On that note, it’s time to bid day five sayōnara, and usher in day six of the Games. You can join Tom Lutz for all the latest via the link below. And you can still peruse the schedule, medal table, daily briefing and everything else on our website and app.

Thanks very much, once again, for following our coverage and for all your comments, emails and tweets. Faster, higher, stronger – together, indeed. Goodbye!

The men’s golf has an early leader – take a bow, Sami Valimaki of Finland! He’s the first man to birdie the first, and is sitting pretty on -1. There’s a fair way to go, of course.

And here’s a more detailed guide for readers Down Under on who to watch out for:

We’ll have a rundown of Thursday’s early medal action shortly. But first, enjoy this lovely updated gallery from day five in Tokyo:

More fun from the 1900 “Olympics” in Paris – thanks to vastariner:

vastariner

28 July 2021 10:23pm

The 1900 competition in particular was strikingly odd, with competitors not realising it was part of the Olympic programme.

That was not uncommon at those wretched Games. The Parisian organizers of the Exposition Universelle were embarrassed at having the Games thrust on them and kept the name “Olympics” as far from the events as possible. Historians are still puzzling whether things like life-saving, kite-flying, and pétanque were part of the Olympics or not.

A touring Devon cricket side played what they thought was a friendly against some British expats, to show off the game to the bemused French. The locals though were not as bemused as the Devonians were a few months later, when they received some objets d’art through the post and a certificate congratulating them on their Olympic victory. (Gold/silver/bronze only came in four years later.)

And the result was my favourite ever “gold medallist” is Francis Burchill. Who carried his bat for 0 in the first innings, didn’t bowl or bat, and didn’t need to bat in the second. I think even I may have managed that.

It’s 10am in Fiji, the Pacific island nation waking up to the unusual double-whammy of a second-ever Olympic gold medal and a successful title defence. Here’s Ben Ryan on what it all means back home:

Pride in the team, in the nation. Belonging. The team all come from the people – they often work, and certainly live, among them. Nearly everyone will have met or know someone who is related to all those who played. No six degrees of separation here – just like the team this week as they play as one, connections everywhere.

What about the course itself? Well, the East course at Kazumigaseki country club is not exactly Carnoustie or Winged Foot, with expectations that the winning score may be ten-under-par or more. It does have its share of tricky rough and steep bunkers, though.

Way back in the mists of time in 2017, the club changed its stance on allowing female members after international pressure:

A nice tale from Thursday’s (Earth) hockey, where two brothers lined up on opposing sides. Leon Hayward, the New Zealand goaltender, took on his brother Jeremy, who plays for Australia – and even tipped his shot from a penalty corner onto the post.

“Jeremy and I have been competitive since we were young,” said older brother Leon afterwards. “It doesn’t matter whether it’s cricket or football or whatever.” Their mother was born in New Zealand, and Leon switched allegiance in 2019.

“Growing up, he taught me toughness, that’s for sure. He beat me up a fair bit. He taught me how to be tough and we love each other, and I thank him for that,” said Jeremy. Australia won the game 4-2.

Away from the space hockey, and on to events that are actually happening. Suzanne Wrack runs the rule over the women’s football quarter-finals:

“I am off work and was looking forward to some sizzling Olympics action,” says Niall O’Keeffe. “Bored to death. Can you please spice up your MBM with some Jackanory style story telling? Just make it up. I won’t care.”

Bored to death, Niall? Clearly you haven’t caught the space hockey highlights from earlier. A first-ever gold for Saturn, but the match will be remembered for Team Mars controversially breaking through the time-space continuum.

While we’re on the subject of golf, I was intrigued by this nugget of info from Martin’s daily briefing email:

“Golf was part of the programme at both the Paris 1900 and St Louis 1904 Games. The 1900 competition in particular was strikingly odd, with competitors not realising it was part of the Olympic programme. The winner of the women’s event, Margaret Abbott, died without ever realising that she was an Olympic champion.”

Born in Calcutta in 1878, Abbott became a keen amateur golfer in Chicago, before moving to Paris with her mother, Mary. Both women entered the nine-hole event at Compiègne, which was part of the six-month series of events around the World Fair that became the 1900 Games.

These were only the second modern Olympics and their international profile was practically non-existent. It was only after Abbott’s death in 1955 that a university professor, Paula Welch, began researching the early Olympic Games and discovered she was America’s first-ever female gold medallist.

The men’s golf tournament begins at around 7.30am (11.30pm BST, 8.30am in Sydney, 6.30pm in New York) at Kasumigaseki country club, a green speck on the northern edge of Tokyo’s vast urban sprawl.

Golf has endured a rocky return to the Games, with big-name withdrawals hitting Rio 2016 and this year’s event. Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau were due to take part, but both dropped out after testing positive for Covid-19.

That said, there are plenty of stars in the field – not least home hopeful Hideki Matsuyama. Open champion Collin Morikawa, Irish representatives Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry, Team GB’s Tommy Fleetwood and Paul Casey and the likes of Viktor Hovland, Cam Smith and Patrick Reed are all going for gold, too.

The women’s street skateboarding podium in Tokyo featured two 13-year-olds and a 16-year-old. Here’s Joan Niesen on the new Olympic event that is clearly a youngster’s game:

As mentioned below, play at the Ariake Tennis Park will not begin until 3pm (local time) after several players struggled with the midday heat on Wednesday. “I can finish the match but I can die,” Daniil Medvedev said to the umpire during his last-16 win over Fabio Fognini. “If I die, are you going to be responsible?”

Meanwhile, Spain’s Paula Badosa retired from her match against Marketa Vondrousova and left the court in a wheelchair after suffering heatstroke. It’s a regrettable and avoidable state of affairs, but hopefully the change in start time will help. Here are Wednesday’s matches:

Women’s semi-finals

Belinda Bencic v Elena Rybakina
Elina Svitolina v Marketa Vondrousova

Men’s quarter-finals

Novak Djokovic v Kei Nishikori
Alexander Zverev v Jérémy Chardy
Karen Khachanov v Ugo Humbert
Pablo Carreño Busta v Daniil Medvedev

More on the swimming action, with Australia’s men looking to match the women’s stellar performances. Jack McLoughlin, Kyle Chalmers and Zac Stubblety-Cook (a contender for Name of the Games) are all chasing gold, writes Kieran Pender.

In road cycling, both Primoz Roglic and Annemiek van Vleuten put previous big-stage disappointments behind them to win time trial golds:

This happened on Sunday, but worthy of a mention: Costa Rican gymnast Luciana Alvarado got around the Olympic ban on podium protests by taking a knee and raising her fist as part of her floor routine.

Before we start turning our attention to Thursday’s line-up, why not take a look at Martin Belam’s daily briefing from Wednesday? It’s the best – the only – way to stay across the dizzying cavalcade of sport in Tokyo. And you can sign up via the link below:

On the BBC’s nightly highlights show, Alex Scott has just been talking to Nile Wilson, a former Olympic bronze medalist, about the “twisties” and the mental pressures of gymnastics.

“When you’re getting lost in the air, this is high risk stuff,” he says. “Career-threatening injuries, or worse. I feel for [Simone], I’m so proud of her [for] putting her mental health first.”

Scott added in a piece to camera: “This isn’t a moment of weakness from Simone, it’s a real sign of strength. She has ensured that the Tokyo Olympics will also be defined by things other than sport, a conversation that needs to be continued.”

Here’s Tumaini Carayol with a fascinating read on Simone Biles and what gymnasts call “twisties” – a mental block when it comes to landing moves.

So much of gymnastics is mental and where the sport differs from many others is that if gymnasts are not in the right frame of mind to execute their dangerous skills, they will not simply run slower or strike a ball into a fence. Each complex skill comes with the risk of serious injury, and it is something that they are keenly aware of each day. By preserving her mental health, Biles is also protecting herself physically.

“I don’t know if it has been overlooked, but 3x3 basketball is a new one for me,” writes Simon McMahon.

“I thoroughly enjoyed the men’s final earlier in which Latvia beat ROC – particularly when one of their players, who had to withdraw from the court earlier due to a leg injury, came flying on to join his teammates in a classic celebratory pile-on. Olympic gold winning adrenaline right there. And who can blame him?”

I caught that earlier, Simon – it was great, particularly as the winning basket ended the match in buzzer-beater style. You can see it here, via BBC Sport:

Weather permitting, there will be more rowing medals up for grabs at the Sea Forest Waterway on Thursday. Barney Ronay was there today to reflect on a disappointing, almost calamitous day for British rowers:

In the men’s four, an inexperienced crew gave it everything. But ultimately this was a collapse, the British boat skewing across its lane at the last and almost crashing into the Italians – who went on to win bronze, but would be justified in feeling miffed to suffer such an intrusion at this level of racing. This is not the local boating lake.

The Olympic Games are the only place where football takes a back seat to gymnastics and swimming – but the knockout stages are set and could make for decent viewing.

The women’s quarter-finals: Team GB v Australia, Sweden v Japan, Netherlands v USA, Brazil v Canada.

The men’s quarter-finals: Japan v New Zealand, Spain v Ivory Coast, South Korea v Mexico, Brazil v Egypt.

Germany and Argentina went out in the men’s group stages, giving the knockout round the look of a World Cup gone rogue, only to end with a Spain-Brazil final.

On a lighter note: what’s the best way to follow the dressage? On TikTok, of course:

Some news to bring you, via Associated Press:

Twenty athletes, including 10 from Nigeria, will not be allowed to participate in track and field at the Olympics because they did not meet anti-doping testing requirements in the lead-up to the Games.

The Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU), which runs the anti-doping program for the sport, requires athletes from countries categorised as “high risk” because of deficiencies in their testing programs to be given three no-notice, out-of-competition tests in the 10 months leading to a major event.

The ‘Category A’ countries are: Belarus (three athletes), Ethiopia (one), Kenya (two), Morocco (one), Nigeria (10) and Ukraine (three). AIU does not release the names of the banned athletes.

The AIU press release has more detail.

“I was watching the women’s 10m synchronised diving, and thought one pair after another looked much but then along came the Chinese pair and I saw how much more perfect they were,” notes Mazza1 in our Readers’ Village below the line.

Indeed, they were absolutely brilliant – almost supernaturally in sync. Chen Yuxi and Zhang Jiaqi, take a bow. Sadly, I can’t find an official video clip of their gold-winning performance, but the picture below gives you an idea what everyone else was up against.

Any other nominations for a performance that has perhaps been overlooked? Get in touch.

Some more on Simone Biles from Joan Niesen, who points out that amid widespread support, there have been critical voices (you know the ones).

“Despite her obvious burden and the fundamental importance of mental health, some have portrayed Biles’s decision to withdraw not as a brave stand but rather as quitting in the face of adversity. In the media, that dialogue has almost entirely come from right-leaning US platforms.”

Paul Pogba is the latest high-profile athlete to offer support to Simone Biles after the American gymnast pulled out of Thursday’s women’s all-around final, having expressed the need to look after her mental health.

“A moment of undeniable strength from @simone_biles,” Pogba tweeted. “We always focus on the physical aspect of health but the mental aspect is just as important. When you take care of both, you will flourish in life!”

Team GB are guaranteed to add another medal to their tally in the boxing ring after Karriss Artingstall beat the Commonwealth Games champ, Australia’s Skye Nicholson, in their quarter-final:

Artingstall, who grew up in Macclesfield, is taking time out from the army to compete in Tokyo. She’s the first female British army boxer to fight at an Olympics, and will take on home hopeful Irie Sena in Sunday’s semi-final.

And here’s another, which demonstrates the kind of pace Team GB athletes will need to keep up:

First up, if you’ll forgive a little parochial Team GB tub-thumping, the graphics below demonstrate that Tokyo 2020 is going better than Rio 2016, and even London 2012, in terms of medal count.

Thanks, Barry – and good morning/afternoon/evening wherever you are, sports fans.

Sayōnara. And on that bombshell, I will leave you in the very capable hands of Niall McVeigh.

TV: The BBC has faced a lot of criticism over its Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games coverage, but one element that seems to have only attracted praise has been the reassuring and calm presence of Lutalo Muhammad giving his expertise during the taekwondo events, writes Martin Belam.

Gymnastics: Tumaini Carayol at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre to see a new Japanese star crowned in the men’s all-around competition.

Rugby sevens: “Growing up on the islands, you never really know what’s in store for you, so you stay in the present and it means in moments of celebration such as this – you really live them,” writes Ben Ryan, who coached Fiji to gold at Rio 2016. “Covid is ravaging Fiji and the health service is close to melting point. It is causing political unrest too and so the sevens triumph will give hope, will ease those tensions and will lift a million spirits.” Read on to find out exactly how much retaining their title will mean to the Fijian people...

Basketball: “It was not so much the Great Satan. More the Great Love In. And over two enjoyable hours at the Saitama Super Arena, the basketball teams of the United States and Islamic Republic of Iran gave a salutary lesson in harmony, decency and class to many of their political leaders over the past 42 years,” writes Sean Ingle. Read on ...

Men’s basketball: The United States got back on track on Wednesday in their quest for a fourth consecutive Olympic men’s basketball gold medal with a 54-point win over Iran, while France defeated the Czech Republic to keep their impressive Games start going.

Team USA were buoyed by a barrage of three pointers led by guard Damian Lillard, who hit six of them in the first half, helping his team shoot 63% from beyond the arc as they built a commanding 60-30 lead en route to a 120-66 victory.

Lillard, who plays for the NBA’s Portland Trail Blazers, finished with a game-high 21 points. His team dropped in a total of 19 threes in the rout. The win may allay concerns about their medal credentials in Tokyo after they suffered a shock defeat by France on Sunday, losing at the Olympics for the first time since 2004.

“If we play the way we played tonight, we’ve got a great chance to accomplish the goal we set out before coming here,” said Lillard.

Rugby sevens: Dan Bibby has hit out over a lack of funding after Great Britain’s men were beaten 17-12 by Argentina in the rugby sevens bronze medal match at the Tokyo Olympics.

Prospects for the men’s and women’s squads looked bleak last year amid significant cuts made to British sevens programmes. Funding was then obtained ahead of the Olympics via a commercial partnership struck between the Rugby Football Union, Scottish Rugby Union, Welsh Rugby Union and The National Lottery promotional fund.

It enabled Britain to field squads at the Games, but Bibby and a number of his fellow squad members now face an uncertain future in the sport, despite defying odds to be a competitive force in Tokyo.

“We tried to showcase ourselves as much as we could and show how exciting sevens is,” said Bibby, who took over from injured captain Tom Mitchell for Britain’s last two games.

“Unless the unions pull their fingers out, it is not going to be exciting much longer. Off little funding, we can do that. Imagine what can do with proper funding. If you look at who has done well in this tournament - New Zealand, Argentina and Fiji have had full programmes the entire time. You cannot compete on this level unless it is properly funded. I can only do what I can on the pitch. Everything else is up to the unions.”

Looking ahead, Bibby was scathing. “Being brutally honest, it’s a joke. We have been offered eight contracts,” he said. “Eight contracts is ridiculous. You are asking us to play against a team like New Zealand with eight boys on not much more than minimum wage. It’s impossible. If they are not going to fund it, be grown-up about it, come out and say it. But not all this wishy-washy absolute nonsense. That is my view on it.”

Britain won the silver medal in Rio five years ago, and hopes were high of a repeat podium performance following a memorable quarter-final victory over the United States. However, they lost 29-7 to semi-final opponents New Zealand, before Argentina scored late through Ignacio Mendy to take bronze.

Simone Biles: Mental health campaigners have applauded Simone Biles for prioritising her wellbeing after the world’s top gymnast withdrew from the women’s all-around gymnastics final at the Tokyo Olympics, writes Clea Skopeliti.

Men’s gymnastics: British gymnasts James Hall and Joe Fraser have been chatting to the BBC following their top ten finishes in the men’s all-around.

Hall: “I’m over the moon and after the last year the uncertainty and not knowing what will happen or where my gymnastics is at,” he said after finishing ninth. “It’s refreshing to break into that top eight again - I’m speechless. Credit to Joe [Fraser], he had a couple of mistakes and wasn’t far behind me so that is refreshing to see, he is the future.

“The whole thing has been a pleasure - the guys I have been with and the way I’ve competed, it’s just a shame my personal coach isn’t here but I know he’ll be at home watching with his whole family and I know he’ll be proud.”

Fraser: “I made a few mistakes along the way, that’s gymnastics,” he said. “Mistakes happen and I take it on the chin and try to improve moving into the next apparatus. I tried to put on a show on high bar so to get through that routine was great, it’s the first time I’ve done that routine in a competition. So to do it on the biggest stage in the world I’m very happy with that.

“I’m excited for the parallel bar final, I’ve got six days to rest and recover and get myself ready for the final - I’m excited. All the top people in the world all fighting it out on the parallel bars so I can’t wait.”

Men’s 3x3 basketball: Latvia have won the gold, triumphing over ROC by 21-18 in the final.

Men’s football: Defending champions Brazil have advanced to the quarter-finals after a 3-1 victory over Saudi Arabia on Wednesday helped them top Group D while Ivory Coast booked their berth by sending Germany home.

Japan advanced after delivering the knockout blow to 10-man France with a 4-0 win to stay perfect in Group A. Takefusa Kubo, Hiroki Sakai, Koji Miyoshi and Daizen Maeda all scored for the rampant hosts while Randal Kolo Muani was sent off for France.

They take on New Zealand in the quarter-finals while Mexico, who pipped France to second place in Group A with a 3-0 win over South Africa, will meet South Korea.

Cycling: A German cycling coach has apologised after being overheard on camera using racist language while encouraging a rider in today’s men’s Olympic time trial in Fuji.

Patrick Moster used derogatory language when urging Nikias Arndt to try to catch Eritrean rider Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier and Algeria’s Azzedine Lagab and his comments were picked up by German TV station ARD.

“‘If I heard that correctly he said ‘get the camel drivers!’,” said ARD commentator Florian Nass. “Something like that has no place in sport. This is absolutely underground. Sorry, I can’t think of anything … that is unworthy.”

Following the conclusioon of the time-trial, which was won by Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic, Moster, 54, made his way to the mixed zone to apologise for his comments. “‘I was in the feed zone and cheered on Nikias Arndt,” he said. “In the heat of the moment and with the overall burden that we have here at the moment, my choice of words was wrong. I am sorry. I’m so sorry, I can only sincerely apologise. I didn’t mean to discredit anyone.”

Germany’s Olympic Federation released a statement in the aftermath of the controversy. “Team Germany represents Olympic values like respect, fair play and tolerance throughout the competitions and beyond,” it said. “It is important that Moster apologised while the race was still on. Nonetheless we will discuss the matter with him directly.”

Moster is understood to have made his way to the Algerian team’s spot in the paddock to apologise after the race, but they had already left.

More on the medals table: “Rick Leskowitz is wrong, I’m afraid,” writes Dan Catton. “The Guardian is using the traditional method for assigning places, with gold being the main criteria used, not total medals won.

If you go to the official website of the Tokyo Olympics and view the medals table there, you’ll see that that’s the case.

“Whether that’s the fairest or most accurate way to do is open to question but it is the way the Olympics themselves do it.”

An email: “As a point of comparison as to how well Team GB are doing, here were the medals for Team GB today compared to after the end of Day Five at the last three Olympics,” writes Des Brown.

• Beijing 2008 : two golds, two silvers, three bronze. Total: seven.
• London 2012 : two golds, three Silvers, four bronze. Total: nine.
• Rio 2016: three Golds, three silvers, six Bronze. Total: 12.
• Tokyo 2020: five golds, six Silvers, five bronze. Total: 16.

Gymnastics: Daiki Hashimoto, 19, is Japan’s new gymnastics superstar after winning the men’s all-around by a whisker from China’s China’s Xiao Ruoteng and ROC’s Nikita Nagornyy. Hats off to Great Britain’s Joe Fraser and James Hall, who finished just inside the top 10.

Women’s 3x3 basketball: The USA have beaten the Russian Olympic Committee to win the first Olympic gold medal in the sport.

Equestrianism: Charlotte Dujardin has been reflecting on her achievement in becoming the most decorated British female Olympian of all time after taking third place in the dressage.

“People say it, and I can’t quite believe it,” she said. “Being level with Katherine Grainger was good enough, and now I have beaten her. It’s incredible, and I can honestly say I am proud of myself. I knew I wasn’t going to go down without a fight.

“I wanted to go out and enjoy it, and he gave me absolutely everything. To win medals individually and in the team in the last three Games, I couldn’t be prouder. And to do it with a new dance partner, I couldn’t be prouder.

“I was literally throwing him from one thing to another thing, and he just keeps going. What he has done here is phenomenal.”

Gymnastics: It’s official! Daiki Hashimoto wins the men’s all-around with a final score of 88.465.

Gymnastics: Japan look to have nicked the gold medal in the men’s all-around with the very last performance of the day by 19-year-old Hashimoto Daiki. We’re just waiting on the judges but he certainly seems to think he’s won after an epic performance on the high bar.

Equestrianism: “Double Olympic champion Charlotte Dujardin has cemented her place in the history books as the most decorated British female Olympian of all time, winning a bronze in the individual dressage – her sixth Olympic medal,” writes Alexandra Topping. Read on ...

An email: “I’m a big Guardian fan from America and am following the Olympics via your updates,” writes Rick Leskowitz. “Thank you! But I have one major complaint: how the medal count is tallied.

“At the moment, Japan is atop the table with 12 gold and 9 others (silver plus bronze), while the USA is in third with 10 gold and 20 silver plus bronze. But this tally overvalues gold. Would Japan still be in first with their current totals if the USA had, say, 15 silver plus 15 bronze to go with ‘only’ 10 gold? Clearly not, so it’s time for a re-do.

“The traditional scoring method is more accurate: three points for gold, two for silver, one for bronze. The current standings would now read:

• 1. USA - 61 total points
• 2. China - 52
• 3. Japan - 49
• 4. ROC - 42
• 5. Great Britain - 32
• 6. Australia - 29

“Note - I’m not just being a chauvinistic American. This method also bumps Great Britain up from 6th to 5th!”

Quite apart from the fact that you’ve made my head hurt, is there any way you could devise a system that would bump Ireland nearer the top with their one bronze?

Men’s all-around gymnastics: With just the high bar to come in the men’s all-around China’s Xiao Ruoteng leads from ROC’s Nikita Nagornyy and Japan’s Hashimoto Daiki. British representatives James Hall and Joe Fraser are in 11th and 12th place respectively.

Men’s rugby sevens: Fiji retained their Olympic title earlier today in what was one of the feel-good highlights of the Games so far in the humble opinion of this reporter. Floods and covid-19 have made life extremely difficult for the South Pacific islanders in the past year and their rugby team have not seen their friends or families since Easter. They can rest assured that they haven’t been forgotten ...

Kon’nichiwa everybody. Plenty of medals have been won today and there are a few more up for grabs, specifically in the men’s and women’s 3x3 basketball, men’s all-around gymnastics and men’s 73kg weightlifting. We’ll all also look back on the day’s events thus far, bringing you all the reaction and look ahead to tomorrow’s schedule.

And with that, I’m going to pass the blogging baton over to Barry Glendenning. You may email him here. Bye!

3x3 Basketball: It’s crunch time in the 3x3 basketball, with all the medals to be decided in the next couple of hours. First up is the women’s bronze medal game, and China are 14-10 up against France with just a couple of minutes to go.

Swimming: Erika Brown wins the swim-off! Earlier Australia’s Emma McKeon broke the Olympic record over the same distance, and was just the smidgiest smidge away from a world record. “I didn’t expect to go so fast,” McKeon said. “Obviously seeing it was that close I wish had longer fingernails.”

Dressage: Dorothee Schneider appears to be having a difficult time on her horse, Showtime. Dujardin might end up with a medal here!

Swimming: The last race of the day is the women’s 100m freestyle swim-off between Erika Brown and Wu Qinfeng, with the last place in the semi-finals at stake.

Swimming: Australia destroyed their women’s 4x200m freestyle heat, winning by nearly 7sec, and overall were the fastest team by nearly 3sec. They therefore storm into the final, where they are joined by USA, China, Canada, ROC, Germany, France and Hungary.

Dressage: Dujardin’s 88.543% is good enough to put her in third place. Two Germans in Jessica von Bredow-Werndl and Isabell Werth are above her, and Dorothee Schneider is the last rider out and can seal a German clean sweep of the medals.

Dressage: There was also “a slight irregularity in the hind leg”. It’s a hopeless case.

Dressage: Dujardin’s horse was also “a bit eager to come into the trot”. I’m not sure there’s any way back from this.

Dressage: Apparently Dujardin’s horse offered too much in the piaffe.

Dressage: Isabell Werth can get no better than silver this year, and could be pushed out of the medals altogether if the last two hit the horsedancing heights, sitting as she currently does in second place. Charlotte Dujardin is out now.

Cycling: Geraint Thomas has posted his reaction to today’s time trial, where he finished 12th:

Tennis: Andy Murray has posted his reaction to today’s doubles defeat, probably his last ever Olympic action:

Dressage: Down to the last three in the horsedancing. Isabell Werth, the 52-year-old German and individual gold-medallist in Atlanta in 1996 (and team gold-medallist all the time because she’s German) is at her sixth Olympic games, has never finished below second, and is horsedancing as I type.

Swimming: The men’s 200m IM heats have finished, and Britain’s Duncan Scott is safely through with the sixth-fastest time, though he was very nearly a second behind the fastest finisher, Michael Andrew.

Cycling: Here’s a piece on Rohan Dennis, the Australian who won time trial bronze for Australia today:

Three years ago, reflecting on a career that, until that point had been defined by adversity rather than triumph, Rohan Dennis insisted: “If you keep knocking on the door, one day it will open.” It was an apt mantra for Dennis, a mercurial cyclist from South Australia. In the three years since, the door has opened – to two individual time trial world championship titles. On Wednesday, five years after a devastating mechanical ruined his medal hopes at the 2016 Olympics, the door opened again – to a bronze medal at Tokyo 2020.

Much more here:

Athletics: Action in the Olympic Stadium starts on Friday. Here’s Sean Ingle on the key British hope, Dina Asher-Smith:

When Dina Asher-Smith ran her first cross-country race in primary school she hated it so much she nearly stopped – only for her parents to bribe her with an ice cream to keep going. It worked – and then some. Asher-Smith ended up sprinting through the field to finish fifth out of 400 and a glittering athletics career was born.

Now, at the age of 25, Asher-Smith has accumulated an athletics CV to die for. It includes five world championship medals – including world 200m gold and 100m silver in Doha in 2019 – as well as a 4x100m bronze at the Rio Olympics and numerous British records. Now she is at her peak and seeking to achieve what no British female sprinter has accomplished before: win Olympic gold over 100m or 200m.

Much more here:

Dressage: The individual horsedancing competition is gradually approaching a conclusion. With five to go Denmark are in first and third, through Cathrine Dufour and Carina Kruth, but the favourites are still to come.

Fencing: It’s gold for South Korea in the men’s team sabre! It was a one-sided final, with Italy thumped 45-26. Aldo Montano went down 5-0 to Oh Sanguk and 5-1 to Kim Junghwan, which didn’t really help.

Swimming: Next up are heats for the men’s 200m individual medley, one of the great Olympic swimming events in my humble opinion. Britain’s Duncan Scott, who won gold in the 4x200m relay earlier today, is among the favourites to win it and goes in the sixth and final heat alongside one of the other favourites, Andrew Michael of the US.

Swimming: Another Olympic record falls in the pool, Tatjana Schoenmaker in the women’s 200m breaststroke - and she was only 0.05sec away from the eight-year-old world record! That’s obviously the fastest time, with the 16 semi-finalists including Molly Renshaw and Abbie Wood of Great Britain, Jenna Strauch of Australia and the Americans Lilly King and Annie Lazor. Another Australian, Abbey Harkin, came 17th and missed out on qualification by 0.14sec.

Hockey: It’s all over at the Oi Hockey Stadium, where Australia have beaten Japan 1-0. In the other women’s pool match currently ongoing Argentina lead China 2-0 in the third quarter.

Swimming: The session catchily known as “Session 9” is ongoing in the Aquatics Centre, and Australia have already broken an Olympic record, Emma McKeon with a time of 52.13 in the women’s 100m freestyle heats. Kate Campbell of Australia also won her heat, safely qualifying with the fourth fastest time. The big drama was that with the fastest 16 finishers qualifying for the semi-finals there was a tie for 16th place. France’s Marie Wattel and the Netherlands’ Ranomi Kromowidjojo will have to swim off at the end of the session.

Hockey: Australia are playing Japan in heir third group game. So far Australia have a 100% record, and Japan are the only team in the group yet to win a point. But this encounter has been surprisingly close, Australia leading 1-0 in the fourth quarter through Madison Mae Fitzpatrick’s third-quarter goal.

Fencing: The men’s team sabre gold final has begun, and either Italy or South Korea will win it. It’s 4-4 in the very early stages.

Here’s a bit more reading for you from around the Guardian:

Diving: Britain didn’t come last in the men’s 3m synchronised final, but it was close:

Rugby sevens: A report on Fiji’s emotional win over New Zealand in the final:

Water polo: In their 20th game of 2021 the US women’s team did something they hadn’t done all year: they lost. Hungary, who had been beaten by the US five times already this year, turned the tables:

Cycling: Geraint Thomas has spoken to PA Media about today’s time trial, and looked back on the road race (when he crashed early on and couldn’t finish) and the Tour de France (when he crashed early on but did finish):

It was tough. I tried to start at a pace to be there or thereabouts for a medal but then I heard I was already 50 seconds down on Roglic and that wasn’t great for morale. I then just had a real bad patch on the second climb and really fell off the watts, I just lost momentum and lost concentration. Then Rohan caught me and that wasn’t good for the head either. I wouldn’t say I was happy with it but I’m content.

It’s been a super hard five weeks. It just seems to be one thing after the next. You stay positive and keep putting your hat in the ring and try not to be scared of failing, but it’s been tough and I’m looking forward to getting away from the cycling world for a bit now.

Tennis: Ashleigh Barty and John Peers are through to the second round of the mixed doubles after they beat Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska and Horacio Zeballos. They stormed through the first set, winning it 6-1 in just 19 minutes, but took 50 minutes to come through the second, 7-6. It was Barty’s second match of the day - she and Storm Sanders had earlier lost to Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova in the quarter-finals of the women’s doubles.

Fencing: Bronze to Hungary! Aron Szilagyi reels off two successive points to wrap up victory to Hungary by 45-40. What an effort though from Max Hartung, against the 2012, 2016 and 2020 individual sabre champion!

Fencing: This is absolutely wild fencing. It’s 43-40 to Hungary, and Max Hartung is 14-4 up over Aron Szilagyi.

Fencing: It’s now 42-36, and the wind is in German sails. Hungary will win bronze if they get three more points, but Max Hartung is catching up fast!

Fencing: It’s the men’s team sabre bronze final, and Hungary lead Germany 40-26 with Aron Szilagyi and Max Hartung, the final pair, now on the piste. “It’ll be the greatest comeback of any Olympics and any sport,” says the Eurosport commentator of Germany’s chances.

Cycling: Here’s a report on the women’s time trial, the second gold medal at these Games that Annemiek van Vleuten thought she’d won, and the first she actually did win.

Van Vleuten threw her arms above her head, hugged a Dutch team official and burst into tears in almost the same spot at the Fuji International Speedway circuit where she had beamed to the cameras after mistakenly believing she had won Sunday’s chaotic road race. “I’m number one, right?” she joked.

Much more here:

Tennis: Earlier today Spain’s Paula Badosa, the world No29, abandoned her quarter-final against Naomi Osaka’s conqueror, Marketa Vondrousova, because of heatstroke. She has since pulled out of the mixed doubles. A number of players, including Novak Djokovic, have complained about being forced to play in the middle of the day in high heat and humidity.

The men’s second seed Daniil Medvedev complained about the heat during and after his third-round win over Fabio Fognini: “Even from the first set, I didn’t feel good enough with my breathing. I felt like my diaphragm had blocked. I think it was the most humid day we have had so far.

“Then, in the second set, I just had darkness in my eyes. Between every point I didn’t know what to do to feel better. I was bending over and I couldn’t get my breathing together. I was ready to just fall down on the court. It helped that I won the first set, so I knew there was a 10-minute break. So I went under the cold, freezing shower. When you have such a change of temperature and go out on the hot court, you can fully cramp and it finishes the match for you, or you feel better. I was lucky I felt better.”

Rowing: Barney Ronay was at the Sea Forest Waterway today to see Britain win one silver medal (and finish fourth three times) in six events. Here’s his piece:

Swerving off course, veering out of its lane at the last. Sport loves a metaphor. As Britain’s Olympic rowers reeled off a series of wholehearted but ultimately disappointing finishes at the Tokyo 2020 waterfront it was hard to avoid the sense the men’s coxless four had dished up its own slightly hammy, if unavoidably persuasive image in its final race.

By the end of Wednesday’s programme one thing did seem uncomfortably clear. The choice to allow Jürgen Gröbler to leave a year before these Games, a decision made by men who can only guess vaguely at Grobler’s depth of fine-point expertise, looks as rash and as damaging now as it did at the time.

Sometimes sport is simple. Don’t give up. Don’t argue with the referee. And don’t, whatever you do, get rid of Jürgen Gröbler while there is still a chance the greatest asset British rowing ever invested in – the man who has nurtured an entire culture of success, beloved of his athletes, obsessively committed as ever – might stick around for another Games.

Much more here:

Rugby sevens: Asaeli Tuivuaka touches down, and Fiji lead 24-12 with just 90 seconds to play!

Rugby sevens: Fiji lead 19-12 at half-time. Can the 2016 gold-medallists do it again?

Dressage: The dancing horses are back! It’s the individual final, and four of the 18 competitors have, um, already horsedanced. The big fireworks are expected towards the end of the competition, with the last three to go including Isabell Werth and Dorothee Schneider of Germany, with Britain’s Charlotte Dujardin, hoping to become Britain’s all-time most-decorated female Olympian, sandwiched between them.

Portugal’s Rodrigo Torres has just finished his round, and he is absolutely jubilant. After much air-punching he’s still hugging teammates and support staff as I type. Very DeCoubertinian of him - it’s the taking part that is counting - as with 78.943% he’s third of the four horsepeople to have horsedanced so far. There’s an interview with him in Horse & Hound here, if you’re interested.

Rugby sevens: There were a lot of tears running down Fijian cheeks before the gold medal match got under way, but they are controlling their emotions superbly so far, and have just gone 12-0 up against New Zealand.

Cycling: Rohan Dennis’s bronze in the men’s time trial adds to the silver he won on the track in 2012. The world time trial champion in 2019 and 2020 finished superbly: he was fifth fastest at the final intermediate split, more than five seconds behind Filippo Ganna and nearly 4sec behind Stefan Kueng, but timed his push for the line superbly to end up just 0.4sec ahead of Kueng and nearly 2sec faster than Ganna.

Rugby sevens: It’s bronze for Argentina! The British players slump to the turf after Ignacio Mendy scores the winning points and Argentina hold on!

Rugby sevens: The medal matches are ongoing, with Britain playing Argentina for bronze as I type. After conceding an early try Argentina led 12-5 at half-time, but have now been pegged back at 12-12.

Tennis: Earlier today Daniil Medvedev was so enraged by a journalist’s question that he demanded the scribe be thrown out of the Olympic Games. Tumaini Carayol has the story:

Swimming: An interesting tale this, of how Kristof Milak’s attempt to break the world 200m butterfly record was destroyed, 10 minutes before it begun, by a ripped swimming costume. He found another swimsuit and still won the gold medal, but his record bid was over.

They split 10 minutes before I entered the pool and in that moment I knew the world record was gone. I lost my focus and knew I couldn’t do it.

It was a problem for me. I have a routine, a rhythm, a focus. This broke my focus and that problem impacted my time. I wasn’t swimming for the medal. I was swimming for the time. I said earlier I wanted a personal best. And my personal best is a world record.

The 21-year-old dominates this discipline, was overwhelming favourite for gold, and won by 2.48sec. Federico Burdisso of Italy came third and said “it was impossible to win this race because Milak is Milak”.

Cycling: Just scrolling through the splits, Roglic was never out of the top two, but after 15km he led by 0.04sec and after 22.1km by 8.39sec. At that stage it was still close. But then by 31.8km he was 30.94sec ahead of the second fastest rider, Rohan Dennis, by 37.1km he was 42.34sec ahead of Tom Dumoulin, and by the finish he led by 1min 1.39sec. In short, what an astonishing second lap from the Slovenian, 22km in which he absolutely destroyed the field.

Cycling: Nobody’s splits are remotely close to Roglic’s, and though Wout van Aert and Filippo Ganna are among the riders still on the road, nobody is going to catch him.

Cycing: Tom Dumoulin finishes his time trial, and is the fastest over the course so far by the massive margin of 1min 13sec. But then Primoz Roglic comes in next, another minute ahead! Can anyone better that?

Cycling: Roglic and Asgreen have both caught Joao Almeida. The Portuguese rider started three minutes of Roglic, and is now trailing him. The three of them are currently cycling together, which you don’t often see in individual time trials.

Cycling: Having started 90sec before the Australian, Geraint Thomas has now been caught by Rohan Dennis. Meanwhile Primoz Roglic caught and overtook Kasper Asgreen, but the Dane has gone back ahead again, and established quite a gap.

Cycling: Roglic, Dumoulin, Ganna, Dennis and Van Aert are the top five after the first lap of the time trial, within around 10sec of each other. There’s another five seconds before the sixth-fastest rider over the first 22.1km, Stefan Kueng of Switzerland, but then a gap of around 18sec before the seventh-fastest, France’s Remi Cavagna. In short, one of those six riders will surely win gold.

Cycling: Primoz Roglic has bettered Tom Dumoulin’s time over the first lap by a shade over 8sec, with only one rider, Filippo Ganna, yet to reach that point. Geraint Thomas was nearly a minute slower, and does not look likely to win a medal today.

Skateboarding: An Olympic skateboarder who was put in quarantine after testing positive for Covid called the conditions at the hotel “inhuman” on Wednesday.

Candy Jacobs has been in isolation for eight days and missed the street event in skateboarding’s debut as an Olympic sport. She said she had to force officials to allow her a supervised short break for some fresh air away from her room, where the window doesn’t open.

“Not having any outside air is so inhuman,” the 31-year-old Jacobs said in a video message posted on Instagram. “It’s mentally super draining ... definitely more than a lot of humans can handle.”

Jacobs was removed from the Olympic Village and put in a quarantine facility for people at the Tokyo Games infected with the virus. On her seventh day of isolation, she said she refused to move.

After more than seven hours, she said, officials agreed she could stand at an open window under supervision for 15 minutes. “Having that first breath of outside air was the saddest and best moment in my life,” Jacobs said.

The International Olympic Committee and Tokyo organizers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Cycling: Tom Dumoulin finishes the first of two laps, and he’s the fastest to that point by a margin of over 40sec!

Cycling: Every rider has now passed the first split, 9.7km into the course, and Filippo Ganna is fastest. Primoz Roglic is quickest to the second split, at 15km. Already 25 riders have finished, but the gold medallist is still on the road.

Swimming: Tom Dart was at the Aquatic Centre to see Katie Ledecky take gold in the women’s 1500m freestyle:

Walking to the warm-down pool after finishing fifth (fifth!) in the 200m, Ledecky bumped into her coach, Greg Meehan, as he descended from the stands. “We chatted a little bit,” the 24-year-old said. Get mad if you think the frustration can fuel you, he suggested. Or put it out of your mind: forget it happened and treat the 1500 like it’s your only race of the morning.

Ledecky chose the more zen approach and flooded her mind with happy family memories, especially of her grandparents. “I just really love them all and it makes me really happy to think about them,” she said.

Confidence and calmness renewed as the warm-down segued into a warm-up, a surprising start to Ledecky’s session ended as expected, with a commanding victory over a distance where she is routinely so far in front as to make viewers grateful for the invention of widescreen television.

Much more here:

Cycling: Tom Dumoulin has just posted the fastest time at the first split, by a hefty margin. Still on the first lap, he’s more than 30sec ahead of Rigoberto Uran’s time. The main favourites are still on the road, though, including the world champion and final starter, Filippo Ganna.

Geraint Thomas has just started his run in the men’s time trial, with only two more riders yet to go. The leader in the clubhouse is now Rigoberto Uran, who has just ousted Remco Evenepoel by the margin of 2.58sec. Alberto Bettiol, the Italian currently in bronze medal position, is nearly 17sec further back.

Hello world! I bring news from the diving boards, where Germany have pilfered a bronze medal with the last dive of the event, dumping the Mexicans into fourth place. It’s Patrick Hausding’s third Olympic medal, after silver in the synchronised 10m diving at Beijing in 2008 and bronze in the 3m in Rio, in the 32-year-old’s fourth Olympics.

There was drama throughout the final round, with the USA executing their forward 4½ somersaults excellently to put real pressure on China in the battle for gold, only for Xie Siyi and Wang Zongyuan to take the same dive to another level and win by 20 points. That was the only dive in the entire competition that outscored the final effort of Britain’s pair, a forward 2½ somersaults with three twists, but overall Daniel Goodfellow and Jack Laugher didn’t hit peak form, didn’t nail their entries, and finished seventh out of eight.

I’m going to hand you over to Simon Burnton now, whose spirit fingers are going to lead you through the coming hours of action in Tokyo. Until tomorrow.

Briefly back to the time trial, where Canada’s Hugo Houle was on top and the other riders had’t really put him under pressure. But Belgian star Remco Evenepoel is starting to surpass rivals now and has just taken the lead. Porte still some way back in the second wave.

Here is USA Gymnastics’ full statement.

Biles had been attempting to become the oldest woman in more than five decades to win the Olympic all-around title and the first repeat champion since Vera Caslavska did it for the former Czechoslovakia in 1968.

The US v Iran basketball game continued to blow out, finishing 120-66. It leaves the Americans top of Group A but France and the Czech Republic have a game in hand.

Porte is not in a good position. At the 9.7km checkpoint he is 40 seconds adrift. All is not lost but will be tough to recover from here. We are still waiting for some of the top names to start.

US gymnastics star Simone Biles has received an outpouring of support following her shock withdrawal from the team final citing mental health concerns. That includes from Michael Phelps.

“It broke my heart,” Phelps told NBC. “But also, if you look at it, mental health over the last 18 months, is something that people are talking about.

“The Olympics is overwhelming. There are a lot of emotions that go into it. I can talk about this for an hour. The easiest way for me to say it is I think athletes, and Olympic athletes in general, we need someone who we can trust. Somebody who can let us be ourselves, listen and allow us to become vulnerable. Somebody who is not gonna come try to fix us. We carry a lot of things and a lot of weight on our shoulders. It’s challenging, especially when we have the lights on us and all the expectations that are being thrown on top of us.

“We’re human beings, nobody is perfect. It’s ok to not be ok. It’s ok to go through ups and downs and emotional roller coasters ... I felt like I was carrying, as Simone said, the weight of the world on my shoulders. It’s a tough situation.”

Biles posted on Instagram after her withdrawal, saying “I truly do feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders at times”.

Have just come across this bizarre tweet. Over the weekend, Hou Zhihui won gold in the 49kg weightlifting event and Reuters published a report along with a photo that appears simply to encapsulate the 24-year-old’s incredible strength. China’s Sri Lankan embassy clearly do not agree.

Porte has started his time trial and is on the first little climb.

The US men’s basketball team have scored exactly twice the number of points as Group A opponents Iran. Midway through the third quarter the score sits at 82-41.

A commenter has pointed out that if the “s” is removed from “Richards” then the British men’s gold medal-winning 4x200m freestyle team are made entirely of first names.

Tom Dean, Duncan Scott, James Guy, Matthew Richards.

Shock turn in the tennis, with Barty and Sanders crashing out of their women’s doubles quarter-final. The Australians won the first set but the Czech pair took the second and then the third-set tie-break. The end score is 3-6, 6-4, (10-7).

Apart from those two Aussies mentioned, there are a lot of big guns in the time trial. Think Filippo Ganna (Italy), Remco Evenepoel (Belgium), Wout van Aert (Belgium) and Primož Roglič (Slovenia). All are out to win the gold that went to Switzerland’s Fabian Cancellara won in Rio.

For Team GB it’s all about Geraint Thomas. A two-time Olympic Games champion on the track some years back, the 2018 Tour de France winner had to abandon the road race a few days ago because of a crash and has since switched his focus to the time trial. Also competing for Great Britain is Tao Geoghegan Hart.

For the US, Brandon McNulty finished sixth in the road race and has another chance to capitalise on his form.

In the cycling, the men’s individual time trial has started. The difficulty of the Fuji Speedway course cannot be overstated. The women, in their event earlier, completed one lap of the 22.1km course, which includes an elevation gain of 423m. The men complete that course twice, meaning double the climb.

Australia are represented by Rohan Dennis and Richie Porte. The former actually pulled out of last weekend’s road race to concentrate on this event, and he is a very decent shot at a medal. Neither have started yet.

Ash Barty and women’s doubles partner Storm Sanders have one the first set of their quarter-final against Czech pair Barbora Krejčíková and Kateřina Siniaková. The score sits at 6-3, 4-4 to the Australians, who have just held serve.

Grace Brown has spoken about her fourth-placed finish in the women’s time trial. The 20-year-old missed out on bronze by seven seconds.

“I mean, you come across the line knowing there’s still really fast riders coming in behind you. It’s seated like that so I was fifth favourite coming into the race and, yeah, being on the hot seat pretty exciting but you know there is a chance you’ll be kicked off so you’re watching each ride coming to across the line, doing the maths.

“But the great thing about this event is all you can do is ride your absolute best. It doesn’t really matter what anyone else is doing. It’s just you and your machine so I rode to my best today and that got me in fourth position and I’m proud of that.”

Some more reader emails.

Heather: “I think that’s one of the wonders of the Olympics – any sport can draw us in. All the different athletes are performing at such a remarkable level, just a few minutes’ watch is enough to intrigue me.

You mentioned judo, and that’s long been a favourite. The way a match can turn in an instant, how a great judoka can turn an opponent’s attempted throw/move against them; it’s wonderful. And is anything cooler than a seoi-nage over the shoulder ippon victory?!”

Dave: “I’m in Detroit, and I’ve got judo on one screen, handball on another, and field hockey on the third. This is what the Olympics are all about.”

Simon: “re swimming tonight, worth mentioning that Abbie Wood was .11 off the bronze in the 200 IM, and the GB men were something like .04 off a world record in the 4x200”

Jerry: “As a climber I’m so excited to see climbing included. I think non-climbers will love the speed climbing because it is easy to appreciate for the non-climber. Bouldering and lead climbing will be harder to follow maybe. It’s one of those sports like surfing and skateboarding wear it’s harder to appreciate the skills involved. I think non-climbers will be amazed to see the competitors will all talk together and help each other understand the routes when they have the pre-comp observation period. That cooperation is something really great about climbing. Imagine players from opposing football teams advising each other before a penalty shootout!”

I too am looking forward to the climbing, which debuts at this Olympics and starts next Tuesday. As somebody who enjoys going to the climbing gym and takes an occasional trip to the mountains, but is genuinely too afraid to do any proper lead climbing, I can appreciate the nerve, concentration and quick thinking required.

Fox has just completed her first run in 109.96 and it is good enough for second, 2.45 seconds slower than the fastest time, which belongs to Great Britain’s Mallory Franklin (109.96).

“Hi Emma.” Hi Todd!

“I’m in South Korea and am getting more table tennis and archery rather than swimming and rowing because countries show what they they might have a better chance in. But really, watching table tennis is a lot of fun. The speed is unreal and the skill of the players shine through as the matches go on. Still, I am happy to read the blog because otherwise I wouldn’t know what was happening in the rowing and swimming.”

Jess Fox missed out on gold in the K1 but the Australian has another crack at it in the C1. For the uninitiated, the canoe discipline involves athletes using single-bladed paddles and kneeling inside a “closed cockpit”. The heats are up and running and it won’t be long until Fox makes her run.

Fox spoke with Seven just before about her disappointment and

“It is special to win a third Olympic medal. I was dreaming of that gold medal but a mistake at one of the last gates cost me the gold. That’s where the tears came from, a bit of frustration. But at the end of the day, to be on the podium again is so special.”

I distinctly remember watching the men’s 3,000m steeplechase at London 2012 and have just been on a YouTube hunt to find it, but the IOC has blocked me from embedding it. Here’s a cheeky link.

An email from Murray Henman.

“Apart from the standards [athletics, swimming], I think my tastes change at each Olympics. A few Olympics ago I really got into the handball and the hockey. At the moment, the women’s football, cycling, and the steeplechase, because it’s my daughter’s event [not at an Olympic level].”

In that same race, Australian Grace Brown ceded third spot right at the end, and 20-year-old debutant Sarah Gigante finished in 11th.

Annemiek van Vleuten has destroyed an experienced field to win gold in the women’s time trial, days after the Dutch cyclist was involved in a mix-up that ruined any chance she might have had of winning gold in the road race.

Days after confusion reigned in the peloton, leaving van Vleuten momentarily convinced that she had won the road event, her emphatic time trial victory at Fuji International Speedway was never in serious doubt.

She led by more than six seconds at the first time check, then pushed it to an incredible 28 seconds before finishing in 30 minutes, 13.49 seconds. Marlen Reusser of Switzerland won silver in a time of 31:09.96, while van Vleuten’s teammate Anna van der Breggen came in at 31:15.12 to take the bronze.

Call for feedback. What sports suck you in during the Olympics? I’m a sucker for athletics, which doesn’t get going for a few days yet. I also have a penchant for indoor volleyball which, I believe, is far more fun to watch than the beach variety. Any niche sports you’d like me to dip into? Do we want some table tennis play by play? Does anyone have a thing for judo, weightlifting or boxing? Talk to me.

In a post-race press conference, Ariarne Titmus admitted to “a little bit” of surprise that Katie Ledecky was not breathing down her neck at the climax of the 200m freestyle.

“I always think that Katie’s going to be there,” Titmus said. “She was definitely there for the first part of the race, then I guess she wasn’t at the end.”

It is currently around 31°C with 72% humidity and, despite spending their seasons chasing the sun around the world, tennis players here at the Ariake Tennis Park are struggling.

Shortly before he was pushed into a third set by Fabio Fognini, Daniil Medvedev was asked by the umpire if he was OK. “I can finish the match, but I can die,” he said. “If I die, who will take responsibility?”

So I’ve never heard Matty Johns get a shout-out at an Olympics before, but there is a first for everything I suppose.

Team GB had that in the bag from the halfway point and won by 3.23 seconds. Scott, who swam his team’s final leg, recorded the fastest split of the field with 1:43.45.

Shout out too to Thomas Neill, the 19-year-old who swam Australia’s final leg in 1:44.74 – the fastest time of his team. Huge pressure on a teenager at his first Games and he did his quickest time yet.

Team USA finished fourth and I’d wager it’s been a long since the Americans have not been on the podium in this event.

Kieran Smith has got the USA off to an emphatic start in lane two as Germany surge in front and Italy sit in third.

Right, the men’s 4x200m freestyle relay is a go. The last event of the session. Alexander Graham, Kyle Chalmers, Zac Incerti and Thomas Neill are up for Australia in lane five but it’s Team GB in pole position in lane four led by Tom Dean and Duncan Scott, who went 1-2 in the individual 200m free, and James Guy and Matthew Richards.

A quick catch-up on the men’s 200m breaststroke semi-finals, and Australian Zac Stubblety-Cook qualified fastest for the final in 2:07.35. Briton James Wilby also had a very strong swim with 2:07.91. In the other semi, Dutchman Arno Kamminga finished first in 2:07.99 and American Nic Fink placed second in 2:08.00. They were the four fastest times across the board. The final is scheduled for Thursday morning local time.

Ledecky touched the wall in 15:37.34 – four full seconds ahead of Sullivan. They hug, and the relief is palpable. Ledecky isn’t used to not winning, and she finally has the individual gold at the third time of asking. Melverton and Gough finished in sixth and eighth.

Ledecky has opened up a gap of about four body lengths as she approaches the 1,000m mark. The American is two-thirds through, with Kohler in second

New Zealand will meet Fiji in the men’s rugby sevens final in about six hours, after coming from behind to defeat Argentina 26-14 in their semi-final. As mentioned a little earlier, the Kiwis saw off Great Britain 29-7 in the other semi, meaning Team GB will play Argentina for the bronze medal.

Wang executes a strong turn that keeps her in chase. Ledecky is cruising. She’s clearly not swimming all out, conserving energy. It’s a long, taxing race this one. Melverton and Gough and seventh and eighth respectively.

China’s Wang Jianjiahe in lane five is swimming mighty close to the her right rope. Not sure if that’s intentional or not. Ledecky, after the disappointment of an hour ago, is basically racing herself. She’s a body length and a half ahead of Wang, with Italy’s Simona Quadarella and Germany’s Sarah Kohler fighting it out for third. Ledecky, of course, holds the world record.

The women’s 1,500m freestyle is about to begin, and it continues Katie Ledecky’s punishing schedule at these Games. She’s just swum the women’s 200m freestyle and dives off the blocks in front in line four in the middle-distance discipline. Australians Maddy Gough and Kiah Melverton are in lanes one and eight respectively.

Kieran Pender provides this round-up of Australia’s golden day in rowing.

The major news in the last 24 hours has, of course, been Simone Biles. More specifically, the American gymnastics great’s withdrawal from the team event citing mental health concerns.

This piece from Barney Ronay writes on the relentless pressure shouldered by athletes.

“But Biles took a time out on Tuesday, and did so with grace. She didn’t have to. She doesn’t owe us more grace. She has given plenty already. There really doesn’t have to be a reason why Simone Biles might feel a little frayed, a little overexposed. A kind of violence is being applied to these people, and it is important to recognise the novelty of this.”

This piece from Andrew Lawrence is also worth a read.

There is a bit of debate happening around which sports should and should not be included in the Olympics, particularly football. Let’s go down the rabbit hole!

Beau Dure, a Guardian freelancer, writes in: “I actually wrote for Soccer America that women’s soccer no longer needs the Olympics and would be better off emphasising continental tournaments, including what I’m calling the AAA - Americas, Africa, Asia.

“Sports that have long-established competitions that are bigger than their presence in the Games should really try to do something different to make their Olympic competitions unique. How about mixed team golf and tennis events?

“But the mistake people make is thinking that a sport that isn’t big in their country must not be big anywhere. The USA! USA! USA! doesn’t go wild for canoe/kayak slalom. But when I covered it in Beijing, the press tent was overflowing. I think half of Eastern Europe was there.”

Joel Eley writes in and says this: “Solution for football is to replace it with futsal. Easily done. I also think the Olympic sports should be where it is one of the top achievements in that sport, so no football or golf for me, and cannot understand why they are so against netball being included.”

Scott thinks a quick game is a good game: “Olympic football should consist of penalty shoot-outs ONLY! Thrilling to watch and over quickly! Yes!”

Another tweeter called VoiceOfTheMysterons offers a slightly more outlandish suggestion: “Continuing the theme of new Olympic sports, and as a means of attracting even *younger* viewers and competitors, how about Pin The Tail On The Donkey, Musical Statues and What’s The Time Mister Wolf.”

Shall we consult the experts? Jonathan Liew writes this: “This, perhaps, is the biggest problem with Olympic football: a problem that feels specific to men’s football, but may in time come to subsume the women’s game too. Nobody really seems to know what it is: a development competition, a star vehicle, a sideshow knockabout.”

Read his full piece.

It’s what they’re calling Boxall 2.0. Titmus’s coach has done it again, although not quite with the same gusto as the other day.

Titmus meanwhile says: “I’m just from a small town in Tassie and this goes to show that if you believe you can do something, you can 100% do it.”

Let’s take a quick look at the men’s rugby sevens semi-finals, in which Team GB have suffered a comprehensive 29-7 loss to New Zealand. There is no kind way of putting this – they were pretty much hammered. NZ controlled the match and held possession for all but about a minute, and will face either Fiji or Argentina in the final depending which reigns in the second semi about to get under way.

A lot of the attention has been on Titmus but it should also be noted that Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey was in front for a lot of that race. She took it to an outrageously strong field and only fell in the final 50.

The women’s 200m freestyle medal ceremony is happening now at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre, and Titmus has just stepped onto the top of the podium. She gives her team a wave, holds up that gold medal.

Here’s this from Kieran Pender on the ground:

“Australia has a historic pedigree in the women’s 200m freestyle. Susie O’Neill – in Tokyo as deputy chef de mission for the Australian Olympic Committee – won gold in 1996, while Australian swimming legend Shane Gould won the race at the Munich 1972 Games.”

I’ll also note that Titmus is only the third Australian to do the 200m and 400m double, joining Shane Gould (1972) and Ian Thorpe (2004). She’s 20. There’s a lot more to come from this young woman.

Confirmation that Throssell is through, and will take lane six in the final.

Semi-final two of the women’s 200m butterfly has just started and we’re looking t you Zhang Yufei. The Chinese swimmer is off to a flyer. She leads for the entirety and second-placed Hungarian Boglárka Kapás never looked like catching her. Yu Liyan is third and Australia’s Brianna Throssell fourth. Is it enough for the final? We will soon see. That second semi was quicker than the first.

Gary Naylor writes in and has this to say: “Ariarne Titmus has ice in her veins – not sure that helps in the pool to be honest, though it doesn’t slow her.”

There’s an analogy in there somewhere.

Titmus has spoken to Seven.

“I could see I was trying to move Siobhan down on the third 50. I had no idea where she was on the last lap. I knew I had Katie covered but Siobhan was the person that was there. I felt a little bit that was there. I felt a little bit, my legs started to go a bit but I’m happy to get it done.

“I don’t think it will settle in until I get home and have a rest. I mean, when you’re in this situation you kind of - like, you have to compartmentalise everything and I think once I stop racing I can release everything and thinking about on to the relay and the 800m now and I don’t want to ruin the rest of my meet by celebrating too hard but I’m very proud of what I’ve achieved.”

Soon we have semi-finals in the women’s 200m butterfly, the men’s 200m breaststroke (Australia’s Zac Stubblety-Cook looked rapid in the heats). The morning rounds out with three finals: the women’s 200m individaul medley, the women’s 1500m freestyle (where Ledecky has to back up barely an hour after the 200m final) and the men’s 4 x 200m freestyle relay. The concluding race will be particularly tasty for the Guardian, with our three main outlets - the UK, Australia and the USA - all going head for gold.

That was emphatic. I must admit I had concerns on the final turn but that was the moment Titmus lengthened her stroke. It was calm. It was composed. She has another gold to add to her cabinet and coach Dean Boxall is back on that railing! Not so much hip thrusting this time but definitely a little bit of movement in that region. Ledecky, meanwhile, finished fifth. Did Titmus get in hear head? Who knows. Maybe. It’s an Olympic record for Titmus by the way.

It’s the final lap and Titmus needs to move. Move she does. This is going to be very tight.

Titmus has some work to do. Ledecky is half a body in front and under world record pace.

Madi Wilson is in lane eight. Ledecky has made the strongest start and Canadian Penny Oleksiak has gone out VERY fast.

Women’s 200m freestyle time! Ariarne Titmus v Katie Ledecky 2.0! This could be big. If Titmus beats Ledecky again she can lay claim to the American’s crown. Ledecky has the consistency but Titmus has the speed and can use it when it counts.

We are also on Dean Boxall watch.

Russian Kliment Kolesnikov wins in 47.11, Chalmers is second in 47.80 and Hungaruan Nándor Németh third in 47.81. A good swim by Chalmers without setting the world on fire.

Right let’s go to the pool where the men’s 100m freestyle semi-final is about to start. Kyle Chalmers is in a battle with the USA’s Caeleb Dressel. Chalmers is fifth at the turn.

That’s why the Dutch are world champions. What an epic race. They made that early mistake when an oar caught on the water but kept their cool for an ice-cold finish.

The other contenders for bronze are Poland, and those top three are starting to pull away from the Aussies.

Australia are tracking for bronze at the moment. The Netherlands have made a miraculous recovery and are back in the lead, their bow poking out the front with the Brits in chase.

Britain have dropped back a bit as Italy surge and then suddenly, swiftly fall back themselves. What a strange race. At 1,000m Britain are back in the lead.

Oh no! The Dutch have pulled a crab! Lost control of the oar and have a hell of a lot of recovering to do.

Italy, Poland and Estonia round out the field. It’s getting windy there – you can hear it on TV. They’re away, and Estonia have fired out of the blocks. Australia, the Rio 2016 silver medallists, have also started well but the Dutch are a smidge in front.

The men’s quad scull final will start shortly. The Australian quartet of Jack Cleary, Caleb Antill, Cameron Girdlestone and Luke Letcher finished second to the Netherlands in their heat to guarantee direct passage. The Dutch, who are world champions in this event, finished 1.74 seconds quicker.

Team GB’s Jack Beaumount, Angus Groom, Harry Leask and Tom Barras bounced back from disappointment in the heats with a more convincing performance in the repechage.

ICYMI, here are the final moments of that race.

And so, Australia have more Oarsome Foursomes – plural. Both the women and men have blitzed their finals. Hang around as we turn our attention to the men’s quad scull final before hopping over to the pool.

Wow. That was a dramatic race, not least because there was very nearly a clash of boats in the final 100m when Team GB veered off course and had to steer themselves back on track. That would have cost them crucial seconds, and it did. For the first time since 2000, Britain have not won gold in this event. Australia went out hard and led the whole way, holding off a late surge. Italy it must be said came seemingly from nowhere. Kudos.

With 250m to go Australia are probably unbeatable, and GB and Romania are toe to toe for silver.

Have the Aussies peaked too early? Italy are charging too and move into third place.

Wait! Team GB are embarking on a late run. They’re trying to catch them. There is still some way to go though but they are surging with 500m to go. Wow.

The US are some way back as the boats start to spread. Italy also well off the pace.

It’s a boat length now. Wow. Team GB have a lot of work to do to rescue this. They’re in the silver medal position and the Romanians are in the third.

Britain are behind here. The pressure is on as Australia build a 0.85 gap on the rest of the field.

The Aussies are leading by a small margin early on but the Brits and Dutch on their tails.

Great Britain have won gold in the men’s four at every Olympics since 2000 and the combination of Games debutants Oliver Cook, Matthew Rossiter, Rory Gibbs and Sholto Carnegie showed their intention of taking a sixth straight title by leading from the off in their heat, beating Italy. So they are the team to beat.

And they’re off!

We’re counting down to the men’s four final now. The Brits are in lane four, the Aussies lane three, and the Americans in lane two.

Thank you Tom! Well it’s been a busy morning already but it’s about to get busier. If you’re not already strapped in would suggest doing so because here’s what’s coming in terms of Australian medal hopes. There are plenty of others from Team GB, Team USA and many other nations and I’ll take you through them as we approach each race:

10:10am local time – men’s four final (Alexander Purnell, Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves, Alexander Hill)

10:30am – men’s quad scull final (Caleb Antill, Jack Cleary, Cameron Girdlestone, Luke Letcher)

10:41am – women’s 200m freestyle final (Ariarne Titmus, Madi Wilson)

10:50am – women’s quad scull final (Ria Thompson, Rowena Meredith, Harriet Hudson, Caitlin Cronin)

11:54am – women’s 1500m freestyle final (Maddy Gough, Kiah Melverton)

12:26pm – men’s 4x200m freestyle relay final (Australia)

On that note of Aussie excellence, I’ll hand over the blog to another excellent Aussie: Emma Kemp. Bye!

Australia still first by 1.37 seconds after 1500m with 500 to go. Netherlands are catching slightly though with GB third and Ireland fourth.

Australia, the world champs, recorded a world’s best time over 500m and they extend their lead as they pass the halfway mark. The Netherlands are second and Britain are third with China fourth.

Canada have been the reigning champions in this event for 29 years ... but it was last in the Olympics in 1992 so it’s not that impressive. Australia just lead the Netherlands after 500m and GB are a surprise third.

And now we have the women’s four final. Great Britain, Ireland, Australia, Netherlands, China and Poland are your teams.

Meanwhile, Nick Honeywell writes in on sports that shouldn’t be in the Olympics. My nomination is kitten killing. No way they should let it back in. Britain disgraced themselves in the 1896 Games. Anyway, here’s Nick:

“Football. I don’t understand why that’s in the Olympics at all, not least because there’s a perfectly good World Cup held every four years already. With 90 minute matches, it feels too big of an event to take up so much time. If football must be included (and I grant that the novelty of having one Team GB instead of four national teams is interesting), why not do it like rugby and have football sevens instead, with smaller teams and a much shorter game time? Say, two 15-minute halves and that’s your lot.” There’s be quite a few 0-0 draws though. Although plenty of penalty shootouts.

It’s an epic tussle as the line approaches (OK, they approach the line) and France surge to victory! Just! Netherlands are in second and China are third. It was the narrowest of victories for the French. Britain were fourth.

500m to go: Netherlands are pushing away from the French with China in third. Britain in fourth ...

Halfway point: China then Netherlands, France and GB. Still tight but China are accelerating...

The men’s double sculls final now: Switzerland, China, France, the Netherlands, Great Britain and Poland are your protagonists. China are the firm favourites here but, you know, SPORTS! France have the best chance of an upset. It’s France, Netherlands and then China after 500m but it’s pretty tight.

And it’s Romania who ease home for gold! A late surge sees New Zealand capture silver and the Netherlands collect bronze. Romania won in an Olympic record too.

No one is catching Romania for gold with 500m to go. New Zealand and the Netherlands battle for silver...

The Netherlands team’s coach is watching this from his hotel room after he had to isolate because of Covid protocols. It’s Romania, who stretch out into the lead over the Netherlands and Lithuania at 500m - a lightning start. But at halfway New Zealand have made up water and move into second.

We now have a run of six A finals (ie you win gold if you win) coming up. First, it’s the women’s double sculls, featuring USA, New Zealand, Romania, Canada, the Netherlands and Lithuania.

As we ready ourselves for the start Mark from Wisconsin has something to say on sports that should be dropped from the Games: “Drop skateboarding cuz you’re making it too mainstream for normals. Replace with uncool sports like cornhole or log rolling.” Log rolling is definitely not uncool.

It’s the women’s quadruple sculls B final next. USA, Britain, New Zealand and France are your crews. GB leap/row very fast out to an early lead and are not seriously challenged after that. New Zealand, France and the US finish after them in that order.

Meanwhile, Paul McDevitt writes in on sports that shouldn’t be in the Olympics. “I don’t think there should be sports played by millionaire professionals like golf, basketball, football or tennis although they at least are sports played by the masses unlike skeleton, ski jumping, pole vault etc, which are sports only ‘played’ by athletes completing in an Olympics,” he says. So you’re saying your school didn’t have a skeleton bob track? You missed out, Paul.

The men’s four B final is next. Poland finish ahead of Canada, Switzerland and South Africa respectively. Just to clarify: there are no medals in the B finals (rebutting the myth that everyone gets a medal these days) but it’s nice to win something.

And who will win the men’s quadruple sculls B final? I’ll tell you who: either China, Norway, Germany and Lithuania. Aaaand it’s China who romp home, the kings of the B final every one of them. Germany, Norway and Lithuania finish second, third and fourth.

Reader Joe Surtees writes in (reading and writing - all in one day!) with a question that will provoke ... some debate.

“I wanted to ask whether people had an opinion on what sports really shouldn’t be in the Olympics?” he says. Or asks. Has he asked or said here? “For me, it has to be anything involving a horse.” That’s gymnastics out then, but do go on. “Equestrianism seems more to do with who can afford to buy and keep an impressive animal, than anything else. Look at the ages of the competitors, they hardly scream Olympian ideal. It’s surely more animal training than sport.”

Bruce Springsteen won’t like that, Joe:

We’re on to the women’s four B final now in the rowing. It’s a battle for North American supremacy as Canada take on the US with Denmark and Romania also in the mix. The US have a narrow lead over the Romanians with 500m to go. The Americans coast home first but it’s a scrap between the other three before Denmark pip Romania for second. Canada are fourth.

We have a fairly quiet 30 minutes or so of competition ahead. There are plenty of B finals in the rowing (ie: the very good rowers rather than the very, very good rowers). It’s the men’s double sculls at the moment where the ROC came home first ahead of New Zealand.

One for our Australian readers now: there are plenty of medal opportunities for the Aussies in the next few hours. Here is what is coming up in rowing and swimming. All times are AEST.

Swimming

11:30am – men’s 100m freestyle semi-finals (Kyle Chalmers); 11:41am – women’s 200m freestyle final (Ariarne Titmus, Madi Wilson); 11:57am – women’s 200m butterfly semi-finals (Brianna Throssell); 12:21pm – men’s 200m breaststroke semi-finals (Zac Stubblety-Cook, Matt Wilson); 12:54pm – women’s 1500m freestyle final (Maddy Gough, Kiah Melverton); 1:26pm – men’s 4x200m freestyle relay final (Australia)

Rowing

9:10am onwards – women’s four final (Lucy Stephan, Rosemary Popa, Jessica Morrison, Annabelle McIntyre); men’s four final (Alexander Purnell, Spencer Turrin, Jack Hargreaves, Alexander Hill); men’s quad scull final (Caleb Antill, Jack Cleary, Cameron Girdlestone, Luke Letcher); women’s quad scull final (Ria Thompson, Rowena Meredith, Harriet Hudson, Caitlin Cronin); men’s pairs semi-finals (Sam Hardy, Joshua Hicks); women’s pairs semi-finals (Jessica Morrison, Annabelle McIntyre); women’s eights repechage (Australia); men’s eights repechage (Australia)

Here’s the full rundown for the rest of the day:

Simone Biles’s former USA gymnastics Aly Raisman has spoken in support of the Olympic champions after her withdrawal from the team event yesterday in Tokyo.

“It is so much pressure,” Raisman said in an interview with ESPN. “It’s the most pressure I’ve ever seen on a gymnast and maybe even Olympic athlete, and I can’t imagine how hard it is for her.

“I’m very proud of Simone, and I can’t imagine the bravery that it takes to just say, ‘I’m not going to do it today.’”

Raisman also said athletes’ needed support for their mental health.

“When I was training, there really weren’t resources for us to talk about our mental health or even ways to understand it,” Raisman said. “So I’m not even sure if there is resources out there in Tokyo for Simone ... We need to be asking the organizations like USA Gymnastics and the United States Olympic Committee: What are you doing to support your athletes and how can we prevent athletes feeling like they are struggling so much that they can’t finish the competition? What can we learn from this? And how can we better support athletes?”

You can read more on Simone Biles here: