Kalisz wins first U.S. medal
Swimmer leads an American 1-2 finish in 400 IM
Chase Kalisz won the first American medal of the Tokyo Games, taking gold Sunday in the men’s 400-meter individual medley.
Jay Litherland made it a 1-2 finish for the powerhouse U.S. team, rallying on the freestyle leg to take the silver. Brendon Smith of Australia claimed the bronze.
Kalisz, a protege and former training partner of Olympic great Michael Phelps, touched first in 4 minutes, 9.42 seconds.
Litherland was next in 4:10.28, just ahead of Smith (4:10.38).
Kalisz flexed his muscles and then climbed atop the lane rope, splashing the water while a contingent of his teammates cheered him from the stands of the nearly empty Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
“U-S-A! U-S-A!” they chanted.
Litherland came over to give the winner a hug, having ensured the Americans got off to the best possible start at the pool.
The Americans seized their chance after Japanese star Daiya Seto stunningly failed to advance to the final, having finished ninth in the preliminaries after making a tactical error attempting to save his energy for the medal race.
The finals were held in the morning Tokyo time rather than their usual evening slot, a nod to U.S. television network NBC, which wanted to show the finals live in prime time back in America.
First to gold: Hardly half a day passed before politics, the pandemic and blistering heat impacted events across the Tokyo Olympics. China’s Yang Qian, at least, stayed right on target. Yang overtook Anastasiia Galashina of Russia to win the first gold medal of the Tokyo Games in the women’s 10-meter air rifle Saturday. Her last shot was her worst of the finals but still rallied her past Galashina with an Olympic-record score of 251.8. Switzerland’s Nina Christen took bronze.
Palestinian pass: An Algerian judo athlete will be sent home after he withdrew from the competition to avoid potentially facing an Israeli opponent. Fethi Nourine and his coach, Amar Benikhlef, told Algerian media they were withdrawing to avoid a possible second-round matchup with Israel’s Tohar Butbul in the men’s 73 kg division on Monday. Nourine was to face Sudan’s Mohamed Abdalrasool in the opening round, with the winner facing Butbul, the fifth seed. The International Judo Federation’s executive committee has temporarily suspended Nourine and Benikhlef, who are likely to face sanctions beyond the Olympics. The Algerian Olympic committee then withdrew both men’s accreditation and made plans to send them home.
COVID-19 cancelation: The first event of the Olympic beach volleyball tournament was canceled because a Czech player tested positive for COVID-19. Marketa Slukova, who tested positive earlier this week, and partner Barbora Hermannova were eliminated from the tournament.
On the board: Naohisa Takato won Japan’s first gold medal, beating Taiwan’s Yang Yung-wei in the men’s 60-kilogram judo final. The charismatic Takato’s success could provide a muchneeded jolt of excitement for a nation still feeling ambivalent about these Olympics.