NewsTribune

‘Racing for a medal’

Swimming gold for Alaska, early exit for Osaka

TOKYO (AP) — Alaska produced a gold medal swimmer, while host Japan won’t get to celebrate a tennis gold medal after Naomi Osaka got knocked out early.

Seventeen-year-old Lydia Jacoby pulled off a stunning victory in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke Tuesday, upsetting American teammate and defending champion Lilly King.

“I was definitely racing for a medal. I knew I had it in me,” said Jacoby, who hails from the tiny town of Seward, which has a population of 2,733. “I wasn’t really expecting a gold medal, so when I looked up and saw the scoreboard it was insane.”

While that win set off a celebration in Alaska, there will be no celebration on the tennis court for Japan.

Osaka, who was born in Japan and grew up in the United

States, struggled with her usually reliable groundstrokes and lost 6-1, 6-4 in the third round to former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic

“I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this,” Osaka said. “I think it’s maybe because I haven’t played in the Olympics before and for the first year (it) was a bit much. I think I’m glad with how I played, with taking that break that I had.”

Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron in Friday’s opening ceremony, won her opening two matches in straight sets following a two-month mental-health break.

III

THE STREAK OF 12 straight gold medals for the U.S. men in the individual backstroke ended when a pair of Russians beat out defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy in the 100-meter race.

Evgeny Rylov won the gold medal in 51.98 and teammate Kliment Kolesnikov took the silver in 52.00. Murphy settled for the bronze in 52.19.

It was the first backstroke defeat for the U.S. men at the Olympics since the 1992 Barcelona Games.

They won 12 straight golds during the past six Olympics, including Murphy’s sweep of the 100 and 200 back at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

“Winning an Olympic gold medal means you’re the best in the world,” Murphy said. “Being third in the world is no slouch.”

III

THE UNITED STATES made it through to the quarterfinals of the women’s Olympic soccer competition after a scoreless draw with Australia.

The Americans are looking to win a fifth Olympic gold medal in Tokyo. They are also vying to become the first team to win at the Olympics following a World Cup title.

But they’ve made it hard on themselves at the Tokyo Games. The U.S. team lost to Sweden 3-0 in its opening match — snapping a 44-game unbeaten streak — before rebounding with a 6-1 victory against New Zealand.

III

FLORA DUFFY WON the Olympic women’s triathlon, earning Bermuda’s first gold medal ever and first medal of any kind since 1976.

Duffy is a two-time former world triathlon series champion. She’s competing in her fourth Olympics and is one of just two athletes representing Bermuda in Tokyo.

The start of the race was delayed 15 minutes because of storm conditions around Tokyo Bay. Duffy pumped her arms over her head as she finished the swimming, cycling and running course in 1 hour, 55:36 minutes.

OLYMPICS

en-us

2021-07-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.newstribune.com/article/282123524543704

WEHCO Media