Tunisian teenager Ahmed Hafnaoui admits he surprised even himself with his men's 400m freestyle gold medal victory at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.
Hafnaoui, who turned 18 in December, stormed home from lane eight to win the gold in a major shock, ahead of Australia's Jack McLoughlin and USA's Kieran Smith.
The 18-year-old's time of 3:43:36 beat his personal best by almost three seconds, while bettering his prelims time by two seconds.
"Of course I was surprised with myself. It's unbelievable," Hafnaoui said at the news conference.
"I believe when I touched the wall and I saw myself first. I was so surprised."
Hafnaoui was only the second Tunisian to ever make an Olympic swimming final and claimed his country's second medal in the pool.
"I was in tears, I was in tears in my eyes because when I see the flag of my country and I hear the anthem in the background, it was great," he said. "I’m so proud of it."
Australian quartet Bronte Campbell, Meg Harris, Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell broke the world record as they won gold in the women's 4x100m freestyle relay.
Anchored by Cate Campbell, the Aussies won in 3:29:69 ahead of Canada and the USA. It was Australia's first goal medal of the Tokyo Games.
The USA's Chase Kalisz won the men's 400m individual medley, while Japan's Yui Ohashi triumphed in the women's equivalent.
Top seed Barty bundled out, Osaka cruises
Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo stunned 2021 Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty in straight sets in the first round of the women's tennis singles.
Sorribes Tormo won 6-4 6-3 over the Australian, the world number one missing out on a first Olympic medal having looked well below her best.
The Spaniard controlled the baseline, while Barty only managed to land 42 per cent of her first serves.
Second seed Naomi Osaka cruised past Zheng Saisai 6-1 6-4 in her Olympic debut, returning to the court in style following a hiatus after her French Open withdrawal.
Third seed Aryna Sabalenka had no trouble dispatching Poland's Magda Linette 6-2 6-1.
Men's fourth seed Alexander Zverev eased past Lu Yen-hsun 6-1 6-3.
First-ever skateboarding gold
Skateboarding made its Olympic debut on Sunday, with local Yuto Horigome crowned the sport's first gold medallist in the men's street event.
World number two Horigome qualified in the semi-finals in sixth after scores totalling 33.75 but dominated the final with 37.18.
The Japanese finished ahead of Brazil's Kelvin Hoeffler with 36.15 and Jagger Eaton on 35.35.
Horigome landed three huge tricks in a row in the final, while American favourite Nyjah Huston stumbled down to seventh after four straight falls.
Olympic record in shooting final
Vitalina Batsarashkina won gold in the women's 10 metre air pistol shooting ahead of Bulgaria's Antoaenta Kostadinova and China's Jiang Ranxin.
The Russian tallied an Olympic record 240.3 points, finishing marginally ahead of Kostadinova on 239.4.
"I did not set a goal to win or to get into the top three or even into the final," she said. "I just set the goal to shoot like I can, to show everything that I can."
Chinese gold in diving
China won gold in the women's synchronized 3m springboard diving as Shi Tingmao and Wang Han edged out Canada and Germany.
The Chinese duo scored 76.5 with their last dive to tally 326.4 points and win China's fourth gold medal at the Tokyo Games.
The reigning world champions were well ahead of the pack, with Canadian pair Jennifer Abel and Melissa Citrini-Beaulieu grabbing silver with 300.78. Germany's Lena Hentschel and Tina Punzel claimed the bronze with 284.97.
The gold was Shi's third, having won the individual 3m platform title and this event with Wu Minxia in 2016.
Ebden and Thompson send Australia to third straight Davis Cup semi
Matthew Ebden and Jordan Thompson booked Australia's place in the Davis Cup semi-finals after the pair clinched their deciding match against the United States to win 2-1.
The pair, who won gold at the Paris Olympics, beat Tommy Paul and Ben Shelton 6-4 6-4 to put Lleyton Hewitt's side into their third successive semi-final at the men's team event.
Australia, who have won the tournament 28 times, largely had Thanasi Kokkinakis to thank after his remarkable triumph over Shelton in the first match of the day.
Kokkinakis saved four match points and let slip six of his own before eventually prevailing 6-1 4-6 7-6 (16-14) in an engrossing encounter that lasted two hours and 14 minutes.
However, in the rematch of a recent ATP Finals group-stage match, Taylor Fritz emerged victorious over Alex De Minaur as he did in Turin a week ago.
Despite De Minaur going 2-0 up in the second set, Fritz roared back to earn a 6-3 6-4 victory to send the tie the distance in Malaga.
But Australia held their nerve, and will discover their opponents later on Thursday when reigning champions Italy take on Argentina.
Ebden and Thompson’s win came after United States’ captain Bob Bryan opted for a late change, with Paul and Shelton replacing Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram.
“We were expecting the other pair, but we knew they’ve got incredible players who can play doubles,” said Ebden.
“We were ready. A slight adjustment obviously. More huge serving singles players than the doubles craft, maybe, but it was just as big a challenge as any.
"Out here, finals live match, just to play with Jordan here was real fun. Following what Kokk did, unfortunately Alex went down, but what a day. So fun, so happy.”
Data Debrief: Australia ready to right Davis Cup wrongs
Australia have failed to win the Davis Cup since 2003, but they will be confident of halting that streak this time around.
If they take the trophy, they will have reason to thank Kokkinakis, whose tie-break win against Shelton was the longest an Australian player had featured in at the tournament, surpassing Pat Rafter's win over David Rikl in the 1997 quarter-finals of the competition (15-13).
Ebden and Thompson also shone when it mattered most, serving four aces compared to Paul and Shelton's two, while also winning 92% of their first-serve points.
Paolini and Bronzetti seal fifth Billie Jean King Cup for Italy
Victories for Jasmine Paolini and Lucia Bronzetti handed Italy their fifth Billie Jean King Cup title as they overcame Slovakia in Wednesday's final in Malaga.
Italy, who were beaten in last year's final by Canada, overcame Poland in the semi-finals on Monday as Paolini partnered Sara Errani for a decisive doubles win over world number two Iga Swiatek and Katarzyna Kawa.
The showpiece contest began with Bronzetti triumphing 6-2 6-4 against Viktoria Hruncakova, before Paolini took to the court to face Rebecca Sramkova.
The world number four – who won doubles gold at the Paris Olympics in August to cap her breakout year – eased past Sramkova by a 6-2 6-1 scoreline to ensure a doubles match was not required.
Speaking after Italy claimed the trophy for the first time since 2011, Bronzetti heaped praise upon her team-mate and revealed she had struggled to sleep before playing in front of 12-time grand slam champion King.
"Jasmine raised her level really high this year. She's an example for all of us," Bronzetti said.
Asked about King's presence in the crowd, Bronzetti added: "She is a great person, a great legend. I didn't sleep very well.
"You're not playing just for yourself. You're playing for your team and your country. We all want this trophy, and it is our dream, all Italians."
Data Debrief: Five-star Italy
Italy have claimed their fifth Billie Jean King Cup, having previously triumphed in 2006, 2009, 2010 and 2013.
Only the United States (18), Czechoslovakia/Czechia (11) and Australia (seven) have won more. Spain and Russia (also including the USSR and Russian Tennis Federation) have also tasted success five times.
Germany set up Netherlands semi-final showdown at Davis Cup
Germany booked their place in the Davis Cup semi-finals after wrapping up a 2-0 victory over Canada in Malaga.
Daniel Altmaier and Jan-Lennard Struff were both victorious over Gabriel Diallo and Denis Shapovalov respectively, to set up a last-four clash with the Netherlands.
Germany were beaten 2-1 by Canada when the nations met at this stage of the 2022 Davis Cup, but they drew first blood when Altmaier came through a hard-fought clash with Diallo 7-6 (7-5) 6-4.
It looked like the tie would go to a doubles decider when former Wimbledon semi-finalist Shapovalov took the opening set against Struff.
But the world number 43 bounced back to prevail 4-6 7-5 7-6 (7-5) after two hours and seven minutes.
"Denis was playing amazingly, coming out firing," Struff said. "It was a very tough match. He was serving so well. It was tough to return. The court is very fast. An incredible match. I'm just happy to get over the line at the end."
On Friday's semi-final with the Dutch, he added: "It's a big step for us to go from the quarters to the semis. For sure, we want to win and go to the final now.
"Netherlands played an amazing match yesterday, beating Spain here in front of a home crowd. We expect a very tough opponent."
Data Debrief: Germany through as errors cost Canada
The two tie-breaks proved pivotal as the Germans secured only their second Davis Cup semi-final appearance since 2008 (also reaching that stage in 2021).
Though both sets were tight during the first match, Diallo hit 40 unforced errors to Altmaier's 17, and was 6-1 for double faults.
Similarly, in the second rubber, though Shapovalov was 27-8 for aces, 13 double faults to just four from Struff proved costly.
Altmaier and Struff's reward is a first meeting with the Netherlands since the 2001 quarter-finals, which the Dutch won 4-1.
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