Olympic Latest: Canada wins 1st gold in women’s soccer

0

TOKYO (AP) — The Latest on the Tokyo Olympics, which are taking place under heavy restrictions after a year’s delay because of the coronavirus pandemic:

___

MEDAL ALERT

Canada won its first Olympic gold medal in women’s soccer, beating Sweden 3-2 on penalty kicks after a 1-1 draw.

Julia Grosso, just 20, converted the winning penalty kick, putting her shot off the right hand of goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl.

Jessie Fleming made Canada’s first kick in the shootout, but Ashley Lawrence, Vanessa Gillies and Adriana Leon all failed to convert.

Kosovare Asllani hit a post with Sweden’s first kick, and Nathalie Björn and Olivia Schough built a 2-1 Sweden lead. Anna Anvegard was saved by Canada goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe and with a chance to win the gold, Caroline Seger put her kick over the crossbar.

Deanne Rose tied the score for Canada, and Jonna Andersson’s sixth kick for Sweden was saved by Labbe, who dived to her left.

Grosso then won the gold for Canada, which took the bronze in 2012 and 2016.

Stina Blacksteinius had put Sweden ahead in the 34th minute from Asllani’s cross. The shot by the 25-year-old striker appeared to deflect off Gillies and just past the outstretched right arm of Labbe.

Blacksteinius’ goal was her tournament-leading fifth and the seventh of her Olympic career, moving her one ahead of Lotta Schelin for the most in the Olympics for the fifth-ranked Swedes. Blacksteinius has 28 goals in 68 international appearances.

Fleming tied the score with a penalty kick in the 67th minute. Referee Anastasia Pustovoitova of Russia didn’t call for the penalty at first after Amanda Ilestedt slid into Fleming’s left foot but the decision was made after a video review.

This match was moved from Tokyo’s National Stadium to Yokohama’s Nissan Stadium and kickoff time pushed back 10 hours to 9 p.m. (8 a.m. EDT) because of the oppressive heat. Even with the shift, it was 83 degrees at kickoff with 78% humidity. With fans barred because to the pandemic, the sound of boots kicking balls echoed around the 72,000-capacity venue, the site of Brazil’s 2-0 victory over Germany in the 2002 men’s World Cup final.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Italy has surprisingly won the men’s 4×100-meter relay to give Marcell Jacobs his second gold medal of the Tokyo Games.

Jacobs won the men’s 100-meter title last Sunday in the first Olympics in the post-Usain Bolt era and was part of the team that won the sprint relay in a national record 37.50 seconds.

The Italians edged Britain by 0.01 and Canada took bronze in 37.70. It was Italy’s first Olympic medal in the relay since a bronze at the 1948 London Olympics.

China placed fourth ahead of Jamaica.

___

MEDAL ALERT

The Jamaican women added the 4×100-meter relay title to their Tokyo Olympic collection after sweeping the podium in the 100-meter final.

The Jamaican team won in a national record 41.02 seconds. It was the second-fastest time in history and ended the U.S. team’s push for a third consecutive Olympic gold in the event.

The American team of Javianne Oliver, Teahna Daniels, Jenna Prandini and Gabrielle Thomas won silver in 41.45 and Britain took bronze in 41.88.

Elaine Thompson-Herah won the 100 meters on Saturday in an Olympic record. Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce was second and Shericka Jackson was third in that race. Those three joined Briana Williams as the Jamaicans added the Olympic relay title to their world championship gold in 2019.

___

Brazil to face US women for volleyball gold once again.

It will once again be the United States against Brazil for the women’s volleyball Olympic gold medal.

For the third time in the past four Olympics these two countries will face off in the gold medal game after Brazil swept South Korea to join the Americans in the final game. The U.S. swept Serbia in the first semifinal.

Brazil beat the United States for gold in Beijing in 2008 and in London in 2012. The Americans are seeking their first gold medal ever. They also lost the gold medal game to China in 1984.

___

The Russian women’s handball team reached the final with a 27-26 win over European champion Norway as it aims to defend its title from 2016.

The Russian Olympic Committee team led by six goals midway through the second half and held off a late Norwegian comeback to repeat its one-goal semifinal win over the Norwegians from five years ago.

Anna Vyakhireva had nine goals for the Russians and Nora Mork was top scorer with 10 goals for Norway. No other player scored more than four.

The ROC team will play France on Sunday for the gold medal in a repeat of the 2016 final.

Norway faces Sweden for bronze. France beat Sweden 29-27 in the other semifinal game.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Liu Shiying of China won the gold medal in the women’s javelin at the Tokyo Games. She led all the way after throwing 66.34 meters in the first round.

Liu passed on her sixth and final attempt after being assured of the gold. She instead raced to the stands behind the competition area and grabbed a Chinese flag to begin the celebrations.

Liu was a silver medalist at the 2019 world championships.

Maria Andrejczyk of Poland won silver with a throw of 64.61 meters. That was five centimeters better than world champion Kelsey-Lee Barber of Australia.

Andrejczyk placed fourth at the 2016 Olympics after leading the qualifying round with a throw that would have won that final.

___

MEDAL ALERT

The Netherlands defeated Argentina 3-1 to claim the gold medal in women’s field hockey.

Caia van Maasakker scored two goals for the Dutch, who won silver in 2016.

The Netherlands rolled through pool play with a 5-0 record, outscoring their opponents 18-2. They won their quarterfinal 3-0 over New Zealand and their semifinal 5-1 over Britain.

In the bronze medal match, Grace Balsdon scored the winner on a penalty corner early in the fourth quarter to help Britain defeat India 4-3.

Britain earned bronze in 2012 and gold in 2016. India was going for its first medal in women’s field hockey, one day after India’s men captured bronze for their first medal since 1980.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Slovenia’s Janja Garnbret lived up to her billing as the world’s best female climber, dominating at the Tokyo Games to earn the sport’s inaugural Olympic gold.

Garnbert finished fifth in the speed discipline, her weakest event, then topped two of three “problems” to win bouldering. The 22-year-old capped a muggy night at Aomi Urban Sports Park by reaching 37 holds to win lead and wrap up gold.

The six-time world champion finished with five points — the total of her finishes multiplied together — to beat Japan’s Miho Nonaka by 31 points.

Japan’s Akiyo Noguchi had 48 points to take the bronze.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Jovana Preković of Serbia has won the first Olympic gold medal in women’s 61-kilogram karate kumite, beating Yin Xiaoyan of China by hantei after a scoreless final.

Neither karateka could score a point in the three-minute bout, but Preković was chosen as the winner by three of the four judges on the tatami. Preković looked around in charming disbelief after three judges raised their blue flag, indicating her championship victory in the inaugural Olympic karate tournament.

The 25-year-old Preković won the world championship at 61 kilograms in 2018. Her gold medal is the second of the Tokyo Olympics for Serbia.

Giana Lotfy of Egypt got bronze after narrowly losing her 1:1 semifinal bout to Yin on hantei. Merve Coban also claimed bronze, earning Turkey’s third medal in karate in the first two days.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Luigi Busà of Italy has won the first Olympic gold medal in men’s 75-kilogram karate kumite, beating Azerbaijan’s Rafael Aghayev 1-0 in a physical final.

The 33-year-old Busà was denied a yuko by video review one minute into the bout, but he got credit for a punch after a similar video review 40 seconds later. Busà then hit the 36-year-old Aghayev in the jaw with a left hand while the two were in close combat with 17 seconds left. Aghayev staggered to the edge of the tatami and knelt in obvious pain before recovering and finishing the fight.

Busà celebrated wildly on the tatami afterward while the Italian supporters in attendance chanted at him. Busà and Aghayev are longtime rivals with multiple world titles apiece in different weight classes.

Aghayev’s silver is the first non-bronze medal in Tokyo for Azerbaijan, but he fell just short of winning his nation’s eighth-ever Olympic gold.

Gabor Harspataki of Hungary and Stanislav Horuna of Ukraine won bronze.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Faith Kipyegon of Kenya won the 1,500 meters and retained her Olympic title as Sifan Hassan’s chase for three gold medals withered in her fifth of six races at the Tokyo Games.

Kipyegon won in an Olympic-record time of 3 minutes, 53.11 seconds. Laura Muir of Britain took the silver in 3:54.50 and Hassan clung on for bronze after she started fading on the back straight.

Hassan already has a gold in the 5,000 meters and could still complete a rare set if she wins a third medal in the 10,000-meter final on Saturday.

Hassan took everyone by surprise by running at the front almost from the start in the 1,500 when her previous tactics in Tokyo had been to stay at or near the back of the field for most of the race and burst home on the last lap.

Hassan won all four of her races in Tokyo before the 1,500 using those tactics.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Allyson Felix won her record 10th Olympic track medal with a bronze in the 400 meters. She finished two spots behind gold medalist Shaunae Miller-Uibo.

Miller-Uibo defended her 400-meter title in a time of 48.36 seconds.

Felix now has more Olympic track and field medals than any woman in history. She came into the Tokyo Games even with Jamaican runner Merlene Ottey.

Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic finished second a full .84 seconds behind Miller-Uibo.

It was a far less dramatic finish than in 2016 when Miller-Uibo dived at the finish line to edge out Felix for the gold.

___

Jessica Springsteen and the U.S. equestrian jumping team have qualified for the finals and will compete for a second straight medal Saturday night.

Springsteen — daughter of rocker Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band wife, Patti Scialfa — will join teammates Laura Kraut and McClain Ward as the Americans try to improve on their silver from 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

Springsteen and Kraut each displaced just one rail for four penalty points each, and Ward closed with five penalties. Their total of 13 points assured them a finals entry before qualifying even ended.

Springsteen also picked up four penalties in Tuesday’s qualifying for the individual jumping, when all three American riders failed to earn entry to the final.

Ward is the only returning member of the silver-medal team from Rio. He and Kraut were also on the 2008 team that took gold in Beijing.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Joshua Cheptegei of Uganda won the gold medal in the men’s 5,000-meter race a week after earning silver in the 10,000 at the Tokyo Games.

Chepetgei was in the leading pack for most of the race and won in 12 minutes, 58.15 seconds.

Mohammed Ahmed of Canada surged into second place to get the silver medal in 12:58.61 and Paul Chelimo of the United States picked up bronze in 12:59.05.

Chelimo was a silver medalist in the 5,000 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. He dived across the line to edge Nicholas Kipkorir Kimeli of Kenya.

___

Russia’s Svetlana Romashina is on target for the seventh gold medal of her Olympic career after the Russian Olympic Committee led the technical portion of the team event in artistic swimming.

What’s even more impressive is that Romashina has won, or been on the winning team, of every single event she’s participated in at four Olympics.

Swimming to “Quadrille” by Belyi Den, ROC earned 97.2979 points to finish 1.0669 points ahead of China and 3.2094 ahead of Ukraine.

The team free final is scheduled for Saturday.

The rest of the ROC team includes: Vlada Chigireva, Aleksandra Patskevich, Marina Goliadkina, Svetlana Kolesnichenko, Alla Shishkina, Polina Komar and Maria Shurochkina.

Romashina teamed with Kolesnichenko to win the duet on Wednesday.

The only athletes who have won at least seven Olympic golds without ever claiming silver or bronze are Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt and American jumper Ray Ewry, who both won eighth golds in track and field.

Ukraine, which performed to “Swan Lake,” had to overcome a technical malfunction that meant their music didn’t start on time.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Ryo Kiyuna of Japan has won the gold medal in men’s kata, beating Spain’s Damian Quintero in the final and earning the host nation’s first gold medal in karate’s Olympic debut.

Kiyuna was given a score of 28.72 for his demonstration of karate forms. His score topped the 27.66 recorded by Quintero, who went first in the final.

Karate grew into its modern form in Japan during the 20th century, and the Tokyo Games were chosen five years ago for the sport’s Olympic debut.

The 31-year-old Kiyuna is a native of Okinawa, where karate originally proliferated in Japan. The five-time world champion began winning international honors a decade ago.

He is Japan’s second medalist in the first two days of the three-day inaugural event. Kiyou Shimizu won silver in women’s kata on Thursday.

Ariel Torres of the United States and Ali Sofuoglu of Turkey took bronze in men’s kata. Sofuoglu won the second karate medal for Turkey, while Torres won the first karate medal in U.S. history.

___

MEDAL ALERT

American Gable Steveson has defeated Georgia’s Geno Petriashvili 10-8 to claim wrestling gold in the men’s freestyle 125-kilogram class.

Georgia challenged the final points, to no avail. Steveson, as is customary after his biggest wins, celebrated with a backflip.

Steveson outscored his opponents 23-0 in the first three rounds. He rolled past 2016 Olympic gold medalist Taha Akgul 8-0 in the quarterfinals.

Petriashvili, the No. 1 seed, is a three-time world champion who was an Olympic bronze medalist in the class in 2016. He led Steveson 8-5 in the final minute, but couldn’t handle the 21-year-old’s quickness late.

Akgul defeated Mongolia’s Lkhagvagerel Munkhtur 5-0 in a bronze medal match.

Iran’s Amir Dare defeated China’s Zhiwei Deng 5-0 in the other bronze medal match.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Kate French of Britain has won the gold medal in modern pentathlon and set an Olympic record along the way.

French had 1,385 points after the multiple events. The previous record was set by Chloe Esposito of Australia. She scored 1,372 points at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Laura Asadauskaite of Latvia took silver and Sarolta Kovacs of Hungary got bronze at the Tokyo Games.

French is the second British athlete to win the women’s modern pentathlon at the Olympics. Stephanie Cook won it at the 2000 Sydney Games.

The modern pentathlon includes fencing, swimming, show jumping, shooting and running. The shooting and running events are combined into what is called a laser run.

___

MEDAL ALERT

The Russian Olympic Committee’s Zaurbek Sidakov has defeated Belarus’ Mahamedkhabib Kadzimahamedau 7-0 to win wrestling gold in the men’s freestyle 74-kilogram class.

American Kyle Dake defeated Italy’s Frank Chamizo 5-0 for bronze. Chamizo was the No. 1 seed, and both are two-time world champions. Dake beat 2012 Olympic gold medalist Jordan Burroughs at the Olympic Trials to earn the spot on the team.

Uzbekistan’s Bekzod Abdurakhmonov defeated Kazakhstan’s Daniyar Kaisanov 13-2 to claim the other bronze.

___

France has beaten Sweden to reach the women’s handball gold-medal game at the Olympics.

Grace Zaadi Deuna of France had seven goals in a 29-27 win over the Swedes that stayed close right until the end.

That keeps France in contention to be the first country since 1984 to win the men’s and women’s handball tournaments at the same Olympics.

The French women’s team faces either Norway or the Russian Olympic Committee in Sunday’s final. The men take on Denmark in their final Saturday.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Harrie Lavreysen of the Netherlands has won gold in the men’s cycling sprint. He came back from a loss to Dutch teammate Jeffrey Hoogland in the best-of-three finals of the men’s cycling sprint, winning the next two races and taking the gold medal.

It was a replay of the past two world championships finals, each of them won by Lavreysen. But it appeared as if Hoogland would finally get the better of his teammate when he held on to win their first race.

Lavreysen answered by going around the outside in their second race and beating a drag-race to the line, taking it in a photo finish. And the decider was never really close as Lavreysen rolled to the gold medal.

Jack Carlin of Britain beat Russia’s Denis Dmitriev for bronze.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Antonella Palmisano of Italy has won the women’s 20-kilometer race walk to capture her first Olympic gold medal.

Palmisano won the race, one of the long-distance road events moved to Sapporo in a bid to escape the Tokyo heat, in 1 hour, 29 minutes and 12 seconds.

She was 25 seconds ahead of Sandra Lorena Arenas of Colombia and 45 seconds clear of 2016 Olympic gold medalist and three-time world championship winner Liu Hong of China, who settled for bronze.

Palmisano’s winning time at the Tokyo Games was nine seconds slower than she posted five years ago at Rio de Janeiro, where she placed fourth and narrowly missed the podium.

Five of the 58 starters did not finish the race, which started and finished in hot, humid conditions. It was 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31 degrees Celsius) at the start of the afternoon race.

___

Cycling’s governing body says it suspended a German cycling official through the rest of the year for using a racial slur during the Olympic men’s trial race.

The International Cycling Union (UCI) says Patrick Moster agreed a ban from the sport until Dec. 31 for comments that “were discriminatory and contrary to the basic rules of decency.”

Moster, the national cycling federation sports director, used the slur while a German rider chased opponents from Algeria and Eritrea during the July 28 race. The comment was heard on TV broadcasts.

The UCI says it “condemns all forms of racist and discriminatory behavior.”

___

World champion Yang Jian of China showed he’s the favorite for gold in men’s 10-meter platform diving by leading prelims.

Yang gathered 546.90 points over six dives to finish comfortably ahead of teammate Cao Yuan, who earned 529.30 points.

Worlds bronze medalist Aleksandr Bondar of the Russian Olympic Committee placed third with 513.85 points and Tom Daley, who won gold in 10-meter synchro with British teammate Matty Lee, came fourth with 453.70.

The top 18 finishers in the 29-man field advanced to the semifinals on Saturday.

Then the top 12 from the semifinals will reach the final that will conclude the diving program on Saturday.

Americans Brandon Loschiavo and Jordan Windle qualified in 11th and 15th, respectively.

___

MEDAL ALERT

The British team of Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald dominated the Olympic debut of the women’s Madison, easily out-distancing Denmark and the duo from the Russian Olympic Committee to take the gold medal.

In the Madison, teams of two riders are on the track at once but only one rider is considered in the race. They are allowed to tag each other at any point in the 120-lap event with points awarded at the finish of every 10 laps.

The Madison was a men’s event in the Olympics from 2000 to 2008 before it was dropped from the track cycling program. It returned with a women’s counterpart for the first time at the Tokyo Games.

The Netherlands, the two-time defending world champions, were involved in an early crash that hurt their chances. So were the Italians, who had medaled at two of the past three worlds.

___

Olympic ice hockey medalist Emma Terho has been elected to represent the world’s athletes on the IOC’s executive board.

The International Olympic Committee says Terho won a vote of its athletes’ commission members to be their chairwoman. The position comes with a seat on the IOC board.

Terho was standing against pole vaulter world record holder Yelena Isinbaeva, who was elected an IOC member by athletes at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics at the height of the Russian doping scandal.

Terho represented Finland at five Winter Olympics and twice took home a bronze medal.

She replaces Zimbabwean swimmer Kirsty Coventry on the IOC board.

___

Greece has won its first men’s water polo medal at the Olympics. The only question now is silver or gold.

Stylianos Agryropoulos Kanakakis scored four times, Emmanouil Zerdevas made seven saves and Greece beat Hungary 9-6 in the semifinals of the Tokyo Games.

Playing in its 11th straight Olympics, Greece improved to 6-0-1 with its fifth straight win since a 6-6 draw against Italy during group play. It also beat Hungary 10-9 in its first game in Tokyo on July 25.

Greece’s previous best finish was fourth in 2004. Next up is the winner of the Spain-Serbia semifinal.

Krisztian Manhercz scored two goals for Hungary, and Viktor Nagy made eight saves. Hungary is the winningest program in men’s water polo with nine golds, but it hasn’t won a medal since its run of three straight Olympic titles from 2000 to 2008.

___

The Brazilian Olympic team says volleyball player Tandara Caixeta is being sent home from Tokyo after she was suspended in a doping case.

Caixeta, a member of Brazil’s gold medal team at the 2012 London Olympics, was due to play Friday in the Olympic semifinals against South Korea.

Brazil’s Olympic committee says Caixeta is provisionally suspended for a potential violation of anti-doping rules.

The case relates to a sample taken a month ago in Brazil in a pre-Olympic training camp.

A message posted on Caixeta’s Instagram account says the athlete will speak about the case after it is concluded.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Heavyweight Julio César La Cruz has won Cuba’s third gold medal in boxing at the Tokyo Olympics, putting on a defensive masterclass in his final 5:0 victory over Russian athlete Muslim Gadzhimagomedov.

Gadzhimagomedov pressed forward throughout the bout, but La Cruz showed off his spectacular footwork and elusiveness while peppering his bigger Russian opponent with counter shots. La Cruz won the fight 30-27 on three judges’ scorecards and 29-28 on the other two, completing a four-fight run through the Kokugikan Arena during which he won 5:0 twice and 4:1 twice.

La Cruz and teammates Roniel Iglesias and Arlen Lopez have all won their second career gold medals in Tokyo after moving up to a higher weight class. La Cruz was the light heavyweight gold medalist in Rio de Janeiro, and Lopez succeeded him to claim gold in that class in Tokyo.

La Cruz won the eighth heavyweight gold medal for the vaunted Cuban team, but the first since Odlanier Solis claimed the glamour division’s title in 2004. La Cruz joins Solis and legendary three-time Olympic heavyweight champs Teofilo Stevenson and Felix Savon.

David Nyika of New Zealand and Abner Teixeira of Brazil won heavyweight bronze.

___

The United States women’s volleyball team made it to the gold medal match for the fourth time ever after avenging a semifinal loss five years ago to Serbia with a 25-19, 25-15, 25-23 victory Friday.

The Americans easily dispatched of the team that denied them a chance at their elusive first gold medal in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. They advanced to the gold medal match against the winner of the Brazil-South Korea semifinal. Serbia will play the loser for the bronze.

___

Organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics say they will use the Eiffel Tower to unfurl “the biggest flag ever flown” on Sunday during the closing ceremony in Tokyo.

Paris organizing committee president Tony Estanguet talked about the plan in Tokyo to promote the formal handover on Sunday to the next Summer Games host.

A giant flag had a test flight from the iconic Parisian landmark two months ago, though the exact reason was not explained then.

The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, is in Tokyo to take part in the traditional handover during the closing ceremony.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman have won the women’s beach volleyball gold medal.

The U.S. pair beat Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia 21-15, 21-16 for the championship on Friday. It’s Ross’ third medal in as many Olympics, to go with the silver she won in London and a bronze from Brazil. Klineman is a first-time Olympian.

The silver for Australia was its first beach volleyball medal since Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst took gold on Bondi Beach in Sydney in 2000.

In the bronze medal match, Switzerland’s Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre cruised to a straight-set victory over Latvia.

___

The number of Games-related COVID-19 infections has risen to 387 as Tokyo records more than 5,000 cases in one day for the first time during the pandemic.

Tokyo Olympics organizers added 29 cases to its tally from July 1 through Thursday. No athletes or residents of the Olympic Village are among the new cases.

The 387 total includes 207 contractors, living in Japan and visiting from abroad, who are working at the Games.

Tokyo authorities announced a daily total of 5,042 new cases on Thursday.

Japanese Prime Minister Yosihide Suga said Thursday “infections are expanding at a pace we have never experienced before.” He ruled out an link to hosting the Olympics during a state of emergency.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Switzerland has won the bronze medal in women’s beach volleyball.

Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland cruised to a straight-set victory over Latvia on Friday morning in the third-place match.

The Swiss edged Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka 21-19 in the first set before opening a 5-1 lead in the second and pulling away to win 21-15 and claim their nation’s first Olympic medal on the women’s side.

Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman were scheduled to play Mariafe Artacho and Taliqua Clancy of Australia in the gold medal match later Friday morning.

___

MEDAL ALERT

Dawid Tomala of Poland has won what might be the last 50-kilometer race walk at the Olympics.

Tomala won in 3 hours, 50 minutes and 8 seconds in Sapporo for the gold medal.

Jonathan Hilbert of German was second, 36 seconds behind Tomala in 3:50:44. Evan Dunfee of Canada was third in 3:50:59. The race walking events were moved to Sapporo because of Tokyo’s summer heat and humidity.

The 50-kilometer walk has been dropped from the schedule for the next Olympics in Paris in 2024 and may not return.

It was first introduced at the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics and has been held at every Games since with the exception of Montreal in 1976.

___

The International Olympic Committee says it has removed two Belarus team coaches from the Olympics, four days after they were involved in trying to send sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya back to Belarus.

The IOC says it canceled and removed the credentials of Artur Shimak and Yury Maisevich.

The IOC says the men “were requested to leave the Olympic Village immediately and have done so … in the interest of the wellbeing of the athletes.”

Shimak and Maisevich continued to have contact with Belarus athletes since Sunday after the IOC linked them to taking Tsimanouskaya in a car to the airport to put her on a plane to Belarus.

Tsimanouskaya had criticized team coaches on social media and is now in Poland with a humanitarian visa.

The IOC says Shimak and Maisevich “will be offered an opportunity to be heard” by its disciplinary commission investigating the case.

___

Dutch Olympic track cyclist Laurine van Riessen is recovering in a Tokyo hospital a day after a harrowing crash in the keirin semifinals at the Izu Velodrome.

Van Riessen was briefly knocked unconscious when she collided with British rider Katy Marchant at more than 40 mph. Van Riessen remained on the apron of the track for several minutes before doctors loaded her onto a stretcher and removed her from the velodrome.

She was transferred to a Tokyo hospital and diagnosed with a broken collarbone, broken ribs and a bruised lung.

A spokesperson for the Dutch track team says Van Riessen is well but can’t remember the fall. The team doctor is with her and Van Riessen was able to make clear that the pain is mostly in her shoulder.

Van Riessen’s teammate, Shanne Braspennincx, went on to win the gold medal in keirin, a six-lap race where the first three are paced by a motorized bike and the last three are a free-for-all sprint to the finish.

___

More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Players of Canada celebrate beating Sweden in a penalty shootout during the women’s soccer match for the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Yokohama, Japan. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/08/web1_127055459-e1310db48ace4744854109586c146a91.jpgPlayers of Canada celebrate beating Sweden in a penalty shootout during the women’s soccer match for the gold medal at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Yokohama, Japan. (AP Photo/Fernando Vergara)

Filippo Tortu, of Italy, crosses the finish line ahead of Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, of Britain, to lead his to team a gold medal in the men’s 4×100-meter relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/08/web1_127055459-e8e9679312ee476783ef4d28973b782e.jpgFilippo Tortu, of Italy, crosses the finish line ahead of Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, of Britain, to lead his to team a gold medal in the men’s 4×100-meter relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Team Jamaica celebrates after winning the final of the women’s 4 x 100-meter relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)
https://www.wnewsj.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/22/2021/08/web1_127055459-3429554a93394847b4e5623eb8556f0f.jpgTeam Jamaica celebrates after winning the final of the women’s 4 x 100-meter relay at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)

No posts to display