TOKYO (Reuters) -Japan secured its second Olympic gold on Sunday after Yui Ohashi’s victory in the 400m women’s medley, as the Games heat up in Tokyo.
The medal offers organisers hope of improving enthusiasm for the delayed Olympics among the Japanese public, who are labouring under a state of emergency in the capital amid elevated COVID-19 cases.
The win was the latest dramatic pool action on Sunday, which also saw Tunisia’s Ahmed Hafnaoui pull off a major shock win in the men’s 400m freestyle.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga phoned judoka Naohisa Takato on Sunday to offer congratulations after the triple world champion secured Japan’s first gold medal with victory https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/judo-judoka-tonaki-one-bout-japans-first-tokyo-2020-gold-2021-07-24 over Taiwan’s Yang Yung-wei on Saturday.
“This gold medal give hopes and dreams to many children and young people. There are also reports that many families are really delighted,” Suga said in the call.
Attention turns on Sunday to tennis player Naomi Osaka, who lit the Olympic cauldron on Friday at the opening ceremony, in her opening match against China’s Saisai Zheng at the Ariake Tennis Park.
With temperatures rising above 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in Tokyo, skateboarders https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/skateboarding-skaters-debut-inaugural-olympics-fans-hope-acceptance-2021-07-24 were sweating at their historic Olympic debut, part of organisers’ attempts to broaden the appeal of the world’s largest sporting event.
Competitors at the unshaded Ariake Urban Sports Park on the Tokyo waterfront said the heat was already unbearable at 9 a.m. and that it was a distraction from performing their tricks.
Yahoo Tenki, one of Japan’s most popular weather apps, offered caution over the risk of heatstroke, saying users should “avoid exercising under the sun” and “minimise vigorous exercise”.
Surfing also made its Olympic debut https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/surfing-surfers-ride-wave-emotion-make-olympic-history-2021-07-24 on Sunday, with competitors meeting with a strengthening swell after flat conditions a day earlier at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach in Chiba prefecture, which borders the capital.
A typhoon is currently forecast to hit the main Japanese island of Honshu midweek, potentially bringing heavy rain and high winds.
In other sporting action, American gymnast Simone Biles begins her attempt https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/gymnastics-how-gold-can-she-go-biles-shines-training-amid-virus-worries-2021-07-22 to become the first woman to win back-to-back Olympic all-around golds in over 50 years.
(Reporting by Sam Nussey, Takashi Umekawa and Mari Saito; Editing by Stephen Coates and Muralikumar Anantharaman)
