China remain atop the Olympics Games medal table as they maintained their five-gold buffer over the United States with two on Friday in Tokyo.
The table-toppers head into the penultimate day at the Olympics with their advantage still intact, courtesy of gold in the women's javelin and the men's team table tennis.
Shiying Liu became the first Asian woman to win gold in the javelin, while China extended their perfect record in table tennis since its 2008 introduction – Ma Long becoming the most decorated table tennis Olympian with his fifth triumph.
USA matched China's gold count on day 14, collecting the top spot in the women's beach volleyball and via Gable Steveson's last-second victory in the men's superheavyweight freestyle wrestling.
Japan remain in third place and collected two golds, the first of which came in the women's featherweight freestyle wrestling from Mayu Mukaida with the second following through three-time world champion Ryo Kiyuna, who was crowned the first ever men's kata karate Olympic champion.
After falling down to sixth on Thursday, Great Britain bounced back up to fourth with a pair of golds. Laura Kenny teamed up with Katie Archibald to become the first British female Olympian to triumph at three consecutive Games – winning the women's madison comfortably.
Kate French captured Team GB's other gold in the women's pentathlon, though there could have been a third had the men's 4x100 metre relay team not been pipped at the line by Marcell Jacobs' Italy.
The Russian Olympic Committee sit in fifth on 17 golds, Zaurbek Sidakov securing their sole gold of the day in the men's welterweight freestyle wrestling.
After firing a blank on Friday, Australia – who equalled their best ever medal haul at the Games a day earlier – dropped down to sixth, level with the Russians on 17 golds.
The British and Irish Lions lock horns with South Africa once more in Saturday's decider, with the Test series on the line at 1-1 as it boils down to the final game.
The Lions battled to a 22-17 opening victory but will now have to lick their wounds and respond to the heavy 27-9 defeat that the Springboks inflicted in Cape Town last Saturday.
While Warren Gatland's men eye a first series win on South African soil since 1997 in the winner-takes-all showdown, the Boks are also aiming to piece together consecutive series successes over the tourists for the first time since 1962-1968.
Each of Gatland's three Lions series have gone to the wire, though it will be a tough task to bounce back from South Africa's comeback victory last time out.
Having suffered an 18-point loss, the Lions head coach has made a host of changes, bringing in front-row forwards Ken Owens and Wyn Jones alongside scrum-half Ali Price, full-back Liam Williams, wing Josh Adams and centre Bundee Aki.
Despite Gatland's changes tailoring to the pre-existing strategy of matching their opponents physically, attack coach Gregor Townsend insisted creativity would be the key to overcoming Siya Kolisi's reigning world champions.
"If you create opportunities, you have more chance of winning the game," Townsend said. "You may create more through pressure. We know we have to control the game more by moving South Africa around, draining them of energy whenever we can."
The introduction of Finn Russell, who Townsend explained "can ask different questions than any fly-half in the world," on the bench for Owen Farrell may offer the tourists that.
The Boks, in contrast, make just the two enforced changes. Pieter-Steph du Toit and Faf de Klerk miss out through injury, opening up room for Lood de Jager and Cobus Reinach to start.
De Jager's arrival will force Franco Mostert into the back row role he filled after 55 minutes last time out. Indeed, Mostert's shift gained control of the lineout, ensuring the hosts won the remainder of the game 16-0.
Discipline key
The war of words between both camps, following Rassie Erasmus' remarkable campaign against the match officials, carried over onto the pitch in the second Test, yet Kyle Sinckler was the only player cited amid a hostile showing from both teams.
However, if the Lions are to succeed in the decider, they must remain composed in response to the Boks' contentious style of game management.
Gatland commented on the "stop-start" nature of the first two Tests but Courtney Lawes maintained his team "can't get too caught up in the niggle of stuff, scrapping."
"They can throw their handbags around, as long as we can get the ball out and play some rugby," the 32-year-old added.
Kolisi jumped to the defence of his side, who have been accused of time-wasting and suffocating games to their benefit, declaring: "If there are niggles we can't leave a man behind. That's our system and what we believe in."
Aerial bombardment
The Lions struggled under the high ball in the second Test and any chance of success for Gatland's men largely hangs on the aerial performances of their back three.
Duhan van der Merwe has endured a mixed tour so far, with a positive first outing and a fairly poor second showing. He is joined by Williams and Adams who will go head-to-head with key Springboks Willie le Roux and Makazole Mapimpi.
The latter battle between two try machines promises to be a thriller. Adams leads the Lions' scoring charts with eight tries in four appearances, though Mapimpi also boasts an impressive 15 in 16 internationals.
In response to the tourists' heaviest defeat since 2005, Gatland has rolled the dice in his selections and, if the Lions can get the ball in hand and play as opposed to battling themselves into the ground, they have a chance of legacy-making glory.
TEAMS
South Africa: Willie le Roux, Cheslin Kolbe, Lukhanyo Am, Damian de Allende, Makazole Mapimpi, Handre Pollard, Cobus Reinach; Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi, Frans Malherbe, Eben Etzebeth, Lood de Jager, Siya Kolisi (captain), Franco Mostert, Jasper Wiese.
Replacements: Malcolm Marx, Trevor Nyakane, Vincent Koch, Marco van Staden, Kwagga Smith, Herschel Jantjies, Morne Steyn, Damian Willemse.
British and Irish Lions: Liam Williams, Josh Adams, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Duhan van der Merwe, Dan Biggar, Ali Price; Wyn Jones, Ken Owens, Tadhg Furlong, Maro Itoje, Alun Wyn Jones (captain), Courtney Lawes, Tom Curry, Jack Conan.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Mako Vunipola, Kyle Sinckler, Adam Beard, Sam Simmonds, Conor Murray, Finn Russell, Elliot Daly.
KEY OPTA FACTS
- Since 1962-1968, the past five series between the Lions and the Springboks have seen the winner alternate, with the hosts winning the most recent series in 2009.
- The Lions gained just 105 metres from 85 carries against South Africa in the second Test, their average gain of 1.24 metres per carry the lowest by a tier-one side in a Test match since Opta began recording such data in 2010.
- Both matches in this series have been won by the side trailing at the break; the Lions defeated the Springboks in the opener after outscoring them 19-5 in the second half, while in the second Test South Africa scored 21 unanswered points in the second 40 minutes.
- The Lions have lost just two series after winning the first Test (W10, D1) – against New Zealand in 1930 and Australia in 2001 – with the tourists winning four and drawing one of their five such series against South Africa.
- Alun Wyn Jones is set to win his 12th Lions Test cap, joining Mike Gibson and Graham Price as the joint-fourth most capped player in Lions history, behind only Willie John McBride (17) and Dickie Jeeps (13).
- Damian de Allende has made 25 carries during the series, six more than any other player, gaining the most metres (76), as well as the most post-contact metres (67).
Andre Iguodala has confirmed he will return to the Golden State Warriors on a one-year deal and plans to end his career with the franchise he helped to three NBA titles.
Iguodala was a pivotal part of the Warriors' dynasty, which saw them reach five successive NBA Finals between 2015 and 2019 and win championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
Having accepted the role of sixth man in the 2014-15 season, Iguodala moved into a more prominent position for the 2015 Finals, with his defense of LeBron James crucial to Golden State's 4-2 victory.
Iguodala was named 2015 Finals MVP and continued to have a significant influence on the Warriors' success thereafter.
The swingman shot 49.4 per cent from the field and 37.8 per cent from three-point range in the playoffs in 2018 when Golden State won their most recent title.
He produced the same field goal percentage in the 2019 postseason as the Warriors lost in the Finals to the Toronto Raptors, before then moving on to the Miami Heat and helping them reach the Finals in the NBA Bubble.
Iguodala's field goal percentage of 38.3 for the Heat last season was the worst of his time in the NBA, but while he admitted to pondering retirement this offseason, he is relishing the chance to bring the curtain down at the place where his career reached its zenith.
"Who would have thought I'd have the opportunity to go back to the place where I was able to have, whatever you want to call it, legacy years, in terms of the accomplishments, winning multiple championships, the relationships that I was able to build with some of my closest friends and teammates?" the 37-year-old told The New York Times.
"The relationship with the fans, the relationship with the Bay, the opportunity to end it here, was just something special."
Iguodala will likely play a key role in mentoring the younger members of the Warriors' roster.
Golden State did not pull off the blockbuster draft-night trade many were anticipating, instead using picks 7 and 14 on two teenagers in Jonathan Kuminga and Moses Moody. The Warriors used the second overall pick in 2020 on a center with just three games of college experience in James Wiseman, who showed flashes of his potential before a meniscus injury ended his rookie year.
While that trio will look to call on Iguodala's experience, he is hopeful he can still make an impact on the court perhaps even beyond the 2021-22 season.
"I think I've got some more time left," Iguodala said. "Where I'm comfortable at is I can decide when I'm ready to go.
"I think I want to leave with just a little bit left. I don't want to go out on one leg. I know I've got a few more years. It's just my decision whether it's one or two or three or whatever it may be. I shouldn't even say three. One or two."
Men’s 4x400 Metres Relay
Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago both advanced to the final.
The Trinidadian team consisting of Deon Lendore, Jereem Richards, Machel Cedenio and Dwight St. Hillaire ran a season’s best of 2:58.60 to finish 3rd in heat 1 and progress.
Jamaica fielded a team of Demish Gaye, Jaheel Hyde, Karayme Bartley and Nathon Allen to finish 2nd in heat 2 with a season’s best time of 2:59.29 to advance.
Women’s 400 Metres
The Caribbean secured two medals in the women’s 400 metres.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas successfully defended her title from the 2016 Games by winning gold in a personal best 48.36, the 6th fastest time ever in the event.
She was followed by Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic who took silver in a national record 49.20.
Allyson Felix of the USA became the most decorated female track athlete in Olympic history by finishing 3rd and securing her 10th Olympic medal, one more than Jamaican legend Merlene Ottey.
Jamaicans Stephenie-Ann McPherson and Candice McLeod finished 4th and 5th in 49.61 and 49.87 respectively.
Cuba’s Roxana Gomez started the final but unfortunately failed to finish, pulling up injured about 100 metres into the race.
Women’s 4x100 Metres
The Jamaican quartet of Briana Williams, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson celebrated Jamaica’s Independence Day by running a national record of 41.02 to secure the gold medal.
This marks Jamaica’s first time winning Olympic gold in women’s 4x100 metres relay since Athens 2004.
Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, Jenna Prandini and Gabby Thomas combined to run 41.45 to secure the silver medal for the USA, while Great Britain with Asha Phillip, Imani Lansiquot, Dina Asher-Smith and Daryll Neita ran 41.88 for bronze.
Men’s 4x100 Metres
Jamaica finished 5th in the final of the men’s 4x100 metres relay.
Jevaughn Minzie, Julian Forte, Yohan Blake and Oblique Seville combined to run 37.84 to finish behind Italy, Great Britain, Canada and China.
The Italian team of Lorenzo Patta, Lamont Marcell Jacobs, Fostine Desalu and Filippo Tortu ran a national record 37.50 to secure gold and continue the country’s impressive track & field showing in Tokyo.
The British team comprising of CJ Ujah, Zharnel Hughes, Richard Kilty and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake ran 37.51 to finish just behind the Italians in 2nd.
Aaron Brown, Jerome Blake, Brendon Rodney and Andre De Grasse combined to run 37.70 and secure the bronze for Canada.
Decorated Jamaica female sprinter, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, has called for an end to berating the country’s male sprinters in light of several disappointments at the Tokyo Games.
The post-Usain Bolt Olympic era begun in difficult fashion for the Jamaica men’s team, with the dizzying heights of world record times and podium topping finishes seemingly, for now, well and truly in the past.
In the 100m, an event dominated by Bolt for the past three Olympics, no Jamaican was able to advance to the final for the first time in over two decades. Over double the distance, where Bolt also dominated for the last three editions, one Jamaican, Rasheed Dwyer, made it to the final but finished in 7th place.
In the 4x100m, where the country has won for the last two Olympics, after being stripped of a gold medal in 2008, the team finished fifth in the final. Despite the rapid descent being too much for some fans, who have made their grouses know via various social media platforms in recent weeks, Fraser-Pryce has called for an end to the criticism.
Having been part of the teams that dominated along with Bolt, the athlete has called for patience and appreciation.
“All the Jamaicans that are beating the men and cursing and leaving all the negative comments, you need to stop it,” Fraser-Pryce said, in the aftermath of being part of a gold-medal-winning 4x100m relay team.
“It takes a lot of guts and hard work year to year to compete, to come out here and to represent. A lot of persons are competing at these championships, some of them are going away without making the finals. We were in the finals, so we need to start celebrating the men because their time is coming.”
Elaine Thompson-Herah completed a stunning sprint hat-trick at the Tokyo Olympics as Italy enjoyed further success on the track on Friday.
Having won both the 100m and 200m individual finals, Thompson-Herah was part of the impressive Jamaica team, alongside Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson and Briana Williams, that won the women’s 4x100m relay, finishing ahead of the United States.
No female athlete had been victorious in all three sprint events at a Games since American Florence Griffith Joyner back in 1988.
Thompson-Herah now has five Olympic golds in total, one behind Allyson Felix, who added to her collection with a bronze medal in a 400m race won convincingly by Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas.
After success in the 100m, Marcell Jacobs doubled his tally of golds from the Games as part of Italy’s 4x100m relay squad that pipped Great Britain on the line.
However, it was Filippo Tortu who ran an outstanding final leg for the Italians, seeing him edge out Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake on the line.
ITALIAN JOB SECURES MORE GOLD
Italy's relay triumph takes them up to five golds in athletics – they had never previously won more than three at a single Olympics. It is the first time they have made the podium in the 4x100m relay since a bronze in 1948.
"This is the year of Italy, this is our year," said a delighted Jacobs. "We won the Eurovision, we won the football European championships, we won five gold medals (in athletics)."
Also in Friday's action on the track, Joshua Cheptegei triumphed in the men's 5000m final while Faith Kipyegon claimed gold in the women's 1500m, with Sifan Hassan – who had won the 5000m – finishing third. She has a chance to claim another medal when running in the 10,000m on Saturday.
"I am very happy with my race. I tried my best, but I couldn't do more than this," Hassan said after her bid to complete an Olympic treble came to an end.
"I think, for me, the third place is good. There was a lot of wind at the stadium today and that is what made it difficult for me. I can't do anything about that, I just didn't have any more strength.
"For now, it is all about taking enough rest in order to be able to race again tomorrow."
KENNY KEEPS ADDING TO COLLECTION
Laura Kenny now has five Olympic gold medals after teaming up with Katie Archibald to win the madison for Great Britain.
The pair were dominant in the inaugural women's event, finishing up with 78 points. Denmark were a distant second on 35, with the Russian Olympic Committee taking bronze.
Kenny had already managed a silver in Tokyo in the women's pursuit, with this latest Olympic medal taking her to six. Only dressage rider Charlotte Dujardin can match that tally for a British woman.
"When I fell pregnant, there was a moment two months into the pregnancy where I woke up and said to Jason (Kenny, husband and fellow Olympian), 'I can't do this, I'm not going to be able to carry on (with cycling), there's just no way'. And here we are," said Kenny.
There was a one-two result for the Netherlands in the men's sprint, Harrie Lavreysen seeing off compatriot Jeffrey Hoogland in a tense final. Britain's Jack Carlin claimed the final spot on the podium.
GROSSO HITS THE SPOT
Canada held their nerve in a penalty shoot-out to become Olympic champions for the first time in women's football, overcoming Sweden in a dramatic final.
Julia Grosso slotted in the winning kick to secure a 3-2 triumph after Canada goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe had twice made crucial saves. Sweden had the chance to win it with their fifth attempt, only for captain Caroline Seger to fire over the crossbar.
In the men's tournament, Mexico defeated Japan 3-1 in the bronze medal game.
"We wanted to win a medal at these Olympic Games, so I feel very thankful," said Mexico coach Jaime Lozano. "In football, this is the most important day in my life. What we have experienced today will be with us for the rest of our lives."
ANNAN ACHIEVES A FIRST
In the women's hockey final, the Netherlands claimed a record fourth title as they defeated Argentina 3-1.
The result sees Alyson Annan become the first woman to get a gold as both a player and a head coach.
"It's nice but it's not why I do this," Annan said of that achievement. "My goal as a coach is to hopefully be a part of someone's career and have them look back and say 'That was a great time and I learned a lot and I became a better player and a better person'.
"For me it's not about the gold medal. That's for them."
Great Britain took bronze with a 4-3 win over India.
Jamaica Women’s 4x100m relay team admits it was a disappointment to miss out on breaking the event’s world record but were nonetheless happy to give their nation a gift on its Independence Day.
The quartet of Briana Williams, Elaine Thompson-Herah, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, and Shericka Jackson captured the gold medal with a new national record of 41.02. The time narrowly eclipsed the previous mark of 41.07, set at the 2008 Beijing Games, but was some way short of the 40.82 set by the USA in 2012. The time was, however, the third-fastest ever run over the distance.
Even with the threat of the US, the quartet used safe changes for most of the race, with the bigger target clearly being the gold medal. Despite, dominating the 100m sprints for over a decade, the gold medal was the first for the Jamaica women’s team since Athens 2004.
“It wasn’t perfect, but we did manage to get the stick around. We didn’t get the world record, but we got a national record on Independence Day, what more could you ask for,” Thompson-Herah, who added a third gold medal for the Games, said following the event.
Fraser-Pryce, the 100m silver medallist, backed up the notion.
“It was good, as an elite athlete or a senior athlete, I was just ready to make sure we took the opportunity and took the stick around and we got a national record. We wanted a world record, but we also wanted Elaine to get the three gold medals because the last Olympics she missed it and now we have it,” Fraser-Pryce said.
The Jamaicans had taken silver behind the USA at the 2016 Rio Olympics, the last time Thompson had been in a position to claim three gold medals after winning the 100m and 200m.
The relay gold was, however, also the first for Fraser-Pryce, who saw the team she was part of at the 2008 Olympics fail to get the baton around the track and also being a part of quartets that finished second in both 2012 and 2016.
Williams was participating in her first Olympics, while Jackson who got a 4x400m silver in 2016 has only just started to take part in the sprints.
Stephanie Labbe was the penalty shoot-out hero as Canada took gold in their maiden Olympic final appearance following a 1-1 draw with Sweden.
Stina Blackstenius' first-half opener had the Scandinavians ahead but Jessie Fleming restored parity with a spot-kick after half-time when VAR intervened for a foul on Christine Sinclair.
Kadeisha Buchanan proved Canada's last-ditch hero with a clearance off the line to take the game to extra-time before Labbe's two saves secured a 3-2 triumph in the shoot-out.
Kosovare Asllani did the initial work for Sweden's opener, dispossessing Canada midfielder Quinn before rolling to Blackstenius, whose first-time attempt benefited from a slight deflection to find the back of the net.
Sinclair, whose 187 goals for Canada make her the all-time leading goalscorer in international football, nipped in front of Amanda Ilestedt and, after consulting VAR, Fleming levelled things up with a low spot-kick.
Asllani spurned a glorious opportunity to seal gold with a minute to go as she saw her effort cleared off the line by Buchanan, sending the final to extra-time and subsequently penalties with neither side finding a winner in the additional 30 minutes.
Sweden failed with their opening penalty, Asllani hammering into the right-hand post, before Fleming coolly slotted in Canada's first to gain an early advantage.
That lead quickly faded away, however, when Ashley Lawrence saw her effort saved and both Nathalie Bjorn and Olivia Schough converted for the Swedes.
Swedish veteran Caroline Seger had the chance to secure glory with the decisive strike, despite Labbe's save against Anna Anvegard, but she blasted over, sending the shoot-out to sudden death after Deanne Rose found the top right corner.
Labbe produced another stop from Jonna Andersson, teeing up Julia Gross for victory and she made no mistake, finding the bottom left corner to seal gold after consecutive bronzes in 2012 and 2016.
In the men's football, Mexico recovered from semi-final shoot-out heartbreak against Brazil to beat Japan 3-1 in Friday's bronze-medal match.
Sebastian Cordova netted the opener and provided the second for Johan Vasquez before Alexis Vega put the game out of the host nation's reach, despite Kaoru Mitoma grabbing a late consolation.
Marcell Jacobs declared 2021 as "the year of Italy" following his second gold at Tokyo 2020 in the men's 4x100m relay on Friday.
Jacobs, 26, powered to a surprise gold in 9.80 seconds in the men's 100m final before combining with Lorenzo Patta, Eseosa Desalu and Filippo Tortu to win Italy's first medal in the relay since London 1948.
The relay win gave Italy a fifth athletics gold in Tokyo, tied with the United States for the most. They had never previously claimed more than three at a single Games.
Jacobs has become just the second Italian to win multiple athletics Olympic titles after Ugo Frigerio's three walking golds between 1920 and 1924.
An outstanding meet continues a remarkable year for Italy, in which the country also won Eurovision before ending a 53-year wait for a European Championship triumph at Euro 2020, beating England in July's Wembley final.
"This is the year of Italy, this is our year," Jacobs said. "We won the Eurovision, we won the football European Championship, we won five gold medals [in athletics]."
Tortu's superb final leg gave Italy victory ahead of Great Britain by only 0.01s. Canada, led by 200m champion Andre De Grasse, finished third.
It was another unexpected success for Jacobs, who added: "I would never expect this [a second gold] before leaving, nobody would have expected that.
"Thank you Italy. We really have worked well and we believed in it so much. I adore these guys.
"Before entering the track, we looked at each other and we were determined to win a medal."
Elaine Thompson-Herah made it a hat-trick of Tokyo 2020 golds, Marcell Jacobs celebrated a famous double and Shaunae Miller-Uibo defended an Olympic title she won in Rio five years ago.
After Jamaica had celebrated glory in the women's 4x100 metres relay for Thompson-Herah's third top-podium finish, Jacobs – a shock winner of the men's 100m title – was part of the Italian team who won the men's race.
Elsewhere, Faith Kipyegon romped to 1500m glory to end Sifan Hassan's chances of an unprecedented Games treble.
Here's a round-up from the penultimate night of athletics inside the Olympic Stadium.
THOMPSON-HERAH AND JACOBS CELEBRATING AGAIN
Thompson-Herah's dream Olympics continued with a third gold medal of Tokyo 2020 in the 4x100m.
Having already taken out the 100 and 200m in the individual races, Thompson-Herah combined with the legendary Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Briana Williams and Shericka Jackson to take the gold in a blistering 41.02 - the second-fastest time ever run.
The United States took the silver ahead of Great Britain in third.
It was a far closer fight in the men's race, with Great Britain in pole position coming to the last changeover only for Filippo Tortu to run a blinding last leg that led Italy to victory by just 0.01s.
Andre De Grasse – the 200m champion here in Tokyo – was part of a Canadian team who earned bronze.
MILLER-UIBO DEFENDS IN DOMINANT FASHION
The 400m has proven a happy event for the Bahamas over the past two nights, with Miller-Uibo defending her title from Rio just a day after compatriot Steven Gardiner won the men's race.
Miller-Uibo was dominant, powering out of the final bend and storming to the line in an area-record time of 48.36s.
Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic set a national record 49.20 to take silver ahead of American legend Allyson Felix – who now has 10 Olympic medals.
Liu Shiying of China was the victor in the women's javelin thanks to a throw of 66.34m – a good time to launch a season's best distance. Poland's Maria Andrejczyk was heavily fancied for gold but had to settle for silver ahead of Kelsey-Lee Barber from Australia.
HASSAN'S HISTORY HOPES ENDED BY BRILLIANT KIPYEGON
Hassan was aiming to become the first athlete to win a 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m treble at a single Games and had already won gold in the second of those distances.
But it was not to be in the 1500 with the Dutchwoman settling for bronze in a race won emphatically by Kenya's Kipyegon in an Olympic-record time of 3:53.11.
The two were the pacesetters for the majority of the race but Kipyegon made a break on the back straight, while Hassan was ultimately overtaken by Great Britain's Laura Muir and finished third.
The men's 5000m was won in convincing fashion by world-record holder Joshua Cheptegei in 12:58.15.
Italy doubled up in the 20km walk race, with Antonella Palmisano celebrating her birthday with gold a day after Massimo Stano took out the men's event over the same distance. Dawid Tomala of Poland was a surprise winner of the men's 50km, a distance he was walking competitively for only the third time.
Elaine Thompson-Herah is the best sprinter in women's history according to former 400m hurdles champion Edwin Moses.
The Jamaican sprinter became the first woman in history to complete the double-double by defending her Olympic 100 and 200 metre titles in Tokyo before adding her third gold of the Games in the women's 4x100m relay on Friday.
Thompson-Herah, 29, set a new national record with her earlier 200m success and recorded the second-fastest time in the history of the event.
Those achievements led Moses, a former American track star and two-time Olympic gold medallist, to the conclusion that Thompson-Herah is in a class of her own.
"She’s the best women's sprinter in history," Moses exclusively told Stats Perform. "She's proved that over and over.
"She came through at the right time, I think people were concerned about her and even when she ran against Dina Asher-Smith and didn't win, people were concerned but she was obviously in that final phase of training and she didn't want to show her cards. She did an outstanding job."
Thompson-Herah, fresh from her earlier 100m exploits, fell just 0.19 seconds short of Florence Griffith-Joyner's long-standing 200m world record that was set in 1988.
However, Moses explained there is a possibility that the five-time Olympic champion could complete the seemingly impossible and break Griffith-Joyner's records.
"It's possible. Obviously it's going to depend on the track," Moses continued. "If it's not the Tokyo track we don't know what she's capable of doing.
"She ran very, very fast there and those kinds of times are going to be much harder to run on normal tracks and aren't that Mondotrack that they had in Tokyo."
The Jamaican women added the 4x100-meter relay title to their Tokyo Olympic collection after sweeping the podium in the 100-meter final.
The Jamaican team won in a national record 41.02 seconds. It was the second-fastest time in history and ended the U.S. team’s push for a third consecutive Olympic gold in the event.
The American team of Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, Jenna Prandini, and Gabrielle Thomas won silver in 41.45 and Britain took bronze in 41.88.
Elaine Thompson-Herah won the 100 meters on Saturday in an Olympic record. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was second and Shericka Jackson was third in that race. Those three joined Briana Williams as the Jamaicans added the Olympic relay title to their world championship gold in 2019.
Track cycling queen Laura Kenny scooped the fifth Olympic gold of her stellar career by teaming up with Katie Archibald to win the madison for Great Britain.
Kenny, who was an omnium and team pursuit champion at the 2012 and 2016 Games, became the first British woman to win gold medals at three Olympics.
Archibald was also a victorious British team pursuiter in Rio five years ago, and she and Kenny proved an irresistible partnership in Tokyo's inaugural women's Olympic madison.
They scored a staggering 78 points, with Denmark's Amalie Dideriksen and Julie Leth second on 35 points and the Russian Olympic Committee's Gulnaz Khatuntseva and Mariia Novolodskaia scoring 26 in taking bronze.
Kenny's win boosts her record tally of women's track cycling gold medals.
Of all competitors in track cycling, only her husband Jason Kenny and fellow Briton Chris Hoy have won more gold medals, with both having six to their name.
Among all female British Olympians, nobody has won more medals than Kenny, who also landed a team pursuit silver on Tuesday. The madison success meant she matched British equestrian star Charlotte Dujardin's haul of six medals (three gold, one silver, two bronze).
Kenny, 29, became a mother to son Albert in August 2017 and suspected at the time she had crossed the finish line in her cycling career.
She said after Friday's triumph: "When I fell pregnant, there was a moment two months into the pregnancy where I woke up and said to Jason, 'I can't do this, I'm not going to be able to carry on [with cycling], there's just no way'. And here we are."
Dutch rider Harrie Lavreysen prevailed in the men's sprint, becoming the first Olympian from the Netherlands to win two gold medals in track cycling, having landed a first in the team sprint earlier this week.
The latest triumph saw Lavreysen become the first Dutch winner of the sprint since Jacobus van Egmond in the 1932 Los Angeles Games.
He led a Dutch one-two, with silver going to Jeffrey Hoogland, while Britain's Jack Carlin took bronze.
Hoogland won the first heat of the final but Lavreysen came back to level in the next before taking gold, with both riders exhausted by the gruelling decisive third sprint.
Lavreysen said: "I was really thinking confident before the races like I was going to win this. I lost the first one, but I also made a mistake. So I thought, 'Okay, just refresh and go for the second one, I can still win this'. I got my head really clear and just focused on winning the race.
"It's such an amazing feeling. When I was on the track I really wanted to cheer and put my hands in the air, but I couldn't do it, I was in so much pain."
Carlin was satisfied with his third-placed finish, saying: "The Dutch team for the last five years have been dominant and both of those boys have unbelievable talent. It was always going to be hard against them."
Breanna Stewart said it would be an "insane" achievement for Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi to reach five Olympic gold medals after Team USA reached the Tokyo 2020 basketball final.
A comfortable 79-59 win over Serbia carried coach Dawn Staley's team through to Sunday's title match.
The USA will be chasing a seventh consecutive gold and a 55th successive Olympic game win, with Bird and Taurasi the longest serving players on the current roster.
Bird and Taurasi have been on the team since the Athens Games in 2004, with Stewart a relative newcomer after first being called up for Rio 2016.
"Sue and D, what they've done for USA basketball is extremely special," Stewart said.
"The fact that they're going for five straight golds is insane and I think for the rest of us as players, we want to make sure we put them in the best possible position to get that gold."
There could be a basketball double for the USA in Japan, with the men through to a title game against France on Saturday.
The women's team have surpassed the Olympic achievements of their male counterparts in this century.
The men managed only bronze in Athens but have won the three Olympic tournaments since, while the women last failed to gain gold in 1992 at Barcelona.
Bird, 40, and Taurasi, 39, might not have long left as active Olympians, but they are passing their knowledge on to the younger generation.
Yet for everyone representing the US, this is a stressful time, given that anything less than the gold medal would be written off by many as failure.
Stewart said: "I think that right now there's so much pressure that it's seven straight overall that you get lost in what's actually happening and enjoying being at the Olympics, being on the court and competing every single day.
"This is exactly where we want to be, so now everything is on the line. We're going to do what we can to make sure that we come home with a gold."
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