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MEDAL ALERT
Selemon Barega of Ethiopia won the first track and field gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics with victory in the menâs 10,000 meters.
Barega won in 27 minutes, 43.22 seconds to upset world champion and world-record holder Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda. Cheptegei took the silver medal and Jacob Kiplimo of Uganda was third.
Barega won at a largely empty Olympic Stadium. It was the only medal event on the first day of track action.
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MEDAL ALERT
The top-seeded pair of Nikola Mektic and Mate Pavic won Olympic gold in menâs doubles tennis.
Mektic and Pavic beat Marin Cilic and Ivan Dodig 6-4, 3-6, 10-6 in an all-Croatian final.
This was the first Olympic gold medal for South Africa at Tokyo 2020.
Meanwhile, it was a double medal for Team USA as Lilly King and Annie Lazor took silver and bronze.
Gold and new Olympic Record for ROCâs Evgeny Rylov in menâs 200m backstroke final
Evgeny Rylov of Team ROC competes in the Menâs 200m Backstroke Semifinal at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on July 29, 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)
Evgeny Rylov of the ROC produced an immense swim to win the menâs 200m backstroke final in a new Olympic Record time of 1:53.27. The 24-year-old touched the wall first, 0.88 seconds ahead of the USAâs Ryan Murphy and 1.45 before bronze medallist Luke Greenbank of Team GB.
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MEDAL ALERT
Russian shooter Vitalina Batsarashkina has won her second gold and third medal of the Tokyo Olympics, beating Koreaâs Kim Minjung in a shootoff in womenâs 25-meter pistol.
Batsarashkina tied Kim with 38 points and won the shootoff 4-1. Chinaâs Xiao Jiaruxuan took bronze.
Batsarashkina also won gold in 10-meter air pistol and teamed with Artem Chernousov to take silver in 10-meter mixed team air pistol. She also took silver in 10-meter air pistol at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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American BMX rider Connor Fields is âawake and awaiting further medical evaluationâ after he crashed in the third semifinal run and had to be removed from the course at Ariake Urban Sports Park on a stretcher.
USA TODAY
TOKYO American Connor Fields, a medal favorite in BMX cycling, was awake and awaiting further medical evaluation after crashing during a semifinal heat Friday at the Olympics, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. BMX racing team.
There was no information on Fields’ injuries, said Angelina Palermo, the spokesperson.
Sports Illustrated reported that Fields father, Mike, said his son was “alert, answering questions and moving all his limbs.”
Fields, 28, was taken off the course on a stretcher, loaded into an ambulance and transported to a hospital.
The crash took place on the first turn of the race. Fields was in second place when his front wheel appeared to catch the back wheel of the leader, France s Romain Mahieu.
Roundup of Olympic gold medals from Friday, July 30
July 30, 2021 GMT
Tatjana Schoenmaker, of South Africa, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women s 200-meter breaststroke final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
Tatjana Schoenmaker, of South Africa, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the women s 200-meter breaststroke final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, July 30, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
TOKYO (AP) A roundup of gold medals from Friday, July 30, at the Tokyo Games:
ARCHERY
WOMEN’S INDIVIDUAL
An San of South Korea won her third straight archery gold medal via shoot-off in the final of the women’s individual event.