Tokyo Olympics highlights: 'Mental health' behind Biles' shock Olympic team final exit

A tearful Simone Biles said "mental health concerns" were behind her shock withdrawal from the team final on Tuesday with the superstar gymnast's participation in the rest of the Tokyo Olympics now uncertain.

The 24-year-old American arrived in Japan as one of the headline acts of the pandemic-postponed 2020 Games, her diminutive frame shouldering an immense weight of expectation as she pursued a record-equalling nine Olympic titles.

Biles came into the team finals after uncharacteristic stumbles in qualifying that left the US women behind their Russian opponents.

The slate was clean however for Tuesday, but after failing to nail her opening vault Biles' night took a dramatic turn as she walked off the competition floor, causing consternation at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

. Manipur state gave a grand reception to Saikhom Mirabai Chanu who got silver medal in Tokyo Olympic in 49kg category of women weightlifting when she arrived at Bir Tikendrajit International Airport, Imphal on Tuesday.

Manipur Chief Minister N Biren Singh along with his cabinet colleagues, MLAs, officials, her family members , friends and supporters received her at the airport. Mirabai Chanu attended a grand reception function organised by the Directorate of Youth Affairs and Sports, Manipur at City Convention Auditorium just after her arrival at Imphal this afternoon.

CM Biren Singh handed over a cheque of Rs. 1 crore and an appointment letter to Mirabai to be the Additional Superintendent of Police (Sports) in the reception function where the olympian parents and family members were present

. There was resilience on display in hockey, a tactical mind sparkled in the boxing ring but the free fall in shooting remained perplexing and worrying as India's Olympic campaign oscillated between some celebration and a lot of dejection on day 4 of the competitions here on Tuesday.

At the Asaka shooting range, the Indians largely misfired and with that the hopes of medals in the 10m air pistol and 10m air rifle mixed team events went up in smoke.

The performance so far has resurrected the ghosts of 2016 Rio Games when similar hype and expectations had ended in a deflating medal-less campaign.

But perhaps the shooters can take a leaf out of the men's hockey team's book and find a way out of their current misery.

Hammered 1-7 by Australia on Sunday, the Manpreet Singh-led side claimed a 3-0 triumph over Spain to inch closer to a quarterfinal berth.

It was a tremendous fightback after a loss that could have easily scarred them for the entire Games

. There was resilience on display in hockey, a tactical mind sparkled in the boxing ring but the free fall in shooting remained perplexing and worrying as India's Olympic campaign oscillated between some celebration and a lot of dejection on day 4 of the competitions here on Tuesday.

At the Asaka shooting range, the Indians largely misfired and with that the hopes of medals in the 10m air pistol and 10m air rifle mixed team events went up in smoke.

The performance so far has resurrected the ghosts of 2016 Rio Games when similar hype and expectations had ended in a deflating medal-less campaign.

But perhaps the shooters can take a leaf out of the men's hockey team's book and find a way out of their current misery.

Hammered 1-7 by Australia on Sunday, the Manpreet Singh-led side claimed a 3-0 triumph over Spain to inch closer to a quarterfinal berth.

It was a tremendous fightback after a loss that could have easily scarred them for the entire Games.

. One of India's biggest medal hopes at the Olympics, wrestler Vinesh Phogat, on Tuesday missed her flight to Tokyo from Frankfurt after it was discovered that she had overstayed her EU (European Union) visa by one day.

Phogat, who was training in Hungary with her coach Woller Akos ahead of the Games, were to reach Tokyo on Tuesday night but she was stopped at the Frankfurt Airport before boarding the connecting flight to the Japanese capital.

However, IOA sources told PTI the issue has been sorted and she will be in Tokyo on Wednesday.

. Japan won the gold medal in softball at the Tokyo Games on Tuesday by beating the United States 2-0.

The result left the United States with the silver medal. Canada earlier took bronze by defeating Mexico 3-2

. The Russian Olympic Committee won the gymnastics women's team event at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday, denying American Simone Biles the first of what she hoped would be six gold medals at the Games.

The United States won silver, while bronze went to Britain.

Biles dropped out of the women's team event after one vault because of what USA Gymnastics described as a "medical issue" but will still receive a silver medal.

. US superstar and two-time world champion Caeleb Dressel limbered up for a crack at more gold Tuesday by narrowly outpacing reigning Olympic champion Kyle Chalmers in the 100m freestyle heats.

The imposing 24-year-old is tackling three individual events in Tokyo -- the 50m and 100m freestyle and the 100m butterfly -- and could feature in a possible four relays.

He already has one gold medal secure after spearheading the United States to the 4x100m relay title on Monday.

While Dressel only finished sixth in the 100m free at the Rio Olympics, he has since dominated, claiming back-to-back world titles.

But he has a high-quality opponent in Chalmers, who stunned the world to win in Rio and has earned a reputation for closing his races like a freight train.

. Moroccan heavyweight boxer Youness Baalla attempted to bite David Nyika's ear during his defeat to the New Zealander at the TokyoOlympicson Tuesday.

The 22-year-old was subsequently disqualified for unsportsmanlike behaviour, although he was already out of the Games anyway following his unanimous-points loss in the round-of-16 bout.

A Tokyo 2020 statement called Baalla's actions "intolerable", saying that he "very clearly intended to bite the ear/face of his opponent in the third round of the bout".

Footage shows Baalla trying to bite Nyika's right ear as the two boxers hold each other.

. Simone Biles's quest to become the greatest female Olympian here in Tokyo took a bizarre twist on Tuesday.

After a disappointing vault in the first rotation of the women's team event, the American was signified by an 'R' on the competitor list before the bars began, indicating she would not continue in the competition.

The International Gymnastics Federation confirmed she would play no further part in the team event.

. A hastily-introduced process that potentially allows athletes to protest at the Tokyo Olympics is not transparent and instead could deter them from highlighting social issues close to their hearts, an independent German elite athletes group said.

Days before the Tokyo Olympics got under way on July 23, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) relaxed its Rule 50, which forbids athletes from any form of protest at the Games.

It now does allow athletes to make gestures on the field of play provided they do so without disruption and with respect for fellow competitors and as long as it is not on the podium during the medal ceremony.

Any statement or protest, however, requires the approval of a working group that includes among others the IOC and the international federation of the sport in question.

. Simone Biles continued her quest to become the greatest female Olympian here in Tokyo on Tuesday as she chases down the six gold medals she needs to rewrite theOlympicrecord books.

Biles, who is leading the United States' defence of their women's gymnastics team title, is looking to add to her haul of four gold medals won at the 2016 RioOlympics.

Winning the six golds on offer in Japan would lift Biles to 10 – one more than Russian gymnast Larisa Latynina’s women’s record of nine gold medals won over threeOlympicGames: Melbourne 1956, Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964, and confirm her status as the greatest gymnast of all time.

It would also mark the highest number of gold medals won by any woman in anyOlympicsport.

. “Masaka" — or, in English, “No way.” That's how an incredulous Japan reacted Tuesday to the unexpectedly early loss of Naomi Osaka at the Tokyo Olympics, erasing her chances for gold.

And people quickly turned to an outpouring of sympathy.

“Watching you gave me courage. You don't have to win a medal. Watching you play is enough for all your fans,” said Yuji Taida, a novelist.

Japanese media relayed urgent reports on her loss, with “masaka” in the headlines.

“Her mother's motherland. Her dream to stand at the pinnacle, with the rising sun on her heart, was not to be,” reported Sports Hochi, a Japanese daily sports newspaper.

The stock of Japanese tennis racket maker Yonex, one of her major corporate sponsors, plunged Tuesday, just as she lost to former French Open finalist Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic 6-1, 6-4 in the third round. The stock recouped some of the losses but ended down 1.8%.

. Indian archers need to quickly shrugg off the disappointment of elimination from the team events as they brace for tougher challenges ahead in the individual competitions of the Tokyo Olympics, here on Wednesday.

Team events being 16-team draws provided the best opportunity to win a medal but exited early from the men's team and mixed pair sections.

A poor performance in the ranking rounds by Pravin Jadhav, Atanu Das and Tarundeep Rai pitted them against heavyweights Korea, who knocked out both the men's and mixed pair teams in the quarterfinals.

It's not that they shot poorly in the elimination round -- the men's team's average arrow in the matchplay was 9.12 just behind Korea, Chinese Taipei and the Netherlands -- but it's their poor ranking round that changed the dynamics.

(PTI)

. Britons Charlotte Dobson and Saskia Tidey got their Olympic challenge off to a strong start with two wins in their first three races in the 49er FX skiff class as the sailing events started at the Enoshima Yacht Harbour on Tuesday.

The pair are hoping to improve on their finishes at the Rio Games in 2016, where Dobson came eighth and Tidey 11th with different partners, and they don't mind being a bit conservative in their sailing if it helps them succeed.

"It was a great day. If someone had told us yesterday that we would have those results on day one today, we would have grabbed their hand off them," Dobson told reporters.

(Reuters Photo)

. The record in Covid-19 cases hit by Tokyo is "not a problem" for theOlympicgames, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters on Tuesday, adding that Tokyoites should focus on working from home to suppress the movement of people.

(Reuters)

. It was an emotional homecoming for newly-crownedOlympicsilver-medallist Mirabai Chanu, who broke down on meeting her mother here on Tuesday before being felicitated by Manipur chief minister N Biren Singh at the airport.

Much like the reception at the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Monday, Chanu was met with media frenzy at the Bir Tikendrajit International Airport here.

A stringent training regimen after the 2016 Rio Games had limited Chanu's visits to home for the past five years.

(PTI)

. Japanese tennis star Naomi Osaka's dreams of homeOlympicgold were crushed by a 6-1, 6-4 defeat to Marketa Vondrousova Tuesday as her return to action came to an abrupt end.

Osaka, who lit theOlympiccauldron and was one of the faces of the Games, struggled in an error-strewn display that blew the draw wide open after the earlier exits of world number one Ashleigh Barty and third seed Aryna Sabalenka.

"How disappointed am I? I mean, I'm disappointed in every loss, but I feel like this one sucks more than the others," said the four-time Grand Slam winner.

Asked what went wrong, she replied: "Everything -- if you watch the match then you would probably see. I feel like there's a lot of things that I counted on that I couldn't rely on today."

(AFP)

. The two Indian pairs participating in the 10m air rifle mixed team event crashed out in the first qualifications stage, missing out on yet another final after an outing that left a lot to be desired in the TokyoOlympicshere on Tuesday.

The duo of Elavenil Valarivan and Divyansh Singh Panwar finished 12th with a total of 626.5 across three series each, while Anjum Moudgil and Deepak Kumar ended 18th out of 29 pairs with an aggregate score of 623.8 at the Asaka Range.

The mixed events are making theirOlympicdebut.

It wasn't an ideal start for the more fancied Elavenil and Divyansh while Anjum and Deepak found themselves languishing at the bottom of the pile.

The top eight teams make the Qualification 2 and the top four pairs in the second phase qualify for the medal rounds.

(PTI)

. Indian shuttlers Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy emerged victorious against the England pair of Ben Lane and Sean Vendy in their final Group A match but still missed out on qualifying for the quarterfinals at the TokyoOlympics, here on Tuesday.

Ranked 10th in the world, the Indians beat world number 18 team 21-17 21-19 in a 44-minute Group A men's doubles match at the Musashino Forest Plaza.

However, they couldn't make it to the knockout stage as they finished third in the Group A behind top-ranked Indonesian team of Marcus Gideon Fernaldi and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and world number three Yang Lee and Chi-Lin Wang of Chinese Taipei.

All three teams finished on same points with two wins each and when the number of games won was considered to identify the qualifiers, the Indians lost.

(PTI)

. Japanese tennisphenomenon Naomi Osaka suffered straight set defeat to Czech Vondrousova. The tournament favourite lost 6-1, 6-4 to the Czech.

. The Indian pair won 21-17, 21-19.

. While Sharath was initially able to put up a fight, the second-seeded Long's prowess proved too much for the Indian paddler who lost 11-7, 8-11, 13-11, 11-4, 11-4

. Wind and rain buffeted the TokyoOlympicson Tuesday, causing delays to competition and event rescheduling, but stopping short of battering the host city as initially feared.

While organisers remained on alert to monitor impact from the tropical storm off Japan's east coast, those competitors unaffected by the weather got Day Four of competition off to a flying start.

(Reuters)

. Tsitsipas defeated Tiafoe 6-3, 6-4

. Evgeny Rylov led a Russian one-two to win the men's 100mOlympicbackstroke gold medal in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The 24-year-old hit the wall in 51.98sec to edge team-mate Kliment Kolesnikov, who touched in 52.00, ahead of American defending champion Ryan Murphy in 52.19.

Murphy was bidding to make it seven consecutiveOlympicgold medals in the event for the United States.

It is the first time since the Moscow Games in 1980 that an American has failed to win either gold or silver in the 100m backstroke.

(AFP)

. US teenager Lydia Jacoby stunned team-mate and defending champion Lilly King to claim the 100mOlympicbreaststroke gold medal in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The 17-year-old swam a scintillating final 50m to touch in 1min 04.95sec and edge South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker (1:05.22) into second, with King having to settle for bronze in 1:05.54.

"It was crazy. I was definitely racing for a medal. I knew that I had it in me," said Jacoby.

(AFP)

. Four residents of the Olympic Games village, including two athletes, are among the seven new Covid-19 cases that the event organisers announced on Tuesday.

. The Tokyo Olympics, delayed by the pandemic and opened under oppressive heat, are due for another hit of nature's power: a typhoon arriving on Tuesday morning that is forecast to disrupt at least some parts of the Games.

. Flora Duffy won Bermuda’s first-ever Olympic gold medal when she delivered a dominating run leg to convincingly triumph in the women’s triathlon on a stormy Tokyo course on Tuesday.

. US hopes of winning the first-ever men's Olympic surfing competition ended on Tuesday when Japan's Kanoa Igarashi eliminated Kolohe Andino in the quarter-finals.

. Hidilyn Diaz became the first Olympic gold medallist from the Philippines on Monday, winning the women's 55-kilogram category to stop China's bid for a perfect Tokyo Games in weightlifting.

. Tuesday's women's 100m backstroke final will be a battle of the record breakers with Australia's Kaylee McKeown going for gold against American Regan Smith and Canada's Kylie Masse.

. Simone Biles and her USA teammates will aim to retain their women's team title on Tuesday to take arguably the greatest gymnast in history a step closer to Olympic history.

Tokyo Olympics highlights: 'Mental health' behind Biles' shock Olympic team final exit

Tokyo 2020 | Day 4 Updates

'Mental health' behind Biles' shock Olympic team final exit

Manipur CM hands over Additional SP appointment letter to Mirabai Chanu

No end to shooting disappointment; wins in hockey, boxing highlights for India

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