Tokyo Olympics: What to look out for on Tuesday

By Sports Desk July 26, 2021

The Tokyo Olympics are now in full swing and there are another 22 gold medal events to come on an action-packed Tuesday at the Games.

Plenty of focus will be on the Tokyo Aquatics Centre once again, where four medals are on the line, while the women's triathlon will also take centre stage.

Simone Biles, Naomi Osaka and Katie Ledecky are just some of the superstar names that will be in action on the fourth full day of the 2020 Games.

Stats Perform picks out of some of the standout action to look out for.

 

CAN BILES PUT BLUNDERS BEHIND HER?

Biles struggled to find top gear in her Games entrance on Sunday, albeit making it through to each of her finals, and there is no room for any slip-ups in the women's team final.

The Russian Olympic Committee finished above the United States at a major event for the first time since 2010 in qualifying, setting up an intriguing battle in the final.

The pressure is on Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Grace McCallum and indeed Biles, the latter of whom is aiming to add to the four golds won in Rio five years ago.

 


USA-JAPAN MEET IN SOFTBALL FINAL

Team USA's women's softball team recovered from behind to beat Japan 2-1 in their final round-robin game and finish top of the standings.

Japan finished second and the two sides are therefore set to face off in a huge gold medal match at Yokohama Baseball Stadium.

Mexico and Canada meet in the bronze medal contest earlier on Tuesday in a tasty warm-up match for the main event.


LEDECKY AND TITMUS RESUME RIVALRY

After winning four golds in Rio five years ago, Ledecky had the chance to add four more to her collection in Tokyo.

She fell short in the first of those events, however, with Australia's Ariarne Titmus taking gold in Monday's gripping 400m freestyle final.

While a medal is not on the line on Tuesday, Ledecky will be eager to lay down a faster time than her rival in the 200m freestyle heats ahead of Wednesday's showpiece.

 

OSAKA GOES AGAIN

Face of the Games Okaka followed up lighting the Olympic cauldron on Friday with victories over Zheng Saisai and Viktorija Golubic in her first two matches in the tournament.

The four-time grand slam winner has a quick turnaround in matches as world number 41 Marketa Vondrousova awaits in the third round on Tuesday.

Fellow home favourite Kei Nishikori is also in action in the men's event, with Marcos Giron standing between him and the last 16.

WOMEN'S TRIATHLON TOUGH TO CALL

There was drama before the men's triathlon had even officially got underway on Monday, with an inflatable boat carrying photographers causing a false start.

Norway's Kristian Blummenfelt won the competition and now it is over to the women, with 54 athletes in contention to claim gold.

The field is wide open this time around, though the likes of Katie Zaferes and Georgia Taylor-Brown, of Team USA and Great Britain respectively, will have their eyes on the top prize.

 

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  • Lack of funding for deaf swimmers is ‘completely isolating a whole disability’ Lack of funding for deaf swimmers is ‘completely isolating a whole disability’

    One of the UK’s fastest deaf swimmers has spent more than 1,000 days campaigning against “discriminatory” policies that deny him funding.

    Nathan Young, a holder of seven national records, is not entitled to any Government or National Lottery money to support his ambitions.

    The reason is that UK Sport, the agency which allocates funding on behalf of those entities, is focused solely on Olympic and Paralympic sports.

    As deafness on its own is not a discipline in the Paralympics, Wirral-based Young, 24, falls outside its criteria.

    He is eligible to compete in the Deaflympics – the multi-sport event for deaf athletes sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee – but Great Britain does not financially back its entrants, unlike some other countries.

    The only central funding available for solely deaf athletes is at grassroots level, with nothing for elite competitors such as Young.

    That has left him needing to work and fundraise alongside his training to ensure he is able to meet the huge outlay needed to compete on the global stage.

    For most of the last three years, he has also spent a large amount of his time running a campaign to get the parameters for funding changed, believing the current rules to be unfair.

    “At the end of the day it’s discrimination,” said Young, whose campaign passed the 1,000-day mark in February.

    “It’s completely isolating a whole disability. If I was a Paralympic swimmer, I would have been getting paid since I was 16 or 17. It could have been a career that I could have had.

    “Right now, I train, I go to the gym but all the other things I should be getting as what you would class as an elite athlete, I don’t get any of it.

    “Others have the best treatment available to them to keep them going mentally, physically and in every aspect. I should be getting physio, doing strength and conditioning but I get none of that.

    “When I’m training right now, I’m thinking I should be working. It’s not what I should be thinking about.”

    Young’s campaigning has involved giving numerous speeches and interviews as well as writing many letters and articles. He has also contacted MPs and, as part of a wider campaign with UK Deaf Sport, has even visited Parliament.

    With UK Sport funding for recent Olympic/Paralympic cycles being around £300million, it is a source of frustration for Young that not even a relatively small amount can be found for Deaflympians.

    “What we’re asking for is so little,” said Young, who might need to find around £3,000 to fund a trip to next year’s Deaflympics in Tokyo.

    “UK Deaf Sport only asked for £4million for us (deaf athletes), which is so little when there’s £300-and-something million for Olympic and Paralympic sport.

    “We’re getting the same responses. We keep pushing it and pushing it but it’s been over 1,000 days now and it’s been an exhausting journey.”

    A UK Sport statement read: “UK Sport’s remit is specifically focused on investing in sports and athletes who are eligible to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

    “The Deaflympics falls outside of Olympic and Paralympic sport. We are therefore unable to fund athletes targeting this event.”

    A spokesperson for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport said: “This Government is dedicated to making sport in this country accessible and inclusive for everyone, including deaf people.

    “Sport England has committed £1.2million between 2022 and 2027 to boost deaf sport at the grassroots level through widening participation and supporting the development pathway for talented athletes.”

  • Daniil Medvedev books last-four clash with Jannik Sinner Daniil Medvedev books last-four clash with Jannik Sinner

    Defending champion Daniil Medvedev saw off a late challenge from Nicolas Jarry to book a Miami Open semi-final rematch with Jannik Sinner.

    Medvedev beat Sinner in last year’s Miami final, but the Italian came from two sets down to claim the Australia Open title in January.

    World number four Medvedev cruised through the first set against Jarry 6-2 but had to battle his way through a tie-break win in the second set as the Chilean fought his way back into the match.

    “The first set I thought I was playing a good level, not doing anything extra, just enough to win,” Medvedev said.

    “Then he started to play much better and it was tough rallies, tough points. He served better and it was just a matter of a few points in the tie-break.”

    Sinner reached his fourth semi-final of the year as he eased past Tomas Machac 6-4 6-2 in 91 minutes.

    “Physically I feel good. I’m just happy to compete,” Sinner said.

    “We practise very hard to be in these positions and I’m really happy I can play once again in the semis here at such a special tournament.

    “It’s special for me, I made my first Masters 1000 final here, so I’m really happy to be back in the semis.”

  • Victoria Azarenka battles to keep hopes of fourth Miami Open title alive Victoria Azarenka battles to keep hopes of fourth Miami Open title alive

    Victoria Azarenka kept her hopes of a fourth Miami Open title alive as she reached the semi-finals with a hard-earned victory over Yulia Putintseva.

    The number 27 seed, a winner here in 2009, 2011 and 2016, laboured for just under three hours as she battled past her Kazakhstani opponent 7-6 (4) 1-6 6-3.

    The 34-year-old saved three set points at 5-4 down in the opening set, then failed to convert two of her own before she held her nerve in the tie-break with some decisive forehands.

    Putintseva hit back hard in the second, giving up a solitary game as she found her rhythm, but the momentum shifted when Azarenka salvaged a pair of break points at the start of the decider.

    After regaining control she did not take advantage of her first match point at 5-2 up, but made no mistake when the chance opened up again in her next service game.

    Azarenka will face another Kazakhstani opponent in the last four after Elena Rybakina outlasted eighth seed Maria Sakkari in another marathon clash 7-5 6-7 (4) 6-4.

    The fourth seed, runner-up in 2023, won the first set with a late break before Sakkari – who reached the final in Indian Wells last week – survived two match points to edge a tight second set on the tie break.

    But Rybakina, who had already gone the distance twice in Miami, broke in the seventh game of the decider and served out to win – more than an hour after her first match points.

    “I have no words because I’m so tired. But I’m really happy with the win. It was such a tough battle,” said Rybakina after clinching the win in two hours and 48 minutes.

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