U.S. gymnast Biles withdraws from uneven bars, vault

Simone Biles has withdrawn from the Olympic event finals Sunday in the vault and uneven bars, according to USA Gymnastics.

She continues to be evaluated daily to determine whether she’ll compete in the finals for floor exercise on Monday or balance beam a day later.

Biles said she was putting her mental health first when she withdrew from the gymnastics team event after one rotation. The U.S. women won silver there. She also chose not to compete in the all-around. American Sunisa Lee won gold in that event.

MyKayla Skinner, who had the fourth highest score in vault during qualifications, will compete in vault finals for the U.S. alongside Jade Carey, who finished with the second highest score. Biles was the defending Olympic champion in the vault.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL U.S. women perfect in the early rounds

It’s a perfect record in beach volleyball pool play for the American women.

Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes rallied from a firstset loss to beat Brazil’s Rebecca and Ana Patricia on Saturday in the preliminary round finale. The U.S. women went 3-0 in the round-robin, as did the other American team of April Ross and Alix Klineman.

After losing the first set 21-17, Sponcil and Claes opened a 19-14 in the second before losing four straight points. Then Rebecca served one long, and on their first set point, Sponcil angled one into the corner to tie the match one set apiece.

The Americans scored six of the first seven points in the tiebreaking set to pull away and win 15-11.

TRACK AND FIELD

U.S. gets DQ reversed

in mixed 400 relay

The U.S. men have a long history of dicey baton exchanges in the Olympic relays. So do the U.S. women.

Their latest was a firstof-its-kind chance to flub one together, which they might have, but they caught a break that gives them a chance to still win a medal.

In the Olympic debut of the 4x400-meter mixed relay, the U.S. was disqualified for a bad exchange, only to be reinstated after filing a t protest.

Officials originally ruled that Lynna Irby had positioned herself outside the passing zone when she received the exchange from Elija Godwin in Friday night’s preliminary heat.

Later, they overturned that decision on appeal. USA Track and Field announced the change but did not provide details of what happened. The Dominican Republic also had been disqualified but was later reinstated.

In the 4x400, officials direct the next group of runners onto the track to try to maintain a semblance of order in the sometimescrowded exchange zone. Runners can be every bit as attuned to where the officials tell them to line up as to the teammate about to give them the baton.

• Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare has been provisionally suspended after a positive test for human growth hormone. She was due to run in the semifinals of the women’s 100 meters at the Olympics on Saturday.

SWIMMING

Dressel wins gold in the 100 butterfly

American Caeleb Dressel has won his third gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics with a world record in the 100-meter butterfly.

Dressel led right from the start and held off Hungary’s Kristof Milak to win in 49.45 seconds, breaking the mark of 49.50 that he set two years ago at the 2019 world championships.

Milak, winner of the 200-meter butterfly, earned the silver with a blistering 49.68. The bronze went to Switzerland’s Noe Ponti.

Dressel’s victory came in the first of three races on his morning schedule. He’ll also compete in the semifinals of the 50 freestyle before returning to the deck one more time to anchor the 4x100 mixed medley relay, a new Olympic event that features two men and two women.

He’ll likely dive into the pool with a big deficit since he’s the only man in the field to swim the freestyle leg.

• Australian Kaylee McKeown completed a sweep of the backstroke events with a victory in the 200-meter butterfly.