RECORDS FALL AT TOKYO OLYMPICS
TOKYO — Sydney McLaughlin keeps getting faster.
McLaughlin, who set a world record in the women’s 400 meters hurdles during the U.S. Olympic trials, broke her own record and won an Olympic gold medal Wednesday at Olympic Stadium.
McLaughlin was timed in 51.46 seconds, eclipsing her record of 51.90.
U.S. teammate Dalilah Muhammad, the 2016 gold medalist and previous world record holder, finished second with a personal-best of 51.58.
Anna Cockrell of the United States also was in the final, but she was disqualified.
After qualifying in rain-soaked evening semifinals on Monday, the final was contested in sunshine and heat.
McLaughlin had said she was not feeling pressure as the world-record holder.
“It’s one of those things, you acknowledge that it happened, but the job’s not done,” she said on Monday. “So just try to be better from there. Improve upon that last race at the trials and see how far I can go.”
Athing Mu’s confidence pays off with U.S. gold in 800 meters
TOKYO — Before she left the United States to compete in the Olympics, Athing Mu spied a hair barrette in a department store. The accessory and the word inscribed on it, she said, were perfect for her planned appearance in the 800-meter final.
“It says ‘CONFIDENT,’ because I’m confident,” Mu said Tuesday after she became the first American woman in more than a half century to win an Olympic gold medal in the 800.
Just as she did in the U.S. Olympic trials and in her first two Olympic races, Mu, 19, was in complete control en route to a victory that continued to cement her status as one of track and field’s rising young stars.
Mu finished in 1 minute, 55.21 seconds to give the United States its first gold medal of these Games in a running event. Keely Hodgkinson of Britain earned the silver medal, Raevyn Rogers of the United States won the bronze.
In winning the gold medal, Mu matched a feat last achieved for the U.S. by Madeline Manning at the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City.
“It was definitely a goal of mine to be a gold medalist,” Mu said. “I knew it was possible, so I’m not super … shocked or anything.”
Mu, a New Jersey native, attended Texas A&M for one year and won the NCAA 400meter title before turning pro. She qualified for the Games in the 800 in a world-leading 1:56.07.
After her victory Tuesday, she indicated that she has plans beyond dominating the 800. In the future, she aims to run both the 400- and 800-meter events.
“I want to do that,” she said. “We’re also looking to break the 800 world record eventually.” — Gary Klein, L.A. Times
Simone Biles returns to win bronze in balance beam
TOKYO — This one was for her, so she could enjoy the challenge and adrenaline of competing again, a familiar pleasure that had been yanked away from her by an onset of spatial disorientation so severe that she risked injury when she attempted a basic twisting move.
Simone Biles wanted one last chance to have a moment of joy after a miserable week of daily medical evaluations and conversations with sports psychologists as they all tried to figure out why her brain and her body had suddenly and stubbornly ceased to cooperate. That misfire led her to scratch from the women’s team event and withdraw from the finals of the allaround, floor exercise, vault and uneven bars. “It wasn’t easy pulling out of all those competitions,” she said. “People just thought it was easy, but I just physically and mentally was not in the right head space and I didn’t want to jeopardize my health and my safety, because at the end of the day it’s not worth it.”
All that remained in an Olympic gymnastics competition she had been expected to dominate was the balance beam event final Tuesday night at Ariake Gymnastics Centre.
Biles was cleared to compete late Monday after speaking with officials of the International Gymnastics Federation, the sport’s international governing body. She believed she could get through it if she changed her beam dismount to eliminate the double twist she usually combined with a double flip. She substituted a double pike because she was still not over “the twisties,” as the frightening disorientation is called by gymnasts. “Every time I watch the guys and the girls out there, I want to puke,” she said. “Every time I watch them do a double-double, because I cannot fathom how they’re doing it.”
Drawing on instinct and nerve, Biles performed a strong routine that earned a score of 14.000. It wasn’t packed with the ridiculously difficult moves she usually reeled off, and it was properly ranked behind the performances of Chinese teenagers Guan Chenchen (14.633) and Tang Xijin (14.233). But it was infinitely precious to Biles.
“The pressure was there, but I was doing it more for myself, and I was excited to just compete at the Olympic Games, because that’s what I planned coming in,” Biles said after earning her seventh Olympic medal, tying Shannon Miller for the most career Olympic medals won by an American gymnast.
“To be cleared to do beam, which I didn’t think I was going to be, just meant the world to be back out there. I wasn’t expecting to walk away with a medal. I was just going out there doing this for me and whatever happens, happens.”
No one should begrudge her that opportunity.
Biles, 24, is many things to many people. Most visibly she has been an innovator who has moved the sport forward with her power and strength, winning a record 25 medals in world championship competition. Her skills and sustained excellence have made her a role model for all athletes — especially for women of color, who see her and dare to dream big dreams.
Equally important, she has been a gadfly to USA Gymnastics, neither forgiving nor forgetting its mishandling of the long-term sexual abuse inflicted against gymnasts by former national team doctor Larry Nassar. She won’t let the organization forget the horrors it allowed to happen. Her voice carries great weight, and her perseverance will make the sport safer for all who follow. — Helene Elliott, L.A. Times