Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Jess Fox pips GB’s Franklin to canoeing gold – live!

4.09am EDT 04:09

“Watching the athletes toiling hard for a medal(and the tennis players suffering from Tokyo heat),” emails Rakesh Nag, “a thought occurred. Which athlete had the most workload in a single Olympics? Four examples came into my mind:

1. Venus Williams (Sydney 2000) – 6 singles matches + 5 doubles matches, resulting in two golds.

2. Serena Williams (London 2012) – 6 singles matches + 5 doubles matches, resulting in two golds.

3. Andy Murray (London 2012) – 6 singles matches + 4 mixed-doubles matches + 1 doubles match, resulting in 1 gold & 1 silver.

4. Rafael Nadal (Rio 2016) – 6 singles matches+ 5 doubles matches, resulting in one gold.

Surely Nadal’s 11 matches is the most anyone has suffered to get 1 medal?”

I daresay the ghost of Emil Zatopek wants a word: at Helsinki in 1952, he won the 5000m, the 10000m and the marathon.

4.00am EDT 04:00

Golf: After a weather situation earlier, the first round of the men’s golf is back underway. Sepp Straka of Austria tops the leaderboard following an -8 round of 63; Paul Casey of GB is tied for seventh on -4 while Tommy Fleetwood and Rory McIlroy are -3 and -2 respectively through 16.

Updated at 4.00am EDT

3.56am EDT 03:56

Gymnastics: Being a superstar is tough. I’m sure it has its perks, but no one should ever feel like this – least of all someone of such integrity, life-force and leadership.

3.53am EDT 03:53

Swimming: In case you missed it earlier, Caeleb Dressel the figurehead of US men’s swimming, won the 100m freestyle in a new Olympic record.

3.48am EDT 03:48

Gymnastics: I’d not heard of the twisties – I guess it’s similar to dartitis and the yips, difference being there’s no chance of life-changing injury when playing darts or cricket. Because gymnasts are so good, it’s easy to forget how dangerous it is to do what they do, and even if we ignore a person’s right to prioritise themselves however they see fit, it makes sense in Simone Biles’ case because to attempt what she does when not in the right frame of mind is asking for trouble. She deserves our respect and support.

3.44am EDT 03:44

Coming up: The second sesh of judo starts in about 20 minutes, at the end of which we’ve got the women’s -78kg final and the men’s -100kg final; in 50 minutes, Australia meet China in the women’s rugby sevens after which New Zealand meet GB; in two hours 20, GB, the defending champions, meet Netherlands in the women’s hockey and the swimming heats begin; and in three hours, it’s the women’s all-around gymnastic final. Not bad, eh?

3.37am EDT 03:37

Australia’s athletics team have been given the all-clear!

They’d been dragged into a situation after Sam Kendricks, the USA pole vaulter, tested positive, but it’s now all good. The relief must be up there with winning gold.

3.35am EDT 03:35

Canoeing: It’s been a long old schlep for Fox to get to here. Given parents who were both world-class canoeists, it’s been with her all her life, she won a silver medal in 2012’s K1 event, bronze in Rio, and bronze in Tokyo, but now she has her gold and in fantastic style too. What a feeling it must be to know that you can deliver under that kind of pressure.

Gold medallists Jessica Fox of Australia celebrates on the podium with silver medallist Mallory Franklin of Great Britain and bronze medallist Andrea Herzog of Germany. Photograph: Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

Updated at 4.06am EDT

3.32am EDT 03:32

Gold! Jess Fox of Australia wins the women’s canoe slalom!

That was more or less perfection! GB’s Franklin, who takes silver, really put her under pressure and she laughed at it! Herzog of Germany takes bronze.

Photograph: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images Australia’s Jessica Fox celebrates winning the women’s Canoe final. Photograph: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 3.45am EDT

3.30am EDT 03:30

Canoeing: A little mistake at gate 16 loses her a second or so, but at 20 she’s more than four seconds inside Franklin! This is an absolute jazzer of a performance!

3.30am EDT 03:30

Canoeing: Here comes Fox and she’s flying, absolutely taking the first half off the set! She’s 2.45s inside Franklin!

3.28am EDT 03:28

Canoeing: This is very, very nervy now; this is what it’s all about! Mallory is guaranteed a silver, but Fox, both of whose parents were great canoeists themselves, is at the top of her run and HERE WE GO!

Updated at 3.29am EDT

3.27am EDT 03:27

Canoeing: Here comes Fiserova of the Czech Republic and immediately gets into difficulties; with every post-Franklin run, we see just what a good run it was. She took it fairly steadily in the top half, trying to avoid penalties, then went after it in the bottom and finished brilliantly. Fiserova can’t match her, and it’s only Jess Fox, the world number 1, to come!

3.25am EDT 03:25

Gold! Liptak of Czech Republic wins the men’s trap shooting!

Kostelecky of the Czech Republic wins silver and Coward-Holley of GB takes bronze!

3.24am EDT 03:24

Canoeing: Satila of Brazil makes an early error and she can’t yank it back, getting hold by the stopper as her power drains away. She finishes 56.03s behind Franklin, who is now guaranteed at least a bronze!

3.22am EDT 03:22

Tennis: Khachanov has taken the first-set breaker against Humbert 7-4 and Bencic has done likewise against Rybakina, 7-2.

Karen Khachanov of Team ROC plays a backhand to France’s Ugo Humbert. Photograph: Tim de Waele/Getty Images

Updated at 3.43am EDT

3.21am EDT 03:21

Canoeing: Herzog of Germany gets within 2.5s of Franklin and takes the silver medal position. But Satila, Fiserova and Fox are still to come and were the fastest qualifiers….

3.20am EDT 03:20

Shooting: In the final of the men’s trap, Jiri Liptak and David Kostelecky of the Czech Republic are about to shoot-off for gold; assuming I’m reading things correctly, GB’s Matt Coward-Holley has taken bronze.

Updated at 3.20am EDT

3.17am EDT 03:17

Canoeing: Delassus of France finishes 7.25s behind Franklin, and the extent of her delight tells us how a decent target’s been set.

3.16am EDT 03:16

Canoeing: It was the second half of the run that allowed Franklin to nail that time, which speaks very highly of her ability to ride out pressure – she was able to ignore the two-second penalty she incurred and find her best gear. Australia’s Fox is the favourite and when she comes out last, she’ll know what she has to beat, but also that it’ll take something significant to make it happen.

3.13am EDT 03:13

Canoeing: Two touches threaten to put Franklin out of contention for gold but she recovers really well and produces her best run of the game so far! She finishes 10.73s ahead of Austria’s Weratschnig, and though the best of her rivals are to come, they’ve got a serious time to chase.

Mallory Franklin in action. Photograph: Dave Shopland/Shutterstock

Updated at 3.40am EDT

3.09am EDT 03:09

Canoeing: Franklin, the 2016 world champ, is ready to go…

Updated at 3.10am EDT

3.09am EDT 03:09

Tennis: We’re at the business end now. In the first women’s semi, Bencic is serving for a first-set breaker against Rybakina; in the first men’s quarter, Khachanov is doing likewise against Humbert. The winner is essentially making a diary note to lose to Djokovic in the next round – though Djokovic plays Nishikori later, and you never know.

3.05am EDT 03:05

Canoeing: The final of the women’s slalom is underway; GB have got Mallory Franklin involved and yet to run, Australia Jessica Fox. Currently, Viktoriia Us of Ukraine leads, but only three of 10 have been.

3.02am EDT 03:02

Thanks Emma and greetings people. “Heat of the moment” racism; what is wrong with us?

3.01am EDT 03:01

It’s about that time. It’s Daniel Harris time. He is taking over the blog now and will take you through the next few hours.

2.59am EDT 02:59

The sporting director of the German cycling federation has been sent home from Tokyo after being caught on camera making racist remarks during Wednesday’s men’s Olympic road time trial, the German team says.

“The team leadership at the Olympic Games in Tokyo has decided that Patrick Moster cannot continue his work as national team leader cycling and will return to Germany,” the team said in a statement.

Moster had made the derogatory remarks during the road time trial event as he tried to urge on one of Germany’s cyclists, Nikias Arndt, who was chasing opponents Algeria’s Azzedine Lagab and Eritrea’s Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier. Moster later apologised and said he made the comments in “the heat of the moment.”

2.52am EDT 02:52

Australian athletics team gets all clear

Here is the full statement from the Australian Olympic Committee:

Members of the Australian track and field team in the Tokyo Olympic Village have been cleared to return to their regular routines after earlier isolating in their rooms as a precautionary measure.

The all-clear comes after three members of the team underwent PCR testing following a brief casual contact with a US track and field athlete who had tested positive to Covid 19.

All three tested negative after undergoing a PCR Test this afternoon, while teammates remained in their rooms in line with AOC Covid protocols.

The three, who are all vaccinated, self-reported once they heard news of the US athlete testing positive late this morning. All daily tests of the trio in the Village had also returned negative results.

All members of the Australian Team at the Tokyo Games are tested daily.

Fifty four (54) members of the track and field team (41 athletes and 13 officials) were later given permission to leave after spending a little over two hours in their rooms.

The three team members tested this afternoon are now in isolation and will be tested daily. They will be allowed to resume training, subject to strict protocols that restricts their contact with others. At this stage all athletes are expected to compete as planned.

2.48am EDT 02:48

Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the fact that Perilli’s shooting bronze is San Marino’s very first Olympic medal. The microstate, which has a population of about 34,000, debuted at the 1960 summer Games and have never been on the podium – until now. It is also the smallest nation to take home an Olympic medal.

Alessandra Perilli in the women’s trap final. Photograph: Kevin C Cox/Getty Images

2.43am EDT 02:43

Here is a take from a commenter on the Australian athletes in iso situation:

“So it seems like the new normal for Australia is to go into a kind of witness protection programme even when other people test positive for Covid. Their rugby league team is too scared to travel and if the price of playing the Ashes is not seeing your family for months England won’t be able to raise a team to go out there. Let’s see if the Australian Open tennis happens next year. What a crap life Australia has chosen for itself.”

2.37am EDT 02:37

Slovak Zuzana Rehák-Štefečeková has won the women’s trap gold medal. American Kayle Browning secured silver while the bronze went to San Marino’s Alessandra Perilli.

Australian Laetisha Scanlan fell one target short to finish fourth while Penny Smith placed sixth.

2.28am EDT 02:28

In the canoe slalom, Jess Fox has qualified fastest in the women’s C1. The Australian’s time of 110.59 was ahead of Czech Tereza Fiserova (113.23) and Brazilian Ana Satila (114.27). She is, of course, chasing that elusive gold medal after claiming bronze in the kayak. The final starts at 3.55pm local time.

Fox contesting the semi-final. Photograph: Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 2.34am EDT

2.14am EDT 02:14

The Covid-19 athletics crisis has worsened with news Argentine pole vaulter Germán Chiaraviglio has also tested positive and is consequently ruled out of competition.

1.56am EDT 01:56

Bit happening in the sky over Kasumigaseki Country Club, which means nothing is now happening on the golf course.

AAP has a nice round-up of play before it was halted:

Austrian Sepp Straka has set a cracking pace as Australia’s medal hopefuls struggled to keep up during the first round of the Olympic men’s golf championship. Straka fired an Olympic-record-equalling eight-under-par 63 to seize a two-stroke lead at the Kasumigaseki Country Club before lightning in Tokyo forced the suspension of play on Thursday. The 28-year-old was bogey-free during his blistering round.

With his putter running hot, Straka rattled in birdies on the third, fifth, sixth and eighth holes to reach the turn at four under. No let up on the back nine, he collected another four more birdies in five holes coming home to leave the 60-man field playing catch up early in the 72-hole, no-cut event.

Big-hitting Belgian Thomas Pieters and Mexican Carlos Ortiz both carded 65s to be equal second at six under, with Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond also six under through 15 holes. Dane Joachim B Hansen was outright fifth a further stroke behind following a 66.

Australians Marc Leishman and Cameron Smith were seven and eight shots adrift of Straka respectively after enduring frustrating Games debuts. Leishman didn’t get going until reeling off three consecutive birdies from the 13th hole. But he also dropped shots on the second and 16th holes in his one-under round of 70 to be sharing 30th place.

Smith let slip a promising start with two bogeys on the back nine, including a sloppy six on the par-5 14th. He was in 46th spot when the horn blew, signalling the weather warning.

1.52am EDT 01:52

“Hello Emma.” Hi Kári!

“Matti Mattsson’s unexpected bronze in the 200m breaststroke was Finland’s first medal at the Tokyo Olympics. This means that Finland’s streak of medalling at every Olympics since 1908 continues. The only other country to match that streak is Sweden. And I think even the Swedes would agree that the Finnish streak is the more impressive, given that while Sweden mostly avoided all the nonsense that the 20th century threw at humanity, Finland was at the coal face of history.”

Bit of light competition never hurt anyone.

Photograph: Patrick B Kraemer/EPA

1.47am EDT 01:47

Kurt asks: “Will an American win the 100m dash in athletics?”

Potentially, yes. In the men’s blue riband event, somebody other than Usain Bolt will claim the crown for the first time since Athens 2004. That man could very well be American Trayvon Bromell. Last month at a meet he ran 9.77s, which made him the seventh-fastest man in history.

In the women’s 100m, Jamaican Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce is the quickest this year with 10.63 but she will be tested by compatriot Elaine Thompson-Herah (10.71). An American who would have been one of the favourites for gold is Sha’Carri Richardson, but she won’t compete after accepting a one-month ban for testing positive for marijuana at last month’s US trials.

Updated at 2.40am EDT

1.30am EDT 01:30

Any shooting enthusiasts out there? The women’s and men’s trap finals are happening shortly.

In the former, Slovak Zuzana Rehak-Štefančíková is quite literally a sharpshooter, having set a world record and topped the qualifying phase after breaking all 125 targets. Australians Laetisha Scanlan and Penny Smith have a challenge on their hands in the field of six. Scanlan finished qualifying in equal third after hitting 121 of 125 targets, while Smith ranked equal fifth after putting down 120 targets across her five rounds at the Asaka range.

Zuzana Rehak-Štefančíková blows down the barrel of her shotgun. Photograph: Alex Brandon/AP

1.17am EDT 01:17

Ryan emails in and he’s unhappy with suggestions that changing Australia’s 4x200m relay line-up negatively affected their performance. He has added some extra exclamation marks for emphasis.

“They swam a solid three seconds faster than the four in the heat, AND they broke Australia’s own world record!! Only Mollie O’Callaghan of the heat swimmers swam a time faster than any of the finalist swimmers and even then, she wouldn’t have made up the difference to the Chinese swimmers [assuming she swam the same time again, which was itself a junior Oceania record].

“Not to mention that the Australians could have been DQ’d had they not swam all the swimmers named for the event. The Chinese made two changes as well, and quite simply swam superbly [as did Ledecky]. There was no kind of “backfiring” whatsoever.”

1.13am EDT 01:13

This could potentially be catastrophic news for the Australian team, with all 63 track and field athletes being tested and nervously awaiting results. To recap, the athletics starts in less than 24 hours so there is not much time. Imagine Marschall in particular will be worried given the Australian pole vault champion was training with Kendricks.

It comes at a time when Australia’s athletics contingent look strong, with a number of genuine medal hopes.

Our reporter on the ground in Tokyo, Kieran Pender, wrote this before the Australian titles.

12.58am EDT 00:58

Confirmation from the AOC that its athletics team is in isolation

“Members of Australia’s track and field team at the Tokyo Olympic Games are isolating in their rooms as a precautionary measure following news of a Covid positive finding with a member of the US track and field Team.

“Members of the Australian track and field team are now undergoing testing procedures in line with Australian Olympic Team protocols.”

Updated at 1.03am EDT

12.41am EDT 00:41

Some more Covid-related breaking news in. Seven is reporting that Australia’s entire athletics team are in isolation after Kendricks, the American two-time reigning world champion, tested positive.

It’s believed Australian vaulter Kurtis Marschall is the only close contact due to his having trained with Hendricks. The Guardian has contacted the Australian Olympic Committee and Athletics Australia for comment so I will bring you further news when it comes in.

The timing is not ideal given the athletics is due to start Friday and the men’s pole vault qualification on Saturday.

Kurtis Marschall in action at the Australian championships in April. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP

Updated at 2.42am EDT

12.33am EDT 00:33

The reactions of China’s 4x200m relay team after winning gold in world-record time are something to behold.

China’s Yang Junxuan, Tang Muhan, Zhang Yufei and Li Bingjie. Photograph: Marko Đurica/Reuters Photograph: Odd Andersen/AFP/Getty Images

Titmus spoke to Seven about Australia’s performance:

“It was really fast we were under our previous world record, so it was still a good swim from us. I would have liked to have done a bit more for the team. I feel like I should have been better nut it’s what you can do on the day and it’s been a big couple of days, so I’m happy to come away on the podium.”

12.27am EDT 00:27

Between a LOT of swimming and quite a few other sports I took a peek at the BMX, which really looked a lot of fun (if you are more proficient on a bike than I). Australians Saya Sakakibara and Lauren Reynolds are through to the semi-finals.

It was a turbulent opening day, with Lauren Reynolds also qualifying for Friday’s semis but Anthony Dean crashing early and then finishing last overall in his quarter-final heat to drop out of contention.

Sakakibara and Reynolds were in the same heat on Thursday at Ariake Urban Sports Park, where competitors were divided into heats of six riders and had three rounds of races.

While Reynolds cruised through the three rounds with a third, a second and a fourth placing, Sakakibara went off course and finished last in race one. She led early in race two, but faded to fourth and that left her equal-last on points with two other riders.

The BMX quarter-finals. Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP

12.05am EDT 00:05

Kendricks won the world title in 2017 and 2019 and Olympic bronze in Rio 2016. His battle with world record holder Mondo Duplantis of Sweden was expected to have been one of the highlights of the athletics program, which begins on Friday.

His father and coach posted the news to Instagram before it was confirmed by officials, though appears to have taken the post down.

Probably also a good time to relive this moment from Rio when Kendricks stopped mid-vault because he heard the US national anthem.

12.01am EDT 00:01

Sam Kendricks tests positive for Covid-19

The American world pole vault champion has withdrawn from the Olympics after testing positive for Covid, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee has confirmed.

“The health and safety of our athletes, coaches and staff is our top priority,” the USOPC said in a statement. “We are saddened to confirm that Sam Kendricks tested positive for Covid-19 and will not compete in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.

“In alignment with local rules and protocols, he has been transferred to a hotel to be placed in isolation and is being supported by the USATF and USOPC staff. Sam is an incredible and accomplished member of Team USA and his presence will be missed. Out of respect for his privacy, we cannot provide more information at this time.”

11.57pm EDT 23:57

Kieran Pender

The Australians lost their world record and an expected gold medal following a dominant performance from China. Katie Ledecky anchored the United States to silver, with Australia’s quartet settling for bronze.

In the relay final, having qualified fastest on Wednesday, the reigning world champions Australia underscored their formidable depth by sending out an entirely different team for the final.

But the change backfired when the Chinese and American teams overhauled a strong Australian start from Ariarne Titmus and Emma McKeon. The gold medal for China is the first time since the 2008 Olympics in Beijing that the Americans have lost the women’s 4x200m race – but a disappointing result for the Australians, who had been predicted to comfortably win the relay.

11.51pm EDT 23:51

The last change has just happened and Neale has work to do. She and Li are under world record time but the latter is in front. Ledecky is making some serious ground on the pair. Tick over 100m to go.

11.50pm EDT 23:50

Tell you what, this isn’t exactly a walkover. China continue to push, briefly take the lead again before Australia return to the fore. Wilson is in the water and has half a body on Zhang.

11.48pm EDT 23:48

McKeon has half a body length on her own team’s world record right now. Tang is cominf for her and Madden is third but well back.

11.47pm EDT 23:47

Canada are in third, a smidge in front of the US. But Emma McKeon has just dived in and has passed China’s Tang to put Australia in the lead for the first time.

11.46pm EDT 23:46

And they’re off! Titmus looks comfortable as she hovers off the shoulder of Yang at the 100m mark.

11.40pm EDT 23:40

I’ll hop to other sports as soon as the last swimming final is done. It’ll be worth it, though, I promise. Relays are always fun to watch, and the women’s 4x200m freestyle is as entertaining as they come. The world record-holding Australians qualified fastest by three seconds ahead of the US team. The Aussie line-up is 200m and 400m champion Ariarne Titmus, 100m fly bronze medallist Emma McKeon, and Madi Wilson and Leah Neale, and they hold the world record.

It is a bit of a different quartet to the 4x100m relay one comprised of Cate and Bronte Campbell, Emma McKeon and Meg Harris who smashed their own world record in that event a few days ago.

The US challenge in lane five with Allison Schmitt, Paige Madden and the two Katies – Mclaughlin and Ledecky. And China’s Yand Junxuan, Tand Muhan, Zhang Yufei and Li Bingjie are in lane three.

Allison Schmidt of the United States swims the first leg of the women’s 4×200-meter freestyle relay. Photograph: Morry Gash/AP

Updated at 11.59pm EDT

11.33pm EDT 23:33

The women’s 200m breaststroke semi-finals are done and dusted. South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker was the fastest qualifier in 2:19.33 followed by Russia’s Evgeniia Chikunova (2:20.57) and American Annie Lazor (2:21.94). Lilly King is also in along with Team GB’s Abbie Wood and Molly Renshaw, but Australia’s Jenna Strauch has missed out by one spot after swimming significantly slower than in her heat and placing sixth in her semi.

11.26pm EDT 23:26

I’m questioning whether Phelps has his eyes on the pool. Perhaps he has a sneaky second screen somewhere.

For a golf update, Austrian world No 161 Sepp Straka has carded an eight-under 63 and is leader from Belgium’s Thomas Pieters (65). American Xander Schauffele and Brit Paul Casey are hanging around the top end of the leaderboard at four-under on the back nine.