The United States are showing no complacency despite maintaining a sensational streak en route to a last-eight clash with 2018 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup final opponents Australia at the 2020 Olympics.
Team USA are the clear favourites for the women's basketball title after extending their winning run at the Games to 52 matches, going back to 1992.
They could tie the record of seven consecutive gold medals in a team event – set by the men's basketball team between 1936 and 1968 – by triumphing again in Tokyo.
But the United States survived a scare in their final Group B outing on Monday.
France, needing merely to lose by 14 points or fewer to advance, led with under nine minutes of the fourth quarter remaining before going down 93-82 – 11 points being Team USA's largest lead.
Sue Bird, aiming alongside Diana Taurasi to become the first athlete to win five Olympic golds in team sports, feels her team must heed their warning.
"There are a lot of areas that we need to improve on in the next 48 hours, I guess," she said, with Australia later confirmed as the United States' last-eight opponents.
"I said this the other day: these teams in the Olympics, these teams have trained and they have waited four years and they play like it is their last game.
"It is a desperation that we have not risen to just yet and we need to get there quick."
'A WORK IN PROGRESS'
Team USA had 22 points on nine-for-12 shooting and seven rebounds from A'ja Wilson and 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists from Breanna Stewart, who played 38 minutes, but coach Dawn Staley agreed with Bird's assessment.
"[France] played with extra effort, they hit some incredible shots and they put us back on our heels," Staley said.
"I thought we made some adjustments and I thought we did what we needed to do to win a basketball game.
"We had great contributions from a lot of different people, but we're still a work in progress and hopefully we can continue to clean up some things and some areas out on the floor."
Stewart will have fond memories of facing Australia after the 73-56 final win at the World Cup, where she was named MVP.
After beating France, she said: "This is where we start to peak."
OPALS LEAVE IT LATE
Australia had a tough task in reaching the last eight. They needed to beat Puerto Rico by 25 or more points to pip Canada to the last quarter-final spot.
The Opals entered the final two minutes 19 points ahead, but five from Leilani Mitchell in the closing stages – boosting her tally to 19 – helped secure a precious 96-69 success.
Australia have already taken on one of the top teams in China, who ended the preliminary stage as the first seeds after a 74-62 success against Belgium. They face Serbia next.
FRANCE PUT UP A FIGHT
Meanwhile, a quarter-final against Spain was the consolation in defeat for France, whose desire impressed Staley.
"The countries here at the Olympic Games, they pour into their women's teams, and now you're seeing the effects of it," the United States coach said. "And that is great women's basketball play.
"We know we're in a dogfight every time we step on the floor.
"It's great for those who just put the television on and sit down and watch players that they haven't seen before, countries that they haven't seen before, and see them play a great game."
France's Nevada-born forward Gabby Williams added: "It was 10 minutes by 10 minutes and [we were] just trying to focus on staying with them."
In the same pool, Japan – led by Saki Hayashi's 23 points and seven made threes, along with Rui Machida's record-equalling 15 assists – beat Nigeria 102-83 and will face Belgium next in the quarters.
Olivier Giroud is excited to start a new chapter in his career in Serie A and says "God wanted me to play for Milan".
The 34-year-old joined the Rossoneri in a reported €2million (£1.7m) deal on July 17, bringing an end to his nine-year stay in the Premier League with Arsenal and more recently Chelsea.
Giroud is looking forward to adding to his trophy collection during his time in Italy having won Ligue 1 with Montpellier before lifting the FA Cup four times tasting glory in the Champions League and Europa League during his time in England.
"I won many trophies at every club I've been at and would like to do the same here," he said at his official unveiling on Monday.
"I do have an objective in my mind during my time here, but I don't want to reveal it, otherwise there will be too much pressure. Let's just say my final objective is to win with Milan."
Giroud is thought to have signed a two-year deal with Milan and is following in the steps of legendary figures such as Gunnar Nordahl, Filippo Inzaghi and Andriy Shevchenko.
And the France international leaned on one of those iconic figures before putting pen to paper with the Italian giants.
"The time had come to leave Chelsea and discover a new league. God wanted me to play for Milan," he said.
"This is one of the biggest clubs in the world and I really believe in the project here. We've got what it takes to have a very good Champions League campaign.
"When I was young, I watched Milan games with Shevchenko and he later became a dear friend who I asked for advice.
"It's an honour for me to be at a club where so many great stars have played and it was emotional talking to [director] Paolo Maldini, too.
"I want to give my contribution, be a big brother to the players and bring my experience. I hope also to be remembered as a good person and not just a great player."
Giroud found starts hard to come by at Chelsea following Thomas Tuchel's arrival in late January, though he did make his mark felt in his final campaign at Stamford Bridge.
The World Cup winner netted five times in Chelsea's Champions League-winning campaign, four of those goals coming in the Blues' 4-0 victory at Sevilla in the group stage.
That made him the oldest player (34 years, 63 days) to score a hat-trick in the Champions League/European Cup since Ferenc Puskas (38y, 173d) for Real Madrid in 1965.
He arrives at Milan as a European champion and has inherited the number nine shirt, which is one of the most iconic jerseys in football but has more recently become a poisoned chalice of sorts.
Mario Mandzukic, Krzysztof Piatek and Gonzalo Higuain have all failed to live up to its reputation in recent years, yet Giroud is unfazed by the weight of expectation.
"I am not superstitious. A shirt number cannot change the way I play," he said.
"Strikers like Inzaghi, Marco van Basten and Jean-Pierre Papin wore this shirt for Milan, but I don't feel the pressure."
Giroud will link up with another Milan great this coming season in Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who has 25 goals in 37 Serie A appearances since returning to San Siro in January 2020.
Grenoble product Giroud will turn 35 next month but is inspired by 39-year-old Ibrahimovic to continue playing at the top for as long as possible.
"My age means nothing," he said. "Zlatan is a few years older than me, but it's all about your mentality. With the right motivation, you can still push hard."
Giroud scored with his first touch as a Milan player in Saturday's 1-1 draw with Nice. Stefano Pioli's men face Valencia in their next pre-season outing on Wednesday.
Sweden have reached the women's football final at the Olympics for the second successive time after beating Australia 1-0 through Fridolina Rolfo's solitary second-half strike.
Peter Gerhardsson's side, seeking to go one better than Rio 2016 when losing to Germany in the final, will face the United States' conquerors Canada in Friday's gold medal match.
USA, who had won 36 games in a row against Canada prior to their surprise 1-0 loss earlier on Monday, will now take on Australia for the bronze medal.
Rolfo was on target twice when Sweden ran out 4-2 winners against Australia in the group stage and went closest to scoring in the first half of this semi-final showdown.
The Barcelona star thumped a shot against the crossbar from the edge of the box, though she did not have to wait much longer to find a breakthrough.
A heavily deflected shot from range bounced awkwardly off the wet surface and a backpedalling Teagan Micah parried it onto the crossbar, with the ball looping back into play.
Stina Blackstenius helped the loose ball to Rolfo and the forward hooked a first-time shot away from Micah from four yards to score what proved to be the match-winning goal.
Australia enjoyed spells on top but a 96th-minute red card shown to Ellie Carpenter for dragging down Lina Hurtig signalled the end of the Matildas' hopes of reaching a first final.
Jamaica’s Megan Tapper claimed the country’s first bronze medal in the women’s 100m hurdles after battling to the line in Tokyo on Saturday.
Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who is unbeaten this season, followed up an Olympic record of 12.26 in the semi-finals by running 12.36 to win her first Olympic gold medal, five years after hitting a hurdle and crashing out at the semi-final stage in Rio.
Tapper ran 12.55 to win the bronze medal. The world record holder, Keni Harrison of the USA, won silver in 12.52 to also secure her first Olympic medal.
Bahamian Devynne Charlton finished 6th in 12.74 and Jamaica’s Brittany Anderson finished 8th in 13.24.
Men’s Long Jump
The Caribbean secured two medals in the men’s long jump after Cuba’s Juan Miguel Echevarria and Maykel Masso finished second and third with jumps of 8.41 and 8.21 respectively.
The gold medalist, Miltiadis Tentoglu of Greece, also jumped 8.41 but was determined as the outright winner on countback because his second-longest jump of 8.15 was longer than Echevarria’s second-longest of 8.09.
Jamaica’s reigning world champion, Tajay Gayle, valiantly made an attempt to compete after picking up a left knee injury in qualifying. Jumping with heavy strapping on that knee, Gayle fouled his first two attempts before registering 7.69 on his third to finish 11th overall.
Women’s Triple Jump
Shanieka Ricketts of Jamaica narrowly missed out on a medal. Ricketts finished fourth after leaping out to 14.84 on her fourth-round attempt.
The Jamaican was in third place going into the fifth round until Spain’s Ana Peleteiro produced a national record of 14.87 to overtake Ricketts and secure the bronze medal.
The competition also saw Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas win her first Olympic gold medal by jumping to a new world record of 15.67 metres, breaking the previous mark of 15.50 set at the 1995 World Championships by Ukrainian Inessa Kravets.
The other Jamaican in the final, Kimberly Williams, finished eighth with a jump of 14.51.
Men’s 400 metres Hurdles
Only one Caribbean athlete advanced to the final. Both Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands and Jaheel Hyde of Jamaica lined up in semi-final 3 and with 100 metres to go, they both looked in good shape to get to the final.
Unfortunately, Hyde hit the eighth hurdle badly and fell, taking him out of contention.
He ended up jogging to the finish in a time of 1:27.38.
McMaster went on to win the semi-final in 48.26 and advance to his first Olympic final.
Men’s 100m
No Caribbean men advanced to the final of the men’s 100 metres as Jamaica’s Yohan Blake and Oblique Seville both came up short in their semi-final races.
Blake finished sixth in semi-final 1 in 10.14 and Seville finished fourth in semi-final 2 in 10.09.
The final eventually saw Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs take gold in 9.80 ahead of the USA’s Fred Kerley who ran 9.84 for second and Canada’s Andre DeGrasse who ran 9.89 for third, his second successive Olympic 100 metres bronze medal.
All three men recorded personal bests in the race.
Women’s 1500 Metres
Jamaica’s Aisha Praught-Leer competed in heat 2 of the women’s 1500 metres despite injury and finished 13th in a time of 4:15.31.
Women’s 200 Metres
Four Caribbean women advanced to the semi-finals of the 200 metres.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo of the Bahamas finished second in heat 1 with a time of 22.40 to advance.
100 metres silver medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was next to confirm her spot in the next round, comfortably winning heat 2 in 22.22.
Heat 5 was won by Bahamian Anthonique Strachan in 22.76 but the biggest story from that race was Shericka Jackson of Jamaica.
The 100 metres bronze medalist failed to advance after easing up at the line and being passed Italy’s Dalia Kaddari.
100 metres gold medalist Elaine Thompson-Herah of Jamaica was very conservative in heat 6, finishing third in 22.86 to secure her spot in the semi-finals.
Atletico Madrid defender Mario Hermoso has been released from a German hospital following an episode of intestinal obstruction.
The centre-back has successfully recovered and able to return to Spain on Monday.
Hermoso was admitted to hospital on Saturday after complaining of acute abdominal pain leading up to Atletico's friendly against Wolfsburg.
But after undergoing medical tests, the Spain international was discharged and will hope to be involved for Diego Simeone's side against Cadiz on Wednesday.
Hermoso, who arrived from Espanyol in July 2019, has made 48 league appearances for Atleti.
The 26-year-old played 31 times in LaLiga last season as the club were crowned champions, their first top-flight title since 2014.
Atletico will launch their defence away at Celta Vigo on August 15.
Canada sensationally ended a 36-game winless run against the United States, with Jessie Fleming's penalty securing a place in the women's football final at the Tokyo Olympics.
USA had 17 attempts on Monday but a second defeat at the Games – they had gone down 3-0 to Sweden in their opening group fixture – means the reigning world champions will not have a chance to secure gold in Japan.
There was controversy surrounding the winning goal, too, as a VAR check resulted in Canada being awarded a penalty for a foul by Tierna Davidson on Deanne Rose in the 74th minute.
Substitute goalkeeper Adrianna Franch, who had replaced the injured Alyssa Naeher in the first half, guessed correctly but Fleming's penalty still found the net.
Canada stubbornly held on for the remainder of the contest to secure a first triumph over their rivals since March 11, 2001.
While USA can still claim a bronze medal, Megan Rapinoe did not hold back when assessing the impact of the result, particularly against opponents they have become accustomed to beating through the years.
"It's a bitter one to swallow. We never want to lose to Canada. I don't think I ever have, so it's a bitter one," Rapinoe said.
"Still a lot to compete for. It's not the colour we wanted, but there's still a medal on the line and that's a huge thing. We want to win that game, but this sucks. It sucks."
Asked why USA had struggled so much to find form during the tournament, Rapinoe replied: "I feel like we haven't had our joy a little bit.
"It just hasn't flowed for us, hasn't been easy. It's not for a lack of effort, or anyone not giving everything they have. It just didn't click for us.
"I don't know if it was roster rotation, I know it's a tough tournament when trying to save people, but our bench is as deep as hell. I don't think we can put it on that, and I can't quite put my finger on it.
"We just didn't have that juice that we normally do."
USA had been aiming to strike Olympic gold for a fifth time having missed out on a medal of any colour at Rio 2016, where they lost to Sweden on penalties in the last eight.
The Swedes lost to Germany in the final five years ago but could still go one better this year – they take on Australia in the second semi-final.
China defended the women's team sprint title on the opening day of track cycling at Tokyo 2020, having earlier broken the world record.
The duo of Bao Shanju and Zhong Tianshi overcame Lea Sophie Friedrich and Emma Hinze of Germany in Monday's final.
Denmark also set a new Olympic benchmark during qualifying for the men's team pursuit. Here is a round-up from day one at the Izu Velodrome.
MORE VELODROME GOLD FOR CHINA
Four years ago, it was China who triumphed in the women's sprint event at Rio 2016, while in London four years previously they were relegated to silver.
They laid down a marker in qualifying with a new world-record time of 31.804 seconds.
Interestingly, the previous benchmark (32.034) was actually slower than the old Olympic record of 31.928 as the UCI never ratified China's Rio 2016 Olympic record as a world best.
In the final, Bao and Zhong were .325 seconds in front by the midway stage but a strong finish from the German pair meant there were 85 thousandths of a second splitting the teams, with China clocking a 31.895.
The Russian Olympic Committee defeated the Netherlands in the bronze medal race.
GERMANY SMASH RECORD AS GREAT DANES SET NEW OLYMPIC MARK
World-record holders Denmark surpassed the old Olympic marker set by Great Britain at Rio 2016 in qualifying fastest in the men's team pursuit.
The rapid Danes clocked a time of 3:45.014 to set up a meeting with GB, whose time of 3:47.507 is the quickest they have posted, for the right to contest the gold medal.
Whoever comes out on top in that battle will face either Italy or New Zealand.
Germany registered the fastest time in the women's team pursuit – indeed, the fastest time in history, almost three seconds quicker than the previous world record – and go up against Italy, with the victors to meet either Great Britain or New Zealand for the gold.
The Belarusian sprinter who refused to board a flight home from Japan after allegedly being taken to the airport against her will is "safe" and being protected at a hotel, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed.
Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, 24, was in Tokyo to contest the women's 200 metres and 4x400m relay events but was told to pack her things after publicly criticising her team's organisation on social media.
She claimed a Belarusian coach entered her for the relay despite her never racing in the event before, which she suggested was a result of members of the team being considered ineligible due to not completing enough doping tests.
The Belarus National Olympic Committee (NOC) said her withdrawal from competition was due to her "emotional, psychological state", but Tsimanouskaya insisted she was being forced to leave Tokyo "without my consent".
The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation indicated Tsimanouskaya feared for her life upon returning to Minsk. The country is under the authoritarian leadership of president Alexander Lukashenko, whose son Viktor heads the NOC.
Last December, IOC president Thomas Bach banned both men from attending the Games, declaring: "The IOC has come to the conclusion that it appears that the current leadership has not appropriately protected the Belarusian athletes from political discrimination within the NOC, their member federations or the sports movement."
Tsimanouskaya managed to alert police at the airport, and IOC spokesman Mark Adams later said at a news conference: "She assured us and has assured us that she feels safe and secure. She spent the night at an airport hotel in a safe and secure environment.
"The IOC and Tokyo 2020 will continue their conversations with her and the Japanese authorities to determine the next step in the upcoming days."
Tsimanouskaya has already been offered a visa by Poland.
Olympic champion Adam Peaty was left disappointed by some of the reaction to his plans to take an extended break from swimming.
It has been another fruitful Games in Tokyo for Team GB swimmer Peaty, who claimed gold in the 100 metres breaststroke and 4x100m mixed medley, as well as a silver in the men's 4x100m medley.
After taking his overall Olympic medal tally to five, Peaty announced on Sunday that he would be taking a break from the pool to recharge the batteries ahead of a hectic 2022 schedule.
While set to miss the International Swimming League, which starts in September, he will set his sights on the World and European Championships next year, as well as the Commonwealth Games.
Peaty cited the need to protect his mental health, becoming the latest high-profile athlete to do so in recent days after Simone Biles and Ben Stokes.
He said the reaction to his announcement to over 116,000 followers on Twitter showed why there remains "such a stigma around mental health", insisting the pressures of competition make taking time out essential.
"Reading some of the comments in response to this is why we have such a stigma around mental wellbeing in sport," tweeted Peaty, who has now won a combined 31 gold medals in major competitions.
"It isn't a normal job. There is a huge amount of pressure. Money does not buy happiness.
"I'm taking a break because I've been going extremely hard for as long as I can remember. I've averaged two weeks off a year for the last seven years.
"Unfortunately, there are people out there who think they know you more than you know yourself."
Simone Biles is set to make her long-awaited return in the Tokyo Olympics after being named on the starting list for Tuesday's balance beam final.
The United States star withdrew from the other four individual events for which she had qualified after pulling out of the women's team competition after just one rotation.
Biles, who won four gold medals at the Games in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, cited a need to focus on her mental health as she chose not to contest the individual all-round, vault, uneven bars and floor exercise finals.
USA Gymnastics said in a statement on Sunday: "Simone has withdrawn from the event final for floor and will make a decision on beam later this week. Either way, we're all behind you, Simone."
However, the team announced via Twitter on Monday: "We are so excited to confirm that you will see two U.S. athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow - Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!! Can’t wait to watch you both!"
Speaking last week via Instagram, Biles explained her mind and body were "simply not in sync" as she struggled with a mental block over her technique.
"For anyone saying I quit, I didn't quit, my mind and body are simply not in sync as you can see here," Biles wrote on her story. "I don't think you realise how dangerous this is on a hard/competition surface. Nor do I have to explain why I put health first. Physical health is mental health.
"It's honestly petrifying trying to do a skill but not having your mind [and] body in sync.
"Literally cannot tell up from down. It's the craziest feeling ever, not having an inch of control over your body."
Jeff Henderson, who won long jump gold for the USA in Rio, praised Biles for speaking openly about her difficulties.
"Almost every athlete [has these problems]. They just don’t speak on it," Henderson told Stats Perform.
"Every athlete goes through a mental breakdown or [has to] figure out their brain, what to do, over-thinking - that’s every athlete.
"I think it should be awareness for every athlete to have that issue because it's a huge thing to be protective of. If you're not protective of your mental [state], you're not going to do anything physical.
"There's nothing wrong with that. Any athlete would say take your time, relax, get your mental right come back when you're going to be ready. Every athlete would say that."
Long jump favourite Juan Miguel Echevarria was left in despair after injury prevented him from chasing the gold won by Miltiadis Tentoglou on countback at Tokyo 2020 on Monday.
Tentoglou said he was lucky to win gold in a shock result over Echevarria with a last-ditch sixth-round leap of 8.41m, beating Echevarria on countback, while Cuba also claimed bronze thanks to Maykel Masso's jump of 8.21m.
Echevarria, who had topped qualifying, had a final chance to beat the mark with his sixth attempt but could not make the jump due to injury, slumping to the floor on his knees in despair, consoled by compatriot Masso.
"It was very, very painful. I couldn't do what I usually do," Echevarria said.
"I have no words to express how I feel because I couldn't achieve what I wanted, what I have been fighting for so many years.
"I am personally not very happy with the result. I have always tried to go further."
The Greek had earlier registered a second-best jump of 8.15m compared to Echevarria's 8.09m to have the countback advantage, with his final attempt putting him ahead.
"Last attempt, I told myself to calm down and do a normal jump. I didn't expect it could be so big," Tentoglou said.
"I consider myself lucky. I was not lucky to jump 8.41m the last attempt but I was lucky to win."
The winning distance of 8.41m was well short of Mike Powell's world record of 8.95m, which has stood since 1991.
Tentoglou backed Echevarria to move on from his Olympic disappointment and one day reach the milestone.
"If someone can do the world record, it's Juan Miguel," he said. "I don't know for me. I need to do the national record first. I am not the national record holder."
Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn triumphed in the women's 100m hurdles a day after setting a new Olympic record in the semi-finals.
Camacho-Quinn won in 12.37 ahead of USA's Kendra Harrison (12.52) and Jamaica's Megan Tapper (12.55), who had an anxious wait to find out if she had claimed bronze ahead of Nigeria's Tobi Amusan (12.6) in fourth.
The Puerto Rican admitted afterwards she had her sights set on Harrison's world record of 12.2 but clipped a hurdle to thwart her.
TEAM USA AVOID BASKETBALL SHOCK
The United States bounced back after trailing to France in the last quarter to record a 93-82 win in the women's basketball.
France had headed the US 72-71 in the fourth quarter, but the gold medal favourites rallied with a 7-0 run to assert their dominance.
A'ja Wilson was huge in the final quarter, finishing with a game-high 22 points, along with seven rebounds and three assists, while Breanna Stewart had 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
Japan booked their quarter-final spot with a 102-83 win over Nigeria, while the US will go through in top spot from Group B ahead of the quarter-finals.
HOCKEYROOS HEARTBREAK, INDIAN JOY
Australia's Hockeyroos had a perfect group phase with five wins from as many games but were stunned by India in the quarter-finals 1-0 in women's hockey.
Gurjit Kaur scored the winner from a 22nd-minute penalty corner to stun the Australians, who have not medalled in women's hockey since Sydney 2000.
Australia also lost in the quarter-finals at Rio 2016 but were far better placed in Tokyo after their exceptional group form.
India have never claimed an Olympic medal in women's hockey, finishing fourth in 1980, and will face world number five Argentina in the semi-finals.
Argentina, who have won medals at four of the past five Olympics, overcame Germany 3-0 aided by two goals late in the first half.
INDONESIA WINS FIRST TOKYO GOLD
Indonesia won its first gold medal of Tokyo 2020 as Greysia Polii and Rahayu Apriyani combined to triumph in the women's badminton doubles.
The Indonesian pair defeated China's Chen Qing Chen and Jia Yi Fan 2-0, in a triumph that was the country's first in women's doubles, having won all other badminton events.
Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong won the all-South Korean bronze medal match against Lee So-hee and Shin Seung-chan 2-0.
Five years ago, Inbee Park was not sure she would even be healthy enough to compete at the Rio Olympics.
The LPGA star had battled a thumb injury throughout the year and would end up skipping three of the tour's five majors, but she made representing South Korea a top priority and it paid off.
Park nearly went wire-to-wire to win gold, sitting a stroke back of the lead after one round and moving ahead to stay the following day before winning by five strokes over New Zealand's Lydia Ko.
Looking back on that experience heading into the Tokyo Games, Park said on Monday she feels much more relaxed.
"[In] 2016 I felt the most pressure in my life. I don’t think I could do that once again," Park said.
"It’s definitely much better and much more relaxing this year because my conditions are not as bad as in 2016, where I had to deal with injuries and a lot of pressure."
She knew how many people were counting on her then as golf returned to the Olympic programme for the first time in more than a century, and the opportunity inspired her to push through the pain.
“I was representing the country and going through the injury," she said. "It wasn’t like a normal tournament where if you don’t feel well, you just pull out and play well in the next event.
"I really wanted to play well and didn’t want to withdraw from the tournament because of the injury. I was just trying really hard to fight the injury.
“With the injury, a lot of people got worried. My family, staff, and probably the whole of Korea was worried that I was not in the best condition.
"That was kind of the pressure I was dealing with. To overcome that was really hard.
“I think that kind of pressure gave me the power to overcome a lot of the stuff, and being able to win gold was amazing.”
Park's quest to repeat begins on Wednesday at 8:41 am local time, when she will open Olympic play in a grouping with Ko and 2016 bronze medallist Feng Shanshan of China.
She said she watched last week's men's tournament on television to try and get a feel for the course, then got in some practice Sunday and founded it firmer and longer than she had expected.
However it plays later this week, she expects a difficult test but feels she is in a good position to handle it this time around.
“I’m very excited to be here representing the country twice in a row," she said.
"It’s the biggest honour for me. [To be] here in Tokyo five years after Rio, it’s truly a dream come true for me."
Jamaica’s bold ambitions of chasing a double sprint sweep evaporated in unexpected fashion after 100m bronze medallist Shericka Jackson failed to advance from the heats.
It was, however, the way in which Jackson saw her bid for another individual medal slip away that left onlookers slack-jawed. Competing in heat 5, the athlete, one of the fastest women in the event this year, seemed well in control of the race early on but began to cruise closer to the line.
The Jamaican was passed by Portugal’s Lorène Bazolo and also Italy’s Dalia Kaddari at the finish. Kaddari finished third in 23.26, the same time as Jackson but advanced when the times were rounded down further. With the heat being one of the slower events Jackson was also unable to advance as one of the fastest losers. Jackson’s heat was won by the Bahamas’ Anthonique Strachan.
There was no such trouble for Jackson’s compatriot, defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah who advanced from heat 6 after finishing in third position. The heat was won by Canada’s Crystal Emmanuel with Great Britain’s Beth Dobbin second.
100m silver medallist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce also advanced in comfortable fashion after winning heat 2 in 22.22. Namibia’s Beatrice Masilingi was second in 22.63, with the Netherland’s Dafne Schippers also securing qualification with her third-place finish of 23.13.
The women’s semi-finals will take place on Monday at 5:25 am.
Though there is plenty of baseball still to be played before October, the Tampa Bay Rays made a statement over the weekend with their three-game sweep of the Boston Red Sox.
The Rays held on for a 3-2 victory Sunday to increase their lead in the American League (AL) East division to a game and a half after entering the series trailing Boston by the same margin.
Brandon Lowe started the Rays off in the third inning with a two-run homer but former Ray Hunter Renfroe answered for Boston with a solo shot in the fourth.
Manuel Margot singled in what proved to be the winning run in the fifth and Boston could get no closer than the seventh-inning wild pitch by Drew Rasmussen that allowed Alex Verdugo to score.
The Rays had some nervous moments late as the Red Sox put two batters on with two out in the ninth but Randy Wisler got J.D. Martinez to fly out to end the game.
Bryant, Giants down Astros
Kris Bryant hit a home run in his first game since joining San Francisco and Darin Ruf drove in three runs as the Giants defeated Milwaukee Brewers 5-3 to win the series between teams with the two best records in MLB. Bryant joined his former Chicago Cubs team-mates Anthony Rizzo (Yankees) and Javy Baez (Mets) in hitting a homer in their first games with their new teams after being traded this week. According to Stats Perform, they are the first trio in the modern era to homer in their debuts after playing for the same team earlier in the season.
Los Angeles Dodgers star Mookie Betts returned from the injured list to start at second base for only the second time since 2014 before capping the scoring with a ninth-inning home run in a 13-0 rout of the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Chicago White Sox bounced back from an agonising loss to the Cleveland Indians with a 2-1 victory on Brian Goodwin's ninth-inning home run punctuated by an epic bat flip.
Kyle Gibson got plenty of run support in his Philadelphia Phillies debut after coming over from the Texas Rangers in a trade, picking up the win with 6.2 solid innings in a 15-4 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Milwaukee Brewers managed only three hits off Charlie Morton and the Atlanta Braves' bullpen but held on for a 2-1 road victory.
Cubs waste Ortega's big day
A day after Chicago White Sox catcher Seby Zavala hit the first three home runs of his career only to see his team lose, Chicago Cubs outfielder Rafael Ortega hit three in a 6-5 loss to the Washington Nationals. The 30-year-old journeyman, who made his MLB debut in 2012, had six homers in 192 career games entering Sunday. He drove in all of Chicago's runs with a solo homer in the first inning and two-run shots in the sixth and eighth, but it was not enough as Yadiel Hernandez led off the ninth with a homer to give Washington the walk-off win.
Heim the homer hero again
Jonah Heim hit a walk-off home run to beat the Seattle Mariners on Saturday, and he enjoyed it so much he did it again Sunday in a 4-3 Texas Rangers win. Heim became the first Rangers player ever to hit walk-off homers in consecutive games and the first player for any MLB team to do so since Albert Pujols of the St Louis Cardinals did it in June 2011.
Sunday's results
Philadelphia Phillies 15-4 Pittsburgh Pirates
Washington Nationals 6-5 Chicago Cubs
Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 Kansas City Royals
Cincinnati Reds 7-1 New York Mets
New York Yankees 3-1 Miami Marlins
Tampa Bay Rays 3-2 Boston Red Sox
Detroit Tigers 6-2 Baltimore Orioles
Milwaukee Brewers 2-1 Atlanta Braves
Texas Rangers 4-3 Seattle Mariners
Chicago White Sox 2-1 Cleveland Indians
St Louis Cardinals 7-3 Minnesota Twins
Oakland Athletics 8-3 Los Angeles Angels
Los Angeles Dodgers 13-0 Arizona Diamondbacks
San Francisco Giants 5-3 Houston Astros
San Diego Padres 8-1 Colorado Rockies
Indians at Blue Jays
The Toronto Blue Jays (54-48) are riding a four-game winning streak as the Cleveland Indians (51-51) cross the border to visit Rogers Centre.
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