4 more divers earn berths on US team for Tokyo Olympics
Horton won’t defend 400-meter gold medal
Michael Hixon and Andrew Copobianco earned berths for the Tokyo Olympics in men’s 3-meter synchronized diving at the U.S. trials on Friday night. Jessica Parratto and Delaney Schnell won the women’s 10-meter synchro to claim spots on the team.
Hixon, a silver medalist at the 2016 Rio Games, and recent NCAA champion Copobianco won handily with 1,289.27 points. Greg Duncan and Grayson Campbell took second at 1,168.80.
Hixon and Copobianco capped off their list with a forward 4 1/2 somersault tuck that earned 90.6 points for a dive with a 3.8 degree of difficulty.
Parratto, a 2016 Olympian, and Schnell were consistent throughout the final round, finishing with 930.00 points. Katrina Young, who made the Olympic team in 2016, and Murphy Bromberg finished second at 888.54.
Krysta Palmer and Alison Gibson made the U.S. team by winning the women’s 3-meter synchro on Thursday.
OLYMPICS
Meanwhile, the question of allowing any fans into Tokyo Olympic venues is still being debated with a decision unlikely to be announced before the end of the month.
This would be just a few weeks before the Olympics are to open on July
23. Fans from abroad have already been banned in what is shaping up as a largely made-for-television Olympics.
Tokyo and several prefectures are under a state of emergency until June
20. Infections have slowed recently, but the spread of variants is still a concern that could put pressure on already stressed medical facilities.
Dr. Nobuhiko Okabe, director general of the Kawasaki City Institute for Public Health, suggested on Friday he would lean toward few fans. He spoke on a panel put together by the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee.
“Thinking in a different way, I think it’s an option to suggest to people to enjoy the games on TV - like teleworking,” he said. “We could suggest a different way of enjoying the games.”
Okabe said it was not just a matter of fans in the venues, but what they do after leaving - heading to bars or restaurants.
“We don’t want people to move much,” he said. “That’s our wish as we think about anti-virus measures.”
Organizing committee president Seiko Hashimoto originally said she would announce a decision in April about local fans but has repeatedly postponed it.
Ticket sales were to account for $800 million in income for the organizing committee. Much of that will be lost and has to be made up by Japanese government entities.
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ADELAIDE, Australia: Mack Horton won’t defend his Olympic 400-meter freestyle title in Tokyo after failing to make the Australian team for the event.
Horton finished third in the final on the first night of the Australian selection trials on Saturday. Only the top two — Elijah Winnington and Jack McLoughlin — gained selection for the Tokyo games beginning July 23.
The opening night of the trials featured Australian records for Emma McKeon in the 100-meter butterfly and Brendon Smith in the 400-meter individual medley.
Winnington won in 3 minutes, 42.65 seconds, ahead of McLoughlin (3:43.27). Horton, who clocked 3:43.92, can still earn selection in the 200-meter freestyle to be contested Sunday.
Earlier, McKeon broke her own national 100-meter butterfly record and was on a world-record pace until fading in the last five meters. McKeon, who could race as many as eight events in Tokyo, won in 55.93 seconds, bettering her previous Australian record of 56.18.
McKeon won four medals — gold and two silvers in relays and a bronze in the 200 freestyle — at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
At Tokyo, the medal races will be held in the morning with heats at night.
But Australia’s selection trials have switched that around to the traditional morning heats and night finals, after all previous domestic meets this year raced to the Tokyo schedule.