate that the Games will happen,” he added, “but it would also be irresponsible for us not to acknowledge and recognize that a number of scenarios could take place.”

Sports agents have said they are concerned that endorsement deals with athletes may be affected. Companies like Twitter, which has a deal with NBCUniversal for daily live coverage of the Tokyo Games, have restricted employee travel and backed out of conferences and other events.

Roberts brought up the worst-case scenario in his comments Tuesday. “We try to anticipate, for big events, what might happen so that we’re protected there, and we also have insurance for any expenses we make,” he said. “So there should be no losses should there not be an Olympics. There wouldn’t be a profit this year. But, again, we’re optimistic the Olympics are going to happen.”

Michael Lynch, a marketing consultant who from 1995 until 2012 led Visa’s global sponsorship strategy, which included events like the Olympics, noted the importance of sponsors.

“There’s this enormous brand infrastructure around the world,” he said. “The Games don’t happen without the corporate support.” He added that companies with money in the Olympics were “hoping and praying” that they went on as scheduled.

Major companies that have signed on as sponsors ahead of the 2020 Summer Games include Coca-Cola, Airbnb, General Electric, Procter & Gamble and Visa.

“It would be disastrous if it’s canceled,” said Steven Moy, chief executive of ad agency Barbarian. “There could be a very dramatic impact to the whole economy.”

NBCUniversal also counts on its Olympics programming to promote itself. It plugs its network and cable series, Universal movies and theme parks in between volleyball matches, track-and-field contests and gymnastics competitions.

The “Today” show and Lester Holt’s “Nightly News” program were broadcast from the Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and NBC comedy “Superstore” had a ratings lift when it followed Olympics programming. Other NBC shows, including “The Voice” and “The Tonight Show,” have scored big ratings when the network scheduled them after the opening and closing ceremonies. And Universal film “Jason Bourne” grossed more than $400 million at the box office after it received a promotional push during the 2016 Games.

The Olympics have faced threats before. The Zika virus sparked alarm before the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, and political tensions with North Korea preceded the Pyeongchang Games in 2018. In both cases, the Games went on, and NBC broadcast them to millions of viewers.

NBC also found itself in a bind in 1980, when the United States boycotted the Moscow Olympics. Even after its insurance through Lloyd’s of London kicked in, NBC took a $34 million loss.

If the Tokyo Olympics are canceled, insurance is likely to cover losses related to broadcast rights and production through a claim that the coronavirus was an act of God. But it is not clear if it would protect NBCUniversal if Olympics-themed commercials and promotional tie-ins were scrapped.

In most circumstances, companies pay for Olympics ads after they appear. If the Games are canceled, or continue with fewer nations competing and lower ratings, NBCUniversal may be required to release companies from their ad commitments or otherwise compensate them.

But many ad agencies have spent months working on campaigns tailor-made for the Games that would not make sense in the context of, say, “This Is Us.”

“Unfortunately, there is no simple or easy replacement for the Olympics,” said Kevin Collins, an executive at ad-buying and media intelligence firm Magna. “There’s nothing out there of equal value from a marketing or programming standpoint.”


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