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ROUNDUP

Surfing

After a series of underdogs stole the show at the beginning of surfing’s historic Olympic debut, two of the sport’s most seasoned superstars took home the gold medals.

Carissa Moore of the United States and Italo Ferreira of Brazil became the first Olympic surfing champions Tuesday, more than a century after the sport first tried to get on the program.

The 28-year-old Moore, the darling child prodigy who could beat the boys and grew up to be the youngest world champion surfer, persevered after struggling in the early heats.

“It’s been a crazy couple of days,” Moore said.

The relatively modest beach break conditions were so unlike the world-class waves she’s used to as a veteran of the professional tour and at home in Hawaii. By the end, the methodical and well-loved surfer finally got in rhythm with the ocean in time to deliver the kind of standout performance that has defined her career.

The picture-perfect ending even included a rainbow that popped into the sky as Moore, who is the only Native Hawaiian surfer at the Games, shredded waves in the final against South African rival Bianca Buitendag.

Calling it “divine intervention,” the 17th-ranked Buitendag won silver after pulling off upset after upset over the three-day competition. She then retired.

Tennis

Naomi Osaka was such a big headline act that she was given the honor to light the Olympic flame in her native country.

But Osaka was knocked out early from the tennis tournament.

Osaka, who was born in Japan and grew up in the U.S., struggled with her usually reliable groundstrokes and lost 6-1, 6-4 in the third round to former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic

“I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this,” she said.

Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron in Friday’s opening ceremony, won her opening two matches in straight sets following a two-month mental-health break.

Women’s basketball

The U.S. women’s basketball team opened play with an 81-72 win over Nigeria that extended the Americans’ win streak at the Olympics to 50 games.

A’ja Wilson scored 19 points and grabbed 13 rebounds in her debut.

The U.S. came to Tokyo coming off two rare exhibition losses in Las Vegas earlier this month. The Americans also beat Nigeria by 31 points in a game.

This game was much closer and marked the first time that a team was within single digits of the U.S. since Russia lost by four in the semifinals of 2004 Athens Games.

Women’s soccer

The United States made it through to the quarterfinals of the women’s Olympic soccer competition after a 0-0 draw with Australia.

The Americans are looking to win a fifth Olympic gold medal in Tokyo. They are also vying to become the first team to win at the Olympics following a World Cup title.

Beach volleyball

New U.S. beach volleyball partners Jake Gibb and Tri Bourne will have some more time at the Olympics to get to know one another.

The Americans had never played together before their first match in Tokyo on Sunday. They beat Switzerland 21-19, 23-21 on Wednesday to improve to 2-0 in the round-robin. They have one more match left, vs. Qatar on Friday.

U.S. men Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena improved to 1-1 in the round robin by beating Brazil’s Alison, the reigning gold medalist, and Alvaro Filho, 24-22, 19-21, 15-13.

Rowing

China wrapped a record-setting first day of rowing finals by smashing the world record in women’s quadruple sculls and winning gold.

The Chinese boat finished in 6 minutes, 0.13 seconds and shaved nearly two seconds off the previous mark set by the Netherlands in 2014. Poland won silver more than 6 seconds behind the Chinese. Australia won bronze.

Windy conditions produced a strong tailwind for the rowers and world or Olympic records were set in each of six medal races.

The Netherlands set a world record in men’s quadruple sculls with a sprint over the final 500 meters to win the gold medal.

Australia doubled its haul of Olympic rowing gold medals as the men’s four charged to victory moments after the Aussie women claimed their gold. Australia’s women’s four set a Olympic-best time to win gold.

The French team of Hugo Boucheron and Matthieu Androdias has held off a late charge from the Netherlands over the final 50 meters to win the men’s double sculls by 0.2 seconds in Olympic record time.

Romania’s Ancuta Bodnar and Simona Radis won the first rowing gold in women’s double sculls.

Rugby sevens

Siviwe Soyizwapi and his beleaguered Blitzboks arrived at the Tokyo Olympics without their coach, and they’ll be leaving without a medal. The two 2016 finalists are into the final four, with defending champion Fiji capping Day 2 with a 19-0 win over Australia to continue its unbeaten streak in Olympic competition and Britain turning around a 21-point deficit to edge the U.S. 26-21. The U.S. scored the first 21 points against Britain, including a pair of Perry Baker tries, and appeared ready to enter the medal round but conceded four straight tries.

Top-ranked New Zealand reached the final four with a 21-10 win over Canada.

Etc.

Jessica Parratto helped end Delaney Schnell’s Olympic hopes in 2016. Five years later, the Americans teamed to earn a silver medal in women’s 10-meter synchronized platform diving.

... Annemiek van Vleuten roared to an emphatic victory in the women’s time trial, exacting a measure of revenge for some miscommunication that may have cost her gold in the road race last weekend . ... Estonia earned a rare Olympic gold medal after a tense finish in the women’s team épée fencing final against South Korea . ... Jolanda Neff led a Swiss sweep in women’s mountain biking . ... Turkmenistan won its first Olympic medal, by weightlifter Polina Guryeva, since independence from the Soviet Union.

SUMMER OLYMPICS SPORTS

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2021-07-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-28T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://daily.gazette.com/article/282248078595230

The Gazette, Colorado Springs