Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Day 3 live: news, schedule, results: Ariarne Titmus, Katie Ledecky on track for another medal tussle

Australia's Ariarne Titmus is through to the semis of the women’s 200m freestyle. Picture: AFP

Julian Linden

Sport Reporter

Julian

Jacquelin Magnay

Europe Correspondent

@jacquelinmagnay

Jacquelin

Tom Crystal

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12:06AM July 27, 2021

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Key events

Titmus, Ledecky on track for another medal tussle

Settle down: Titmus’s message after coach’s viral celebration

Drama as Aussie’s surfing campaign ends

Titmus’ coach almost steals show

Chalmers seals relay bronze

McKeon adds to medal tally

US coach defends shock loss

Carnage, chaos in triathlon

Read how day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics unfolded below. View the full schedule

here

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHTS:

•

COMPLETED:

Swimming —

Emma McKeon earns bronze in 100m butterfly

;

Ariarne Titmus wins gold in 400m freestyle

;

Australian men claim 4x100m freestyle relay bronze

•

COMPLETED:

Surfing:

Steph Gilmore loses to Bianca Buitendag

;

Sally Fitzgibbons def Pauline Ado 10.86 to 9.03

;

Gabriel Medina def Julian Wilson

Owen Wright def Jeremy Flores

•

COMPLETED:

Men’s Rugby 7s —

Australia lose 29-19 to Argentina

•

COMPLETED:

Hockey —

Hockeyroos def China 6-0

•

COMPLETED:

Tennis — women’s singles 2nd round:

Elina Svitolina def Ajla Tomljanovic 4-6 6-3 6-4

; men’s singles 2nd round:

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina def John Millman 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3

; Dominik Koepfer def Max Purcell 6-3 6-0; women’s doubles 2nd round:

Barty/Sanders def Xu/Yang 6-4 6-4

;

Perez/Stosur def Niculescu/Olaru 7-6 7-5

•

COMPLETED:

Canoe Slalom: Men’s C1 final:

Daniel Watkins falls short of medal

•

COMPLETED:

Women’s water polo —

Australia def Netherlands 15-12

•

COMPLETED:

Men’s Rugby 7s —

Australia def South Korea 42-5

•

COMPLETED:

Swimming heats — women’s 200m freestyle:

Ariarne Titmus, Madi Wilson through to semis

; men’s 200m butterfly:

Matt Temple, David Morgan fail to progress

; Women’s 1500m freestyle:

Maddy Gough, Kiah Melverton

through to final

•

COMPLETED:

Women’s Softball —

Mexico def Australia 4-1

Erin Smith

11.12pm:

Aussies out of softball

For the first time in Australian softball history The Aussie Spirit won’t be coming home from the Olympics with a medal.

The women’s team put up a tough fight in the must-win match against Mexico tonight but they struggled to get the bat on the ball, recording 5 hits to Mexico’s 11.

Mexico finished the game ahead 4-1.

Australia’s women’s softball side went down to Mexico. Picture: Getty Images

Julian Linden

10.45pm:

Aussies through to 1500m freestyle final

Maddy Gough

and

Kiah Melverton

both made it through to the final of the inaugural women’s 1500m freestyle event.

Both finished fourth in their heats but snuck into the top eight for Wednesday’s final, with Gough seventh overall in 15:56.81 and Melverton snatching the last spot in 15:58.96.

Showing no signs of fatigue, American superstar

Katie Ledecky

topped the qualifiers by more than six seconds after she finished second behind

Ariarne Titmus

in the 400m final, then leading the qualifiers for the 200m freestyle at night.

Maddy Gough. Picture: Adam Head

Gadiel Notelovitz

10.20pm:

Skye Nicolson impresses in Olympic debut

Australian

Skye Nicolson

followed in her late brother’s footsteps when she medalled – hers a gold – at the Commonwealth Games in 2018, and before that when she stood on the podium at the World Championships in 2016.

On Monday, 29 years after

Jamie Nicolson

competed in Barcelona, Skye made her Olympic debut as she secured an impressive decision victory over Korea’s

Aeji Im

in the Round of 16.

Nicolson put on a classy display inside the fan-less Kokugikan Arena as she picked off her opponent to triumph via split decision (4-1) and move within one win off a guaranteed medal.

Skye never met Jamie or Gavin, her brothers who tragically died in a car accident in 1994 on the way to boxing training, a year before she was born.

Skye Nicolson. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s unreal,” she said of reaching the Olympics, just like her brother did.

“It’s a pretty crazy story and I’m just so glad I can be here making my family proud, and making Jamie proud, too.”

Nicolson had secured a bye to reach the Round of 16 without a sweat. She booked a place in the featherweight quarter-finals with almost as little fuss.

She’ll fight again on Wednesday against Great Britain’s

Karriss Artingstall

, who dealt with No. 3 seed Brazilian

Jucielen Romeu

in convincing fashion.

Romeu wasn’t the only seeded opponent to crash out of the featherweight bracket, with Nicolson, one win from a spot on the podium, ready to pounce.

“It’s been a day full of upsets in the division,” Nicolson said. “But I’ve said from day one that this division is very open, it’s there for the taking and today’s results have definitely proven that.”

Earlier in the day, Aussie flyweight

Alex Winwood

saw 20 weeks of work go down the drain in nine minutes

as he dropped to a cruel split decision defeat to Zambia’s Patrick Chinyemba.

“The fight was mine to be won in the third,” Winwood told News Corp. “I didn’t do enough.”

Still, Winwood, a proud Noongar man, was delighted to have represented his country.

“If I make it around to Paris,” the 24-year-old from Perth warned, “you’re not going to see the same fighter.”

Madeline Crittenden

9.27pm:

Stingers come from behind to post stunning victory

The Stingers have powered home to pull off a stunning victory in their second Olympic water polo match against the Netherlands.

The Aussie women’s team beat the Netherlands 15-12 at Tatsumi Water Polo Centre, despite falling behind in the first half, on the hunt for a fourth Olympic medal.

The Netherlands dominated the first part of the match, ahead 5-8 at half time.

But the Aussies came back strong in an epic third quarter, levelling the score. Another four goals came in the last quarter, with the Stingers claiming victory over their opponents, who only managed to get one goal in the final eight minutes.

The Aussie women came away from the match two from two after a solid 8-5 win over Canada.

Lena Mihailovic, Hannah Buckling, Abby Andrews, Matilda Kearns and Keesja Gofers of Australia celebrate during their win over the Netherlands. Picture: Getty Images

Abby Andrews

, the team’s only left handed player started with three goals, while triple Olympian and captain of the Aussie Stingers,

Rowie Webster

, clocked two goals.

Zoe Arancini

and

Brownwyn Knox

also dominated, with Knox securing the win with the final goal of the match.

Zoe Arancini

scored two goals in the match, while

Hannah Buckling

added three to her tally.

The Stingers have finished first, fourth, third twice since women’s water polo was introduced.

Netherlands player

Maartje Keuning

said her team lost control toward the end of the match.

“I think we started out really strong and our defence was good,” she said.

“But then in the end we lost some concentration and had some confusion. We were not on the same page at times and that cost us.”

Hayden Johnson

9.01pm:

‘I just died': Morgan at a loss to explain poor swim

Devastated Aussie swimmer

David Morgan

said he felt as though he had dropped dead after finishing a distant last in his first appearance at the Tokyo Olympics.

A bronze medallist in the medley relay at Rio in 2016, the highly experienced Morgan was at a loss to explain his finish to the 200m butterfly heats when he struggled home in 2:00.27, to finish 37th.

That was nearly five seconds slower than his time at last month’s Australian trials and he admitted he had no idea what happened.

David Morgan. Picture: Adam Head

“I just died – I’m bitterly disappointed with that,” he said.

“You don’t come to an Olympic Games and swim that slowly. I’ve got to figure out why that went so bad.

“I’m not really too sure, I’ll have to look at it again. I’ll bounce back – you get knocked down, you get back up again.”

Matt Temple

, who won a bronze medal as part of the Australian 4x100m freestyle relay earlier in the day, also missed out on the 200m butterfly semis after he qualified 18th overall in a time of 1:56.25, with only the top 16 advancing to the next round.

“I ideally would have liked to make the final but things don’t always go to plan,” Temple said.

“I tried to race it similar to how I raced in the trials. I’d like to see my splits on that one.

“I might have been a bit slower out than I would like to have been. It’s a learning opportunity.

Joe Barton

8.52pm:

Barty, Sanders, Stosur and Perez help ease singles pain

Australia’s singles hopes copped an almighty Olympic battering on Monday – but

Ash Barty

soothed a first-round exit by fixing her sights on doubles gold.

Barty teamed up with

Storm Sanders

to knock off Chinese duo

Yifan Xu

and

Zhaoxuan Yang

and give Australia two quarter-final pairings, after teammates

Sam Stosur

and

Ellen Perez

had advanced earlier.

However it was carnage for the rest of the green and golds, with

Ajla Tomljanovic

John Millman

and

Max Purcell

all suffering second-round defeats to leave the tennis team’s hopes of an individual medal in the hands of

James Duckworth

, who faces 12th seed Karen Kachenov on Tuesday.

Ash Barty and Storm Sanders. Picture: Alex Coppel

Ellen Perez and Sam Stosur. Picture: Getty Images

“We complement each other well and try and play our tennis is a really positive way. Tonight was really sharp, really solid,” Barty said.

“(Sunday’s singles loss) was disappointing. I’m not going to hide behind the fact that I wanted to do really well here.

“But we move on pretty quickly in tennis. We’re still in the hunt for a medal for Australia.”

The two Aussie outfits, falling on opposite sides of the draw, could feasibly meet in the gold medal match.

“As soon as we got off the court the first thing we did was check the score to make sure they got the win. It’s awesome we’re both still in the hunt,” Sanders said.

Julian Linden

8.30pm:

Titmus, Ledecky on track for another medal fight

Newly crowned Olympic champion

Ariarne Titmus

has already turned her attention to winning a second gold medal in Tokyo after qualifying for the semi-finals of the 200m freestyle.

Less than eight hours after her stunning victory over American superstar

Katie Ledecky

in the 400m final, Australia’s new swim sensation was back in the water – winning her heat in a time of one minute 55.88 seconds.

That was the fourth fastest time overall, and enough to get her into the top 16 for Tuesday’s semi-finals.

Ariarne Titmus. Picture: Getty Images

Ledecky posted the fastest time when she won her heat in 1:55.28, just ahead of Canada’s

Penny Oleksiak

, the 100m champion at Rio in 2016.

Madi Wilson

, who won a gold medal as a member of the Australian 4x100m relay team in Tokyo, qualified third fastest.

“I’m really happy with how it went and I’m really glad I stuck to my race plan, to have a really strong back end,” Wilson said.

“I’m so excited – I haven’t been out on deck by myself for five years, I’ve always had the Aussie girls with me.”

Christy Doran

8.23pm:

Aussie Sevens team’s daunting task to progress

The decision to bring

Samu Kerevi

off the bench could cost Australia a place in the Olympic finals admits gold medal-winning coach

Tim Walsh

With Kerevi, the destructive Wallaby who only joined the sevens side last month, sitting on the bench Argentina exposed the Australian side’s frailties from the kick restart.

Australia lost three kick restarts in a woefully inadequate first-half where the South Americans scored four unanswered tries to race out to a 24-0 lead.

Australia rallied after the break and could have won the game had they won the final kick restart of the game, but it instead fell into the arms of a man wearing a blue and white Argentine jersey and they raced away to score a fifth try and seal an important 29-19 win.

Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but Walsh admitted Kerevi’s telling impact, where he set up one try and scored another, could have been an influential and calming presence in the second half.

Samu Kerevi in action against South Korea. Picture: Getty Images

“He’s not probably sevens fit, but, hindsight, you look at his first [second] touch, so maybe I should have,” Walsh said.

“We’ve got a squad of 13 players who are all ready to perform but it was nice to see the decision to put him on pay off.”

Unfortunately, it was too little too late as Australia’s frailties at the kick restart, a theme that has haunted the Wallabies for years, including against France in the recent second Test as well as the All Blacks heartbreak in Dunedin in 2017, haunted Walsh’s men.

Two

Josh Turner

tries and some Kerevi magic saw Australia close within a try, before Argentina’s late try sealed the deal.

Kerevi, who recalled memories of the heartbreak from the World Cup two years ago when he was wrongly penalised against Wales for leading with the arm in front of a packed house, said he was itching to get on the field.

“You want to be on the field, you want to contribute to the team but I trust my teammates, I trust the starters,” Kerevi said.

Walsh’s men re-grouped to win handsomely in their second match against South Korea despite some early wobbles.

Andre Jin Coquillard and Josh Turner. Picture: Getty Images

With the Olympics finals hanging over their heads, Australia made a meal of the opening kick-off and then had to defend for the live until that man again Kerevi made use of his 108kg frame in a massive tackle that led to a turnover.

From then, Australia raced out to a 28-0 lead before eventually going on to win 42-5.

The results mean Australia must beat gold medal favourites New Zealand, who later beat Argentina 35-24, in their third and final pool match or risk needing to rely on points differential to make the quarter-finals, which sees the top two in each pool progress automatically.

It is a daunting assignment for an Australian team that has not beaten New Zealand since the Singapore Sevens in 2018 and has been well-beaten by them on a handful of occasions in 2021.

Walsh, however, remains adamant they are not out of the finals mix.

“We’re hurting,” he said.

“We would have preferred to get a ‘W’ on that first one, but we didn’t win the restarts – it’s a key area.

“The second half, we had our chances to get that win. But we left our run pretty late and when you’re down 22-0 down, there’s every chance but it makes it difficult.”

“It’s pretty low,” Walsh added. “But we’re not out of it.

“They’ve been here before. It’s a tournament that we hold the destiny to. You need to win the next one and all of a sudden you’re into a quarter-final.”

Callum Dick

8.01pm:

Wright to ‘carry the flag all the way’

Owen Wright

has promised to “carry the flag all the way” after securing his place in Tuesday’s surfing quarterfinals alongside fellow Aussie

Sally Fitzgibbons

Wright was forced to wait until 5.30pm local time to hit the surf – the last heat of the day – following a mid-competition delay of more than an hour as conditions deteriorated at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach.

But the unflappable Aussie said the delay worked in his favour, with the tide filling in and breaks on offer better suited to his electric backhand manoeuvres.

That became immediately apparent to his French rival

Jeremy Flores

, who must have been left shellshocked as Wright twice produced triple section waves in the opening three minutes to race out to a 13-point lead.

Owen Wright. Picture: Getty Images

The Aussie finished with the second-highest heat score of the day, producing a 15.00 total and securing a quarterfinal match-up with

Lucca Mesinas

of Peru at 9.48am AEST on Tuesday.

It would have been welcome news to the many fans of “The Big O” back home in Australia, who have regularly featured on Wright’s social media in the past few days.

“A lot of those people give me confidence,” Wright said.

“They’ve supported me for years, they’re my closest friends. To see them all there wearing shirts with my face on it, it puts a smile on my face.”

Wright won his opening heat on Sunday but looked far from comfortable in his Olympic debut, later admitting he “felt sick” on the beach in the lead-up.

“I felt so much better today. I felt more myself,” he said.

AFP

7.48pm:

Djokovic aces Struff test to reach last 16 at Olympics

Novak Djokovic

eased into the third round of the Tokyo Olympics tennis tournament on Monday following a 6-4, 6-3 win over Germany’s

Jan-Lennard Struff

Djokovic hammered 14 aces and made just four unforced errors as he remained on course for a Golden Grand Slam.

Novak Djokovic. Picture: AFP

The world number one is aiming to become the first man to win all four majors and the Olympics in the same season, a feat achieved by

Steffi Graf

in 1988.

Djokovic has captured titles at the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon this year, and is the clear favourite for gold in Japan.

The Serb, an Olympic bronze medallist in 2008, will play Spain’s

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

for a place in the quarter-finals.

AFP

Joe Barton

7.31pm:

Suarez Navarro’s inspirational run ends

Carla Suarez Navarro

’s inspirational Olympic story is over, with the cancer survivor ousted by fifth seed

Karolina Pliskova

on Monday.

Suarez Navarro reached the second round on Sunday when she upset Tunisia’s

Ons Jabeur

– her first victory since being diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in September last year.

Her reward was a showdown with Pliskova – a mighty challenge, considering the towering Czech was the Wimbledon runner-up earlier this month.

Carla Suarez Navarro. Picture: AFP

The veteran Spaniard left nothing in the tank as she challenged Pliskova to dig deep – forcing a deciding set with a gutsy tiebreak win in the second – before closing out a 6-3 6-7 6-1 victory.

Jacquelin Magnay

7.14pm:

‘Settle down’: Titmus’s message after coach’s viral celebration

Ariarne Titmus

’s excitable coach

Dean Boxall

admits to “having lost it” during his wild celebrations in the stands at the Tokyo Aquatic Centre on Monday – a moment that has gone viral and become a meme for the Olympic Games.

Boxall says Titmus, his new Olympic champion athlete, has now told him “you need to settle down”.

The dramatic antics of the Queensland coach, who trains at the St Peters Western club and has six swimmers on the Olympic team, was, he said, a bizarre result of “me going outside of my body”.

“I think I was more emotional than her,” he said, crying in the stands as Titmus received her gold medal.

Boxall was filmed stalking up and down the rear of the aquatic stands, going berserk and then shuddering the glass barrier in front of him with some pelvic thrusts; all the while with a Japanese volunteer trying to control the beast.

Titmus had turned at the 350m of the 400m freestyle slightly ahead of the legendary US swimmer

Katie Ledecky

, following the game plan that Boxall had mapped out, and Titmus then pulled ahead in the final strokes to win the gold.

He explained: “I just lost it, it’s a moment, that’s a moment of being with her for five years and you know having a dream together.

“Katie was so far in front of us that in the beginning when I started to coach her we couldn’t have that conversation.

“Arnie (Titmus) came to me when she was a 4:12 swimmer, and then at that stage Katie was a 3:56, so that’s a 16-second difference. We just started chipping away and then we started to believe”.

Boxall said Titmus had matured – “she’s not this little girl that came to me when she was 15” and that’s why she has blossomed. He believed if the Games had been held 12 months ago, the result may have been different.

Boxall said that he hasn’t faced any consequences of his wild mask-less celebrations – at a time when Olympic officials have threatened participants with extreme punishment, including deportation, for breaching coronavirus countermeasures.

He said some people might not have liked his celebrations. “I don’t know, the Americans might not like it, but they jump around as much as me, you know I can’t help it.”

Boxall added: “I believe with my athletes, it’s very simple when they leave the pool deck with me, when they leave to start the recovery process and go home and they switch off, I don’t.

“I go home and try and find a way for them to get better. I just don’t turn off and that’s probably why I let it out, that’s why I got emotional, because it’s not just a nine to five job, it’s 24-7 and I wake up at night and I’m thinking how can I get better, how can Ariane get better, how can Elijah get better. I am hurting for Elijah, and we will find a way for him.’’

Boxall coaches Titmus,

Elijah Winnington

Mitch Larkin

Meg Harris

Mollie O’Callaghan

and

Abbey Harkin

on the Australian team. All have been on fire at these Games, except for Winnington.

Boxall said Winnington, who was well below his best in the 400m freestyle and failed to get beyond the heats in the 200m freestyle had simply got “a little bit tense” because he “just really really wanted it”. Boxall predicted that as brutal as the Olympics have been for Winnington, who came into the Olympics as a pre-race favourite, he will bounce back.

Gadiel Notelovitz

6.50pm:

Cruel end for Aussie boxer after 20-week camp

Australian flyweight

Alex Winwood

spent 20 weeks in camp to take on the world at the Tokyo Olympics.

But his Games campaign cruelly ended in just nine minutes after the Perth local dropped to a disappointing split decision defeat against

Patrick Chinyemba

from Zambia.

“The fight was mine to be won in the third,” Winwood told News Corp. “I didn’t do enough.”

Winwood got off to a slow start against Chinyemba, ceding ring control in a first round that went by in a blur. He won the second on four of the five judges’ scorecards, with it all to fight for in the final round.

Zambia's Patrick Chinyemba reacts after beating Australia's Alex Winwood, right. Picture: AFP

It was just “one of those days” though, with Winwood failing to fire as four judges sided with his opponent in the final count.

“It’s a tough pill to swallow,” Winwood said. “I feel like I’m a better boxer than him, and I’m a better boxer than I showed out there today.”

With his teammates watching on — including

Harry Garside

, who was the loudest voice in the Kokugikan Arena — Winwood, a proud Noongar man, was delighted to have represented his country despite the result.

“If I make it around to Paris,” the 24-year-old warned, “you’re not going to see the same fighter.”

Joe Barton

6.22pm:

More pain for Australia in tennis

Australia’s singles hopes have copped an almighty Olympic battering with

Ajla Tomljanovic

and

John Millman

suffering brutal three-set defeats on Monday.

The pair joined

Ash Barty

, Australian tennis’ leading medal hope who bombed out in a first-round shocker on Sunday, in an early Tokyo exit, but it wasn’t for lack of effort against seeded opponents.

Ajla Tomljanovic. Picture: Getty Images

Tomljanovic looked set to claim a huge scalp when she took the first set off Ukrainian fourth seed

Elina Svitolina

, only to falter when up a break in the second – it was all the world No.6 needed to find her spark.

Svitolina reeled off five eight straight games to steal the second set and take control of the decider en route to a 4-6 6-3 6-4 victory.

Earlier, Millman overcame an early ankle tweak to push 16th seed

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

to the limit in a backs-to-the-wall display.

The 32-year-old was gutted after the defeat, admitting it is likely his final foray at an Olympics despite Paris 2024 rolling around in three years.

“I really enjoyed my Olympic experience. It probably hurts a little bit knowing time’s not on my side, I probably won’t be playing another one,” Millman told News Corp.

“Today he was too good, which sucks.”

Millman battled to force a deciding set with Davidovich Fokina serving for the match – a testament to his fight in the two hours and 48 minute contest.

“It’s really hard to win matches if you give up,” Millman told News Corp.

“Mum and Dad always told me to give it my all from a young age, they instilled that in me and always told me to give it my all.

“That’s something I pride myself on, never leaving the fight. But sometimes it’s not enough.

Davidovich Fokina raced to a 5-1 advantage in the third, but had to weather one last Millman push before sealing the 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 victory.

It leaves the tennis team’s hopes of medals in the hands of

James Duckworth

, the doubles pairings of Barty and

Storm Sanders

, and

Sam Stosur

and

Ellen Perez

, and the mixed doubles.

Erin Smith

5.50pm:

Aussie narrowly misses shooting final

Three missed targets was all that kept skeet shooter

Paul Adams

from his first Olympics finals berth.

The Queenslander had a terrific start on day one of qualifying, dropping just one shot in the first three rounds.

Adams went into the second round of qualifying today as a real chance of making the top six.

The level of shooting on display was outstanding with the Frenchman

Eric Delaunay

and Italian shooter

Tammaro Cassandro

dropping just one shot across both qualifying sessions.

A shoot-off was required to determine the top six with seven shooters hitting 122 of the 125 targets.

Adams missed four shots – putting him just three targets outside the top six.

“The first day was good,” Adams said. “It went to plan. Today the first round was pretty rough with 22.

“I treated today as the same as yesterday but it just didn’t turn out. I was just in front of a couple of targets and it was minuscule. But it is what it is.

“It was still good to be back at the Games again and I’m happy they went ahead.”

Callum Dick

5.45pm:

Drama as Aussie surfer’s campaign ends

A late protest from

Julian Wilson

was dismissed by surfing officials as the Aussie bowed out of the Tokyo Olympics following a thrilling elimination heat against WSL tour leader

Gabriel Medina

on Monday afternoon.

Wilson confirmed the Aussie camp had launched a protest following his loss, adding the team had footage of one of Medina’s scoring waves being surfed outside of the competition bounds.

But the protest was quickly shot down by officials, who told the Aussie camp the interpretation of the ruling was simply that athletes risked not having their wave scored if they ventured beyond the competition bounds, if judges could not properly see it.

Julian Wilson in action. Picture: Getty Images

The ruling only added to Wilson’s frustration, who minutes earlier said he felt his last wave of the heat – an aerial with 30 seconds to go – was worth more than the 6.87 scored by the judges.

“It was a set wave, doubled up, a critical section – me watching (Medina) and Italo (Ferreira) getting massive scores for those all year, I thought it was significantly better than anything else I did, but it only turned out marginally (better) so I don’t know how that worked,” Wilson said.

Madeline Crittenden

5.42pm:

Aussie men fall again in beach volleyball

The Australian men’s beach volleyball team has lost its second match against the Russian Olympic Committee.

Aussie duo

Chris McHugh

and

Damien Schumann

lost in straight sets to Russians

Ilya Leshukov

and

Konstanin Semenov

at Shiokaze Park on Monday afternoon.

The match was the second consecutive loss for the Australians, who went down to Norway 2-1 on Saturday night.

Chris McHugh. Picture: Getty Images

McHugh said the loss to the Russian Olympic Committee was disappointing.

“We came out pretty well but fell off and couldn’t adjust to what Russia was doing,” he said.

“I think we can both look back at things we didn’t do well but we live to fight another day.”

The duo will come up against Spain in their last pool match on Wednesday.

AFP

5.34pm:

British pair halt China’s dominance in diving

Britain’s

Tom Daley

and

Matty Lee

edged out hot favourites China to win gold in the men’s synchronised 10m platform diving at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday.

Daley, 27, in what could be his final Olympics, had tears in his eyes as he finally added gold to the bronzes he won at the London 2012 and Rio 2016 Games.

Tom Daley celebrates after winning gold. Picture: Getty Images

China’s

Chen Aisen

and

Cao Yuan

, both already twice Olympic gold medallists, were in pole position for another title until they made a mess of their fourth dive of six.

Daley, one of Britain’s most recognisable athletes, and Lee took full advantage to deny the all-powerful Chinese their hopes of a golden sweep in diving in the Japanese capital.

The Britons held their nerve on the last dive to win the final with 471.81 points, with the Chinese second on 470.58 and the Russians

Aleksandr Bondar

and

Viktor Minibaev

a distant third.

Tom Daley and Matty Lee. Picture: Getty Images

On the first day of diving, on Sunday, China’s

Shi Tingmao

and

Wang Han

claimed a dominant win in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard, with Canada taking silver and Germany bronze.

AFP

Amanda Lulham

5.26pm:

Australia’s ‘Brad Pitt of canoeing’ misses out on a medal

The man they call the “Brad Pitt of canoeing” has fallen short of writing a comeback story fit for the silver screen at the canoe slalom racing in Tokyo.

Tasmanian paddler

Daniel Watkins

finished ninth in the final of the men’s C1 event at the Whitewater Stadium in Tokyo on Monday.

A touch on gate 18 cruelled his bid for a medal. Prior to this he had been on track for the podium.

Australia's Daniel Watkins. Picture: AFP

It was still an extraordinary result given first time Olympian Watkins had finished third last in his opening race of the event just a day earlier.

He went into the final as the second placed paddler after a dazzling semi-final run.

In front of an empty stadium, Watkins produced a strong run but not a medal winning one.

Australia has only ever won one medal in the C1 – a bronze in 2008 at the Beijing Olympics courtesy of

Robyn Bell

Joe Barton

4.48pm:

Millman battles through injury but falls in second round

A hobbled

John Millman

’s Olympics are over after a gutsy second-round defeat in Tokyo.

Millman rolled his ankle late in the first set of the three-set defeat to Spanish 16th seed

Alejandro Davidovich Fokina

, but simply refused to quit.

The 32-year-old battled to force a deciding set, with

Davidovich Fokina

serving for the match – a testament to the Queenslander’s fight in the 108-minute contest.

John Millman. Picture: Alex Coppel

Davidovich Fokina

raced to a 5-1 advantage in the third, but had to weather one last Millman push before sealing the 6-4 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 victory.

The loss leaves

James Duckworth

and

Max Purcell

as the remaining Aussies in the men’s singles’ draw.

Purcell will face Germany’s

Dominik Koepfer

later on Monday, while in the women’s

Ajla Tomljanovic

is currently on court against Ukrainian fourth seed

Elina Svitolina

and doubles pairs

Ash Barty

Storm Sanders

and

Sam Stosur

Ellen Perez

are in action later.

Christy Doran

4.30pm:

Hockeyroos’ dream start begins

Their journey to Japan was far from smooth sailing but the Hockeyroos’ dream start continued on Monday.

Following their 3-1 victory against Spain on Sunday,

Katrina Powell

’s side cruised to a 6-0 win over China on Monday afternoon.

But

Brooke Peris

– the cousin of Australia’s first Indigenous gold medal-winner – knows medals are not won in the first week and it is about keeping your feet on the ground.

She was there when they were dumped out of the quarter-finals of the Rio Games in 2016.

“We’ve got to keep our feet on the ground and take it day by day,” Peris told News Corp.

The nerves of the opening day of action dissipated with every second spent on Oi Hockey Stadium.

Grace Stewart is congratulated by Savannah Fitzpatrick, Emily Chalker and Jane-Anne Claxton after scoring against China. Picture: Getty Images

“It’s always good to get the first game over and done with. I think we had 10 debutants at these Olympic Games – those nerves are going to happen,” Peris said,

“For the first game, we got it all out and we were very excited.

“We haven’t played hockey for a very long time and that was expected and today we settled our nerves and played how we normally play.”

Agencies

4pm:

Dutch rowing team in isolation

The Dutch rowing team is self-isolating at the Tokyo Olympics after a spate of coronavirus infections in the camp, director

Hessel Evertse

said on Monday,

AFP reports

Coach

Josy Verdonkschot

is quarantining after testing positive for Covid-19 following a positive test for 21-year-old men’s single sculls competitor

Finn Florijn

. Last week a staff member on the team also tested positive.

A general view of the Tokyo Olympics rowing course, at Sea Forest Waterway. Picture: Getty Images

High-performance director of rowing Evertse said the Netherlands team had decided to take the action.

“As there are no official close contacts there is no official need to do what we do,” he said. “In good understanding we agreed with the IF (international federation) and OC (national Olympic committee) to take these measures.

“In order to get trust and confidence with other countries and especially the volunteers we are happy to co-operate.

“We focus on what we do have — a good bed, a good meal, a good practice in order to get what we are here for, our best race.”

He said all the tests carried out on Monday returned negative results. Olympic organisers on Sunday took the decision to postpone Tuesday’s rowing finals because of the danger of strong winds as a result of an approaching tropical storm.

— AFP

Agencies

3.30pm:

Osaka through to third round

Home favourite

Naomi Osaka

stepped up her quest for Olympic gold on Monday as she eased into third round of the Tokyo Games tennis tournament with a 6-3 6-2 win over Switzerland’s

Viktorija Golubic

AFP reports

Japan's Naomi Osaka during her win over Viktorija Golubic. Picture: AFP

Osaka is the highest-ranked player left in the women’s draw following the shock exit of world number one and Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty in the first round.

“It definitely would mean a lot for me to win gold here, but I know it’s a process,” said Osaka, who plays 2019 French Open runner-up

Marketa Vondrousova

or Romania’s

Mihaela Buzarnescu

for a place in the quarter-finals.

She is attempting to become Japan’s first Olympic tennis champion.

Kei Nishikori

won bronze in the men’s singles in 2016, beating

Rafael Nadal

to earn his country’s first medal in the sport for 96 years.

“I know that these are the best players in the world, and I honestly haven’t played in a while so I’m trying to take it one match at a time. But all in all I’m just really happy to be here,” Osaka said.

— AFP

Brianna Travers

2.55pm:

Japan rule the streets in skateboarding

Japan has had a clean sweep in the street skateboarding in Tokyo, securing another victory in the new sport.

Japan's Nishiya Momiji in the skateboarding women's street final. Picture: AFP

On Monday the host nation took home a second gold medal in the women’s street event.

Nishiya Momiji

, 13, has become one of the youngest Olympians of all time ever to win gold.

Brazil’s

Rayssa Leal

, also 13, took the silver and

Nakayama Funa

, 16, nabbed bronze for Japan. The event went down to the wire with the winner being undecided until the last competitor’s performance.

Erin Smith

2.45pm:

Stingers want to inflict pain on Netherlands

The Aussie Stingers will go into their second water polo match of the Olympics against The Netherlands confident after a solid 8-5 win over Canada.

It will be the first time Netherlands have not competed at an Olympics since winning gold in Beijing in 2008.

Stingers player Abby Andrews. Picture: Adam Head

Triple Olympian and Captain of the Aussie Stingers,

Rowie Webster

, said the Netherlands will be a bit of an X-factor with a new look Olympic team.

“They’ve got an incredible raft of shooters, and in my opinion they have one of the best shooters in the world.

“They are a very fresh team, they don’t have any Olympians in their team now so this is going to be a new experience for all of them.

“They are excited to be here as are we … I think we will match up well against them.”

Dual Olympian

Keesja Gofers

echoed Webster’s thoughts saying: “The Netherlands always have a lot of tall girls, a lot of speed and great shooters.

“We know that they are going to come out firing and they do have a bit of erratic style of play so you never know what you are going to get,” she said.

The game will start at 7.20pm tonight.

Amanda Lulham

2.30pm:

Laser shock has favourite in doubt

He has been tipped as a gold medal contender for Australian sailing but

Matt Wearn

is going to need a major change of fortune to achieve the feat after a second shock result at the Olympic Laser regatta.

Matt Wearn is in danger of being eliminated from the Laser competition. Picture: Getty Images

Wearn, who finished 17th on Sunday, posted a 28th in his second race in the moderate to strong wind conditions he normally excels in.

Instead, his campaign for gold is on shaky ground after a poor start cost him dearly in race two.

The Laser fleet will contest 10 heats before the double-point scoring medal race.

Wearn will need to bring his best performance to the table to be in with a shot of winning Australia’s third Olympic Laser medal in a row in Tokyo.

Jacquelin Magnay

2pm:

British beast is one to swear by

Adam Peaty

, the self-described “beast’’, has won Britain its first Tokyo Olympic gold medal.

Peaty was an unbackable favourite in the 100m breaststroke and he caused a ruckus back in Britain when he swore on live television when asked about his tremendous victory.

Not only has he become the first Briton to defend an Olympic title, he has not lost a big championship race for seven years. Peaty had been eyeing his own world record in Tokyo, but in the end he had to settle for his fifth fastest time, 57.37.

Britain's Adam Peaty celebrates winning gold in the 100m breaststroke. Picture: AFP

Dutchman

Arno Lamminga

got to within 63 hundredths of Peaty, the closest challenger in years. But 26 year old Peaty, the ultimate scrapper, wasn’t really troubled. Still the emotion of the race was telling. He sat on the lane ropes with tears in his eyes, pumping his chest after winning.

In Britain, newspapers are now hailing him as an Immortal.

“It’s been a heavy investment – that amount of investment has paid off,’’ said Peaty, whose long-time coach

Mel Marshall

worked around his significant life changes, including a new baby called George, to prepare him for this one swim.

Peaty said he had hidden a lot of the pandemic stress from his young family.

“I’ve hid a lot of emotions from my own family, I’ve hid a lot of stress. F..k me this is hard.

“I’m glad I can go home with at least one gold medal.’’

Peaty said he has had challenges and “some breakdown’’ to get to this point.

He said: “99 per cent of time you spend in the dark for the 1 per cent you spend in the light.

I believe I’ve been given a gift.’’

Peaty said he had found competing in Tokyo without spectators difficult.

— with Heydon Johnson

Jacquelin Magnay

1.45pm:

Chalmers burst seals relay bronze

A scintillating last lap by

Kyle Chalmers

has won Australia a stunning bronze medal in the men’s 4x100m relay to complete a thrilling finals session in the pool.

Kyle Chalmers in the 4x100m freestyle relay. Picture: Alex Coppel

Chalmers dived into the water when Australia was in sixth place and he brilliantly reeled in team after team. In the final 10m the US team was well ahead and destined for the gold medal, leaving Italy, Australia and Canada to fight for the two remaining podium places.

Chalmers put his head down and fought his way to the wall, clocking a split time of 46.44s to just nudge out Canada to claim third.

The team of

Matthew Temple

Zac Incerti

Alexander Graham

and Chalmers had been considered rank outsiders for a medal. However the Australian team has been inspired by the gold medal victories of Ariarne Titmus and a bronze to

Emma McKeon

, none more so than Chalmers.

Chalmers’ split time was faster even than the American anchor Zac Apple and sets up a tense battle for the men’s individual freestyle events. To put the swim into context, Chalmers was the fastest swimmer in the entire relay race, and is one of the fastest relay splits of all time, not including the now outlawed bodysuits.

Julian Linden

1.15pm:

McKeown through to final

World record holder

Kaylee McKeown

is safely through to the final of the women’s 100m backstroke at the Tokyo Olympics.

Taking it easy by her standards, McKeown finished second in her semi-final to qualify third fastest overall in a time of 58.11 second.

American

Regan Smith

was quickest overall, stopping the clock at 57.86. Australia’s

Emily Seebohm

, competing in her fourth Olympics, qualified sixth.

Jacquelin Magnay

1pm:

Ledecky gracious in defeat to Aussie rival

After all the hype, the stare-down and eyeballing, the vanquished American great

Katie Ledecky

– who said she “fought tooth and nail” hugged the nuggety never-give-up fighter

Ariane Titmus

, acknowledging that the Australian had finally done it.

At the 300m mark Ledecky, the five-time Olympic gold medallist, knew that her stranglehold on the 400m freestyle, which she has owned without peer for more than five years was now in doubt.

Titmus with her gold medal. Picture: Getty Images

“I flipped at the 300 and I was like, oh you know she’s right there,’’ said Ledecky, 24.

“So I knew it was going to be in the balance at the end. I didn’t feel like I died or really fell off, I think she just had that faster last 50m.’’

Any body contact in these Covid-19 countermeasure days says a thousand words and in a magnanimous gesture at odds with the bitter lead up, and the intensity of the racing over 400m, Ledecky effectively turned to pass the Olympic baton to Titmus.

Titmus in turn, was gracious, telling Ledecky immediately after one of the greatest battles in swimming history that “I wouldn’t be here without you”.

Silver medallist Katie Ledecky. Picture: AFP

Titmus explained afterwards: “If I didn’t have someone like her to chase I definitely wouldn’t be here. She has set this amazing standard for middle distance racing for girls and I definitely wouldn’t be here without her, I am so grateful to have her and now its good to have someone that I can race all the time. Its super fun, more than anything I just had fun out there. Being in the battle is the best thing.’’

Ledecky too, was consoling herself that if she was to win a silver medal it would be in a strategic battle that saw a stroke for stroke last lap that had the US and Australian television audiences enthralled.

“I’d much rather get silver that way that go like 4.00 and get silver, so I was right there and I can’t be too disappointed with that.’’

But, she had a final word for Titmus in the remainder of the meet: “I have a lot of racing to go so I will just try to use (the loss) as momentum.’’

The pair will race off in a series of races in the coming days: the 200m freestyle, the 800m freestyle and the 4x200m freestyle relay.

Tom Crystal

12.50pm:

Coach lights up stands amid Titmus triumph

Dean Boxall

, the coach of

Ariarne Titmus

, was unable to contain himself as his charge powered up to, and past, one of the greatest swimmers of all time.

Dean Boxall unleashes some gold-medal celebrations in the stands. Picture: Channel 7

Boxall conducted an epic frenzy of barrier shaking, fist pumping and flat out hip gyration as Titmus sealed the deal in a thrilling 400m freestyle final.

At least one nearby official ran for cover as the long-haired 43-year-old kicked home his protege like a punter about to cash in on a 100-1 shot at the races.

The unhinged, unbridled and unapologetic celebration is bound to quickly turn into an internet meme as he goes viral.

Erin Smith

12.50pm:

Larkin advances in 100m backstroke

Aussie

Mitch Larkin

is through to the final of the men’s 100m backstroke after an impressive semi-final.

Larkin finished second in his heat behind world record holder American

Ryan Murphy

with a time of 52.76.

He finished third overall.

Seventeen-year-old

Isaac Cooper

finished 12th overall, missing out on a spot in the final.

Wally Mason

12.40pm:

Titmus overcome with emotion

Titmus fought to contain her emotions in the moments after the race.

“I’ve got the 200 tonight, I’ve got to contain the emotions,” she said. “Oh my gosh I can’t believe it, this past year I don’t know whether it’s gone fast or slow. I’m over the moon.

Ariarne Titmus soaks up victory alongside US swimmer Katie Ledecky. Picture: AFP

Titmus said she had thanked

Katie Ledecky

on the pool deck after the race.

“I wouldn’t be here without her, she set this incredible standard and all credit to her for the incredible swimmer she is. I’ve just been trying to chase her. It’s really fun to race.

“In the race I tried to stay composed as I could and just tried to stick to my race plan and I can’t believe I actually pulled it off.”

Titmus’s mother Robyn, watching with other family members from Noosa, put it better than anyone: “God she can race.”

Julian Linden

12.32pm:

Much-awaited showdown lives up to billing

Australia’s

Ariarne Titmus

has done it.

The Terminator has beaten American swimming superstar

Katie Ledecky

to win Australia’s second gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics.

Titmus celebrates after her win, alongside Germany's Isabel Gose. Picture: AFP

Billed as the biggest rivalry of the Games, the Australian got the job done in the women’s 400m freestyle final when she stopped the clock at three minutes 56.69 seconds, just 0.23 outside of Ledecky’s five year-old world record.

Ledecky won the silver medal in 3:57.36 after leading for the first 300m while the bronze went to China’s

Li Bingjie

Titmus is the first Australia woman to win the 400m Olympic gold since Shane Gould in 1972.

The 20-year-old is also the favourite to win the 200m freestyle and the women’s 4x200m relay.

Tom Crystal

12.27pm:

Titmus wins gold

Ariarne Titmus has won gold in the 400m freestyle, after an epic duel with US legend Katie Ledecky.

Ariarne Titmus after winning gold in the 400m freestyle. Picture: Adam Head

Julian Linden

12.10pm:

Another close shave for Australia

Chelsea Hodges

has just missed a place in the final of the women’s 100m breaststroke at the Tokyo Olympics.

Hodges finished fifth in her heat and ninth overall in a time of 1:06.60 to miss a spot in the final by just 0.01.

Hodges is a key member of the Australian women’s medley relay, which could include

Kaylee McKeown

Emma McKeon

and

Cate Campbell

, that is expected to challenge the US for gold later this week.

Erin Smith

12.05pm:

Freestyle final miss by barest margin

So close …

Thomas Neill

has missed out on a spot in the 200m men’s freestyle final by just three-hundredths of a second – finishing 9th fastest after the two semi-finals this morning.

Thomas Neill after the 200m freestyle semi-final. Picture: Getty Images

The 19-year-old swimmer actually qualified third for the race for Australia at the trials but

Klye Chalmers

withdrew – opening the door for Neill.

“I was pretty excited for this one, a semi-final with nothing to lose but I was pretty gutted to miss my that margin,” Neill said.

“I thought I put together a pretty good race, I was pretty happy with the way I swam it.”

Neill will be back in action later this week for the 1500m men’s freestyle race.

Christy Doran

12pm:

Setback on the rugby field

Not for the first time Tokyo Stadium has proved a graveyard for Australian rugby.

At the same venue in the 2019 World Cup,

Michael Cheika

’s Wallabies lost to Wales in a tense affair.

On Monday, it was the scene of a 29-19 defeat to Argentina.

Samu Kerevi

, who only joined the Australian sevens side a month ago, was wrongly penalised for leading with the arm and the moment in front of a packed house proved pivotal.

Two years later and Kerevi’s Australian sevens side had a calamitous first half, where they hardly touched the ball and conceded 22 points.

Nothing went right for

Tim Walsh

’s men, who struggled to take the crucial kick restart and paid the ultimate price.

Australia dominated the second half, with Walsh’s pep talk a calming influence, as

Josh Turned

scored a quick-fire double and Kerevi scored Australia’s third but it wasn’t enough.

The first-up defeat is a major setback for their medal ambitions, with a simple enough match to come against South Korea before facing Olympic favourites New Zealand in their final pool match on Tuesday.

Wally Mason

11.50am:

McKeon happy with her swim

Emma McKeon paid tribute to the winner of the 100m butterfly, Canada’s

Maggie MacNeil

“I’m pretty pleased – I’m going to be on the Olympic podium so you can’t really be more happy,” McKeon said.

Asked how she felt at the end, McKeon said: “I could see the American girl go on the other side of me and … I just tried to get my hand on the wall before her.

“I was just focused on my process and skills and how I wanted to swim it.

“Maggie swam an amazing time – 5.5 is only 0.1 away from the Olympic record.”

Jacquelin Magnay

11.45am:

McKeon adds bronze to medal collection

Emma McKeon

has stormed home to pick up a bronze medal in one of the toughest events on the program, the Tokyo Olympic 100m butterfly, and is now two down, five to go in her stunning quest for a record seven medal haul at these Games.

The US’s Torri Huske, Emma McKeon, centre, and second-placegetter China's Zhang Yufei, below. after the final of the 100m butterfly. Picture: AFP

The 27-year-old kept her head down in the final strokes to mow down several of her rivals after being behind at the 50m mark but was out-touched by the Canadian

Maggie MacNeil

and China’s

Zhang Yufei

MacNeil won gold in the third-fastest time ever — 55.59 secs.

McKeon won the bronze but just one hundredth of a second from the US swimmer Torri Huske.

McNeil, born in China, and the reigning world champion had snuck into the finals without much fan fare, but she out touched everyone in 55.59s. Zhang was five hundreds behind in 55.64 and McKeon was 55.72.

Zhang had appeared to be the swimmer to beat: she is a pandemic prodigy – breaking into the top ranks during the Chinese trials in October 2020, but McNeil has the pedigree in causing upsets.

In the 2019 world championships she upset the four time world and reigning Olympic champion

Sarah Sjostrom

McKeon’s bronze result comes after stamping herself as the swimmer to watch after scorching the 100m freestyle leg in Australia’s world record beating 4x100m relay team on Sunday. That was the first of her possible seven medals here competing in four relays and three individual events. Now she has two.

McKeon has already matched her relay gold and 200m freestyle bronze at the Rio Olympics, and it’s only the second finals day.

The Wollongong whizz has won so many world and commonwealth games medals for Australia her scintillating efforts are almost pencilled in before the start.

Reliable and fast, that’s the McKeon way.

But this 100m butterfly on Monday was one of her hardest races. If McKeon can continue her winning ways, she could surpass the six medals won by

Kristin Otto

and

Natalie Coughlin

swimming at a single Olympics.

Tom Crystal

11.20am:

McKeon getting set for butterfly final

Emma McKeon

is about 10 minutes away from contesting the final of the 100m butterfly, for which she qualified equal fastest in a time of 55.82 seconds, after a in a dead heat with China’s

Yufei Zhang

Emma McKeon gets ready to launch. Picture: Getty Images

The 27-year-old is hunting individual honours in three events and is also involved in four relay teams.

She already has one gold after her efforts in the 4x100m freestyle relay, which also secured a world record.

McKeon will swim in lane three for the butterfly final.

Agencies

10.45am:

Fiji have a lucky escape in 7s

Fiji made a shaky start to the defence of their Olympic men’s rugby sevens title on Monday, almost undone by two Fijian exports in the Japan side in the opening round at Tokyo Stadium,

AFP reports

Tries by Fiji-born

Lote Tuqiri

and

Kameli Soejima

had sent Japan into a 19-12 lead, with alarm bells ringing that an upset mirroring the hosts’ stunning victory over New Zealand in the opening round of the Rio Games was on the cards.

But a late brace of tries by

Waisea Nacuqu

pushed Fiji back into the lead and an eventual 24-19 victory.

Japan’s Lote Tuqiri in action against Fiji. Picture: Getty Images

The Fijians did not wait long before bothering the scoresheet,

Jiuta Wainiqolo

crossing after just 20 seconds following a Japanese mistake from the kick-off.

Japan skipper

Matsui Chihito

responded in fine fashion, skipping away from a flat defence.

But Fiji again contested the restart, the ball finding

Iosefo Baleiwairiki

, who with one step was away to restore the lead.

Japan, however, held the half-time lead after Tuqiri was played into space after some clever footwork by New Zealand-born playmaker

Colin Bourke

An upset was on the cards as veteran Soejima soared to take the kick-off and fend off a lame challenge of a tackle by

Jerry Tuwai

for a try in the corner.

But Nacuqu pounced on two basic mistakes and Fijian worries were allayed. Japan had one final chance when

Asaeli Tuivuaka

was yellow carded with 35 seconds to play, but a fluffed attacking line-out saw Fiji close down the game.

— AFP

Callum Dick

10am:

Steph Gilmore dumped from surfing contest

Steph Gilmore

says she has her eyes fixed on the Paris Olympics after a shock exit in the Tokyo surfing heats on Monday morning. Read more

here

Julian Linden

9.30am:

Titmus eyes Ledecky showdown

Ariarne Titmus

is hours away from her first Olympics final after easily winning her heat of the 400m freestyle.

Australia's Ariarne Titmus is facing her old rival Katie Ledecky in the final of the 400m freestyle on Monday. Picture: AFP

The reigning world champion, Titmus hardly moved out of first gear as she coasted to victory in 4min 01.66sec, almost five seconds slower than her personal best set last month.

Her great rival American

Katie Ledecky

set the fastest time of 4:00.45, with China’s Li Bingjie second.

Titmus will swim in the lane next to Ledecky in Monday’s final and looks to have a lot in reserve, which could prove a masterstroke after all the swimmers in distance events at these Olympics have struggled to post fast times in the morning after contesting heats the night before.

The race is scheduled to start at 12.20pm AEST.

Madeline Crittenden

9.15am:

Chaos marks triathlon start

The men’s Olympic triathlon suffered a rare false start, with associated boats having to work quickly to stop the unaware swimmers.

Fifty-six men lined up on the pontoon in Odaiba Bay Tokyo for the start of the men’s triathlon final, but as the announcer called “on your marks” more than half the group dived into the water.

The rest of the group stood on the pontoon with a boat in front of them preventing them from entering the water.

Miles Stewart

, former Olympic triathlete and CEO of Triathlon Australia said a false start “hasn’t happened in a long time”.

“They (the athletes) aren’t easy to pull back as there is so much noise,” he said.

Norway's Kristian Blummenfelt celebrates finishing gold in the men's individual triathlon. Picture: AFP

A reporter on the ground for Channel 7 said: “The men’s triathletes basically got ready to jump off the pontoon into the water, a camera boat was positioning just in front of the pontoon was a false start, about half of the field jumped into the water and basically the other half stuck there because the boat was on the way, it tried to dramatically reverse and basically the other half stuck there because the boat was on the way.

“I’m amazed no one was injured at the event, the field got into the water and got about 50m before jetskis got in there and manage to carouse them back.”

The race got safely underway about 10 minutes later with France’s Vincent Luis taking an early lead.

Norway’s

Kristian Blummenfelt

eventually took gold, with Great Britain’s

Alex Yee

in second and New Zealander

Hayden Wilde

in third.

Australia’s best finisher was

Jacob Birtwhistle

in 16th.

— News Corp Australia

Brianna Travers

8.30am:

Skateboarder takes disappointment in his stride

Shane O'Neill in the Olympics Village. Picture: Supplied

Australian skateboarder

Shane O’Neill

bounced back within hours after he bombed out of the men’s street heats on Sunday.

The former world champion, age 33, was not in the top eight skaters after the preliminary runs on Sunday morning, eliminating him from the men’s final in the street competition.

Later, he was seen playing table tennis in the village with Japanese gold medallist

Yuri Horigome

A post to social media said: “Now for the real tournament”. Good to know there aren’t any grudges in the world of gnarly skateboarding!

Tom Crystal

8am:

US coach bristles after shock loss

A testy Team USA coach

Gregg Popovich

has hit out at suggestions his team of basketball stars are a lock to win gold, defending the 83-76 defeat as not a shock.

US coach Gregg Popovich cuts a disappointed figure after his team’s loss to France. Picture: Getty Images

“There’s nothing to be surprised about,” Popovich said.

“When you lose a game, you’re not surprised. You’re disappointed, but I don’t understand the word ‘surprised.’ That sort of disses the French team, so to speak, as if we’re supposed to beat them by 30 or something. That’s a hell of a team.”

Popovich bristled at questions from reporters after the game, and the US’s right to clear-cut favouritism for the gold medal.

He said he was still working out the best combinations after the late arrivals of some of his players from the NBA finals.

“Every team has to do what fits with their personnel,” Popovich explained. “And with our team having our two big guys,

Draymond

[

Green

] and

Bam Adebayo

, out there gives us a lot of pace, makes us move well, and works best for the combination of people we have.”

Joe Barton

7am:

France stun US basketball stars

France has pulled off the most extraordinary of upsets to rock Team USA in the most damning proof yet that this American outfit is not a true Dream Team.

The US team and coach head coach Gregg Popovich. Picture: Getty Images

Led by a 28 point-effort from star guard

Evan Fournier

, who drilled the go-ahead three-point shot with a minutes to go and snatched up the match-sealing steal with 17 seconds on the clock, the French did the unthinkable – they beat the USA 81-76 to open the Olympics.

It’s the USA’s first Olympic loss since 2004, when they picked up a bronze medal – while acknowledging that anything short of gold is an enormous failure for this nation.

Since then Team USA have won the past three Olympic golds in a canter, barely raising a sweat in Rio de Janeiro five years ago – their third straight Olympics finishing with a perfect record.

And, yes, there are names missing from this team. There’s no

LeBron James

Steph Curry

is also at home, just like

James Harden

and

Kawhi Leonard

But this is still an All-Star outfit that has arguably the best player in the world, Kevin Durant and a supporting cast of genuine superstars of the game.

There’s Portland’s

Damien Lillard

, Boston’s

Jayson Tatum

and Phoenix gunslinger

Devin Booker

. Milwaukee Bucks duo

Khris Middleton

and

Jrue Holiday

are fresh off their NBA championship secured last week.

And still they had no answers for a French team who was defiantly led by Fournier and Utah veteran

Rudy Gobert

For the USA, the alarm bells are officially ringing as loudly as they have since those 2004 Games in Athens which inspired the likes of James to revive the ‘Dream Team’ concept.

Julian Linden

6am:

Aussie stars solve medals issue

Australia’s golden girls have started a new trend that could solve the awkward problem about the best way to present Olympic athletes with the medals they win at Tokyo.

Bronte Campbell, Meg Harris, Emma McKeon and Cate Campbell after their relay gold medal. Picture: Getty Images

Medallists have traditionally been presented with their medals by a high-ranking member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but because of covid, the medals are placed on a silver tray that winners pick up themselves and hang around their own necks.

But

Australia’s champion 4x100m freestyle swimmers

– who have been cleaning up for years so are used to winning medals – decided to add a twist to the new rules and present their own teammates with their prizes.

“We all just presented each other with the medals which was a pretty special moment for all of us,” said

Bronte Campbell

“It’s pretty special to present each other with our medals because it has really been all about the team.

“This is about all of us supporting each other, competing with each other and therefore making each other stronger, so it’s a pretty special moment to give

Meg Harris

that honour to present her with that heavy gold medal that is hanging around her neck.”

Australia’s swimmers didn’t know it at the time but their procedure soon caught fire and within hours, other teams were doing the same thing, including the divers in the women’s synchronised 3m springboard.

Julian Linden

Sport Reporter

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Australia

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