Grenadian 400m bronze medallist, Kirani James, has expressed gratitude to be back on the Olympic podium, after a difficult four years, which included being diagnosed with a debilitating disease and the passing of his mother.
As a 19-year-old James, was the toast of the Caribbean after claiming 400m gold at the 2012 London Games, four years later he battled to silver behind South African Wayde van Niekerk who won the event in a blistering world record time.
Shortly after, however, the athlete’s fortunes took a drastic turn for the worst, and, in an event as brutal and as grueling as the 400m, the odds were stacked against the athlete getting a third Olympic medal in Tokyo. He defied them anyway.
In 2017, James had found himself struggling with fatigue and weight loss. He dropped around 20 pounds before being diagnosed with the thyroid condition known as Graves’ disease. Just two years later, he faced perhaps even more difficult circumstances after his mother Pamela James passed away following a lengthy battle with a terminal disease.
At the 2019 World Championship James had fought his way back to competition weight but finished fifth in the final leaving many to wonder if he would ever be back amongst the elite. Just a year later the James had to deal with the cancelation of the Olympic Games and the disruption and uncertainty brought about by the pandemic.
After clocking a time of 43.88 in the semi-finals, his fastest since 2012, the athlete showed that he was doubtlessly back to his best, and, despite not crossing the line first in the final, after four years of tribulation, the bronze medal was a sweet reward for the Grenadian.
“It’s always great. You have to give credit to all eight guys in the race, they are so, so good, so it's tough to race against them. I’m just happy to compete against those guys and get a medal,” James said.
“I had an illness. It’s still going on, I have to be on medication for the rest of my life. 2019 I lost my mother who was the matriarch of our family,” James added.
“I’ve had to deal with Covid, the quarantines and the lockdowns and not having a place to train and trying to figure things out. So, it’s been a whirlwind, a roller coaster.”
James became the first man in Olympic history to win a medal in the event at three different Games.
Women’s 4x400 Metres Relay
Jamaica secured a bronze medal in the women’s 4x400 metres relay as the track and field portion of the Tokyo Olympics ended today.
The team of Roniesha McGregor, Janieve Russell, Shericka Jackson and Candice McLeod combined to run 3:21.24 to finish 3rd behind the USA and Poland.
Sydney McLaughlin, Allyson Felix, Dalilah Muhammad and Athing Mu came together to win gold for the US in 3:16.85 and Poland’s Natalia Kaczmarek, Iga Baumgart-Wittan, Malgorzata Holub-Kowalik and Justyna Swiety-Ersetic won silver in a national record 3:20.53.
Men’s 4x400 Metres Relay
Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago both failed to secure medals in the men’s 4x400 metres relay.
The Jamaican team of Demish Gaye, Christopher Taylor, Jaheel Hyde and Nathon Allen ran 2:58.76 to finish 6th while the Trinidadian team of Deon Lendore, Jereem Richards, Dwight St. Hillaire and Machel Cedenio finished 8th in 3:00.85.
Michael Cherry, Michael Norman, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin combined to win gold for the USA in 2:55.70.
The silver medal went to the Dutch quartet of Liemarvin Bonevacia, Terrence Agard, Tony van Diepen and Ramsey Angela who ran 2:57.18, a national record.
The Botswana team of Isaac Makwala, Baboloki Thebe, Zibane Ngozi and Bayapo Ndori combined to run 2:57.27 for bronze, breaking their own African record in the process.
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.”
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.
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.
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."
Women’s 4x400 Metres
Cuba and Jamaica both advanced to the final.
The Cuban team of Zurian Hechevarria, Rose Mary Almanza, Sahily Diago and Lisneidy Veitia ran 3:24.04 to finish second in heat 1.
Junelle Bromfield, Roniesha McGregor, Janieve Russell and Stacey Ann Williams formed the Jamaican quartet that finished second in heat 2 to advance with 3:21.95.
The Bahamas quartet of Doneisha Anderson
Megan Moss, Brianne Bethel and Anthonique Strachan also competed in heat 1 but did not finish the race.
Men’s 400 Metres
The Caribbean secured two more medals in the men’s 400 metres.
Bahamian Steven Gardiner won gold in a time of 43.85 and Grenada’s Kirani James secured bronze in 44.19.
This is Gardiner’s second straight global gold medal after winning at the 2019 Doha World Championships.
James has now won 400 metres medals at the last three Olympics after winning gold in London in 2012 and silver in Rio 2016.
Jamaica’s Christopher Taylor was also in the final and finished sixth in a new personal best 44.79.
Luka Doncic explained an uncharacteristic poor shooting performance was the reason for his assist-heavy approach in Slovenia's Olympic semi-final defeat to France, despite appearing to sustain a wrist injury in the fourth quarter.
Slovenia – featuring at their first Games – agonisingly went down 90-89 to France following Nicolas Batum's block in the final three seconds of the game.
The European champions ran Les Bleus close even as Doncic attempted only two shots in the fourth quarter.
The Dallas Mavericks superstar looked to have taken a knock when he collided with a court-side screen early in the fourth but did not indicate any issue as he discussed his late preference for passes.
"My shots weren't falling today, so I was trying to find open team-mates," Doncic said.
Asked specifically about the final play when Batum blocked Klemen Prepelic's lay-up from a Doncic pass, he added: "I think Batum was helping so I had to pass.
"I think [Prepelic] was open and it was a great drive, but Batum had an amazing block. I think it was a good choice.
"Not always you can make a smart choice but I trust them, they trust me and I thought that was a good choice."
Doncic shot five-for-18 from the field and two-for-nine from three-point range but still tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds and 18 assists.
He became only the third player in Olympic history to record a triple-double, following in the footsteps of Alexander Belov and LeBron James.
But having been beaten for the first time in Slovenia colours, falling to 17-1 after success at EuroBasket 2017 and the Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Kaunas, Doncic was not interested in individual achievements.
"We lost the game so I don't care about my performance," he said.
Doncic leads the Games in points (121) and assists (50) but has also drawn the most fouls (39) and played the most minutes (160) in a gruelling campaign.
Opponent Evan Fournier felt the point forward, who led the NBA in usage rate last season (36 per cent), tired under close scrutiny from the French defenders.
"It was the objective to target him all through the match, several of us in relay," New York Knicks signing Fournier said.
"Tim [Luwawu-Cabarrot] did an excellent job, Nico did an excellent job, and I think, as strong as he is, in a 40-minute match you still get tired physically.
"He wasn't taking three-point shots and I think if he'd been fresher he would have done."
Doncic said of the attention: "I'm used to every defense now."
Batum embraced the 22-year-old at the end of the game, with the duo facing off in yet another crunch contest after a seven-game playoff series between the Mavs and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Doncic was on the losing side on that occasion, too, but averaged 35.7 points per game, and he said of the post-game exchange with Batum: "It was a good message. He's a class act. He told me he hates playing against me, in a good way."
An exhausted Luka Doncic fell agonisingly short of carrying Slovenia into the gold medal game at the Tokyo Olympics as they went down 90-89 in their semi-final against France.
Dallas Mavericks superstar Doncic has been the dominant player at the Games and was at the centre of the action again on Thursday.
Despite uncharacteristically slack two-for-nine shooting from deep – hindered by an apparent injury – Doncic put up 16 points, 10 rebounds and 18 assists for a heroic triple-double.
It was the third in Olympic history and first since LeBron James' against Australia at London 2012.
The 22-year-old played a game-high 36 minutes and took numerous hits, but it was Nicolas Batum's clutch block on Klemen Prepelic that decided the contest in France's favour.
Les Bleus will now face the United States, who they have beaten in consecutive tournament games, while Doncic must turn his focus to the bronze medal match against Australia after falling to 17-1 in international play.
Slovenia – making their Olympics debut this year – led 44-42 at halftime before a tough third quarter in which they struggled to get stops and were outscored 29-21.
Doncic then sustained a knock to his wrist in a collision with a court-side screen early in the fourth and seemed reluctant to shoot thereafter.
With their primary scorer pulling the strings but relying on his team-mates to make shots, Slovenia still took the game down to the closing seconds.
After Doncic's 10th rebound ensured his first triple of the Olympics, Prepelic went through for a lay-up inside the final three seconds, only for Batum's fourth block and Gobert's 16th board to deny Slovenia.
Megan Rapinoe scored direct from a corner as she and fellow United States veteran Carli Lloyd hit doubles to sink Australia 4-3 in the Olympic Games bronze medal game.
Australia's replies came from Sam Kerr, Caitlin Foord and Emily Gielnik in the seven-goal feast at Ibaraki Kashima Stadium.
It was 36-year-old Rapinoe and 39-year-old Lloyd who stole the show, though, on what may prove to be farewell appearances for the superstar duo.
Whether they play on in the short term for the national team remains to be seen, but this was likely a final outing at the Olympics for both, and they went out in style.
Rapinoe opened the scoring in the eighth minute when her wicked in-swinging corner from the left evaded everybody and found the net.
Kerr levelled seven minutes later with her 48th goal for Australia – a new national team record – when her shot proved too powerful for Adrianna Franch, but it was soon Rapinoe's time again.
The standout player from the 2019 World Cup smashed in her second goal of this game on the volley, connecting sweetly from around 12 yards after Alanna Kennedy sliced an attempted clearance.
Lloyd, who became the outright second most-capped player in US history by making her 312th appearance, got in on the goals just before half time. Her thumping left-footed shot across goal found the right corner, putting the US 3-1 up.
Lloyd scored again in the 51st minute after another Kennedy error, this time a weak header back to her goalkeeper allowing Lloyd a clear run on goal, with the striker slotting home.
That made her the US team's all-time highest scorer in Olympic women's football with 10 goals. Lloyd won Olympic gold in 2008 and 2012, with Rapinoe also on the triumphant latter team in London.
Australia got back into this game with a header from Foord after 54 minutes, and Kerr headed against the left post two minutes later. Substitute Gielnik rattled in a delicious late third for Australia, but they could not find a fourth.
Women’s 400 Metres
Five Caribbean women advanced to the final.
Marileidy Paulino of The Dominican Republic won semi-final 1 in a national record of 49.38 to advance.
Jamaica’s Candice McLeod and Cuba’s Roxana Gomez also progressed from semi-final 1.
McLeod ran a personal best of 49.51 to finish second and advance automatically while Gomez finished third in a personal best 49.71 and advanced in a fastest loser spot.
Shaunae Miller-Uibo advanced by running 49.60 to win the second semi-final.
Jamaica’s Roniesha McGregor and Guyana’s Aliyah Abrams were also in semi-final 2 but failed to advance, finishing third in 50.34 and seventh in 51.46 respectively.
Stephenie Ann McPherson won semi-final 3 in a personal best 49.34 to qualify.
Sada Williams finished third in that race in a national record of 50.11 but that wasn’t enough to get her into the final.
Men’s 200 Metres
Canadian Andre DeGrasse ran a Canadian record 19.62 to take gold.
DeGrasse, silver medalist behind Usain Bolt at the 2016 Rio games, will be joined on the podium by Americans Kenny Bednarek and Noah Lyles.
Bednarek ran a personal best 19.68 for silver and Lyles ran a season’s best 19.74 for bronze.
Jamaica’s Rasheed Dwyer finished 7th in 20.21 and Jereem Richards of Trinidad & Tobago finished 8th in 20.39.
Women’s High Jump
St. Lucian Levern Spencer finished 22nd in qualifying.
Women’s 4x100 Metres Relay
The Jamaican team consisting of Briana Williams, Natasha Morrison, Remona Burchell and Shericka Jackson ran 42.15 to finish third in heat 1 and advance to the final.
Men’s 4x100 Metres Relay
Jamaica qualified for the final after running the fastest time in the heats.
The team of Jevaughn Minzie, Julian Forte, Yohan Blake and Oblique Seville ran a time of 37.82 to win heat 1.
Trinidad & Tobago were also in heat 1 and finished 6th with a time of 38.63.
Their team consisted of Kion Benjamin, Eric Harrison, Akanni Hislop and Richard Thompson, silver medalist from the 2008 Beijing games.
Men’s 110 Metres Hurdles
Jamaica secured two medals in the final of the men’s 110 metres hurdles.
Hansle Parchment, a bronze medalist at the 2012 London Olympics, ran a season’s best of 13.04 to win gold ahead of the prohibitive favourite, Grant Holloway of the USA, who took silver in 13.09.
Ronald Levy ran 13.10 for bronze, his first Olympic medal.
Barbadian Sada Williams set a new national record in the 400 metres at Tokyo 2020.
Running in semifinal 3, Williams stopped the clock at 50.11 seconds to place third. She smashed the 43-year-old Barbadian record of 51.04 seconds. It is also, of course, her new personal best.
Stephenie Ann McPherson from Jamaica won the race with a personal best of 49.34 while veteran Allison Felix was second with a season's best of 49.89.
Despite Williams' valiant run, she did not advance to the final. Her time is now the fastest run by an athlete to not make it to the final.
The finals of the women's 400 metres will take place on Friday.
Jamaica’s national champion, Daniel Thomas-Dodd, could not throw her way into the finals of the Women’s Shot Put, and unfortunately failed to advance from the group stages.
The Indoor World Champion silver medalist threw a distance of 18.37m, in group B action of the qualifying round, but it was only good enough for sixth in her group.
Despite not achieving the qualifying mark, however, the athlete is delighted she was able to compete at the 2020 Olympic Games any at all.
For the 28-year-old a major goal had already been ticked off just by making it to the Games to showcase her talent, and she hopes it will pave the way for other young aspiring Jamaican athletes.
“I came to the 2020 Olympic Games to showcase my talent and also show the younger Jamaicans that they can do it too, they can do whatever they believe in. Unfortunately, I was unable to advance to the finals of the women's shot put. I have so much to be thankful for,” Thomas-Dodd shared via social media.
The second time Olympian reflected that she was close to stepping away from the circle for good a few years ago, but because of the strong support of her husband, now coach, she decided to stay with the sport. She revealed that the season was particularly challenging but that she has taken away a lot from it and it would only make her stronger.
"At this time a few years ago, I was so ready to hang up my throwing shoes but with the nudge and support of my husband now coach I continued and to this day he is my biggest support and motivation.
It has definitely been an up and down and unpredictable season which I have learned so much from. I am no doubt disappointed, however, I am also very grateful for this experience a second time around and If you know me you know that this will only make me stronger.”
The Commonwealth Champion ended by saying that her performance at the Games is not the best of what she can do and that she is not done yet.
China’s Lijiao Gong won the finals of the Women’s Shot Put with a distance of 20.58m, a new personal best. She was the only athlete that went over the 19m mark, Raven Saunders of the United States of America and Valerie Adams of New Zealand were second and third respectively.
Many athletes have expressed their joy after competing at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. They have done so through their social media pages and interviews.
Antigua’s Joella Lloyd is one such athlete. She competed in the women’s 100 metres where she comfortably won heat 3 of the preliminary round in a time of 11.55 seconds. She then went on to finish 7th in heat1 with a slightly improved time of 11.54 seconds. That heat was won by the USA’s Teahna Daniels while Great Britain’s Dina Asher-Smith came second and Murielle Ahoure from the Ivory Coast finished third.
Via her Instagram account, she posted a photo of herself waving at the start of her race with the caption, “Walking out and lining up for the 100m at the Tokyo Olympics was everything I dreamt it would be.”
She then expressed gratitude to all those who supported her throughout the season.
The caption ended, “All the love and encouragement has not gone unnoticed and I’m extremely grateful for it. It was a pleasure representing Antigua and the Vols on the big stage. Antigua, I love y’all plenty plenty and we’ll be back at it next year!”
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