Jacobs is world’s fastest man; Barshim, Tamberi tie for gold

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TOKYO, Aug 1, (AP): Usain Bolt would not recognize what went down on the Olympic track he used to own. On the night of the 100-meter gold medal race that once belonged to the Jamaican superstar, a Texasborn Italian with a deeper history in long jumping than outdoor sprints won the race that has long defined Olympic royalty. At the Tokyo Olympics, Marcell Jacobs is The World’s Fastest Man.

Lamont Jacobs, (right), of Italy, wins the men’s the 100-meter final at 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. (AP)

The Italian crossed the line in 9.8 seconds Sunday night, the first medal ever for the country in the 100 meters. Pietro Mennea won the 200 in 1980 and Livio Berruti won that race at the 1960 Games in Rome. Even in a race with no clear favorites – American Ronnie Baker was a candidate and China’s Su Bingtain ran a shocking 9.83 in the semis – Jacobs was a surprise. Jacobs topped America’s Fred Kerley and Canada’s Andre DeGrasse to take the spot Bolt had commandeered since 2008.

Mutaz Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy tied for the gold medal in the men’s high jump at the Tokyo Games. Both men were clean at every attempt to 2.37 meters and both missed all three attempts at the Olympic record of 2.39. The 30-year-old Barshim was the silver medalist at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and was also on the podium at the 2012 London Games. He won the world championship gold medal at home in Qatar in 2019. Gianmarco Tamberi is a former world indoor champion. Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus won the bronze medal. He also cleared 2.37 for a national record.

Gong Lijiao of China won her first Olympic gold medal in the shot put with a personal best of 20.58 meters. The reigning two-time world champion produced two efforts over 20 meters on her last two attempts at the Olympic Stadium to cement her victory ahead of Raven Saunders of the United States, who took the silver medal with 19.79. Veteran Valerie Adams of New Zealand won a bronze medal with 19.62 in her fifth and likely last Olympics. Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela set a world record with her final attempt to win the women’s triple jump gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Rojas finished the competition with a mark of 15.67 meters to break a record set in 1995.

Inessa Kravets of Ukraine held the record at 15.50. Rojas broke the Olympic record of 15.39 with her first attempt in the final. The two-time world champion won a silver medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Patricia Mamona of Portugal took silver and Ana Peleteiro of Spain won bronze. Caeleb Dressel finished off his gold rush at the Tokyo Olympics with two more dazzling swims. The guy who dreads all the attention won’t be able to escape it now. “I’m really glad to be done,” said the tattooed, 24-year-old Floridian, who captured his fourth and fifth gold medals of the Tokyo Games on Sunday. Australia’s Emma McKeon put her own remarkable stamp on the record book with a staggering haul of hardware. McKeon won two more golds and became the first female swimmer – and second woman in any sport – to claim seven medals at one Olympics. Four of them were gold, the other three bronze.

Dressel was perfect in the events he had a chance in, capping off his stunning week in the final race at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre by putting the Americans ahead to stay in the 4×100 medley relay on their way to a world record. He doesn’t plan to savor his triumph for long – which is right on par for a guy who said a day earlier “the sport was a lot more fun when no one knew my name.” They certainly know it now. In his first race Sunday, he cruised to a relatively easy victory in the 50 freestyle. By the time Dressel was done, he had entered an elite club of swimmers who won at least five gold medals at one games. Michael Phelps did it three times, of course, highlighted by his record eight golds at the 2008 Beijing Games. There’s also Mark Spitz (seven golds in 1972), East German Kristin Otto (six golds in 1988) and Matt Biondi (five golds, also in ’88). Make room for Dressel, who made it look so easy.

American Bobby Finke won gold in the grueling men’s 1,500-meter freestyle race. Just as he did in winning the 800-meter freestyle, Finke stayed closed throughout the 30-lap race and turned on the speed at the end. He touched in 14 minutes, 39.65 seconds. Ukraine’s Mykhailo Romanchuk took the silver in 14:40.66, while the bronze went to Germany’s Florian Wellbrock in 14:40.91. Australia won gold in the women’s 4×100 medley relay. Capping a brilliant performance by the entire Aussie women’s team, Emma McKeon followed her victory in the 50-freestyle earlier in the session to take the butterfl y leg on the relay. Cate Campbell closed strong on the freestyle, touching in an Olympic record of 3 minutes, 51.60 seconds to edge the two-time defending champion Americans. Kaylee McKeown and Chelsea Hodges started things off for the winning Australian team. Abbey Weitzeil touched in 3:51.73 to give the United States a silver. She anchored a team that also included teenagers Regan Smith, Lydia Jacoby and Torri Huske. The bronze went to Canada. Xander Schauffele claimed the Olympic gold medal in golf in a tense finish. Schauffele was tied for the lead with Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia with two holes to play. Sabbatini set an Olympic record with a 61 and won the silver.

Hideki Matsuyama missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the last hole that would have secured him the bronze. He was in a seven-man playoff for the final medal. Chen Yu Fei of China won gold in women’s singles badminton. The top-seeded Chen beat Tai Tzu- Ying of Taiwan 21-18, 19-21, 21-18. Chen’s victory marks a return to form for Chinese women in badminton. They had won four straight golds in singles until Carolina Marin of Spain won at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. Marin did not defend her title at the Tokyo Games because of a knee injury. P.V. Sindhu of India won bronze by beating He Bing Jiao of China. The French men’s foil team avenged their loss in the 2016 Olympic final by beating a trio of Russians for a gold medal in Tokyo. Erwann le Pechoux, Julien Mertine and Enzo Lefort combined to best Anton Borodachev, Kirill Borodachev and Timur Safin 45-28 for France’s second fencing gold of the Tokyo Olympics. Romain Cannone won the men’s epee individual. It’s the first win in men’s team foil for the country since the 2000 Sydney Games. The ROC still finished the fencing slate with eight medals and four golds. The United States team of Alexander Massialas, Race Imboden and Gerek Meinhardt won the bronze with a 45-31 victory over Japan. The top-seeded Czech team of Barbora Krejcikova and Katerina Siniakova won gold in women’s doubles at the tennis tournament.

The Czechs beat the Swiss team of Belinda Bencic and Viktorija Golubic. Bencic won gold in singles a day earlier by beating Czech player Marketa Vondrouova. Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani of Brazil took the bronze in doubles. Fifth-ranked Alexander Zverev of Germany won the gold medal in men’s singles at the Olympics. Zverev beat Karen Khachanov of the Russian Olympic Committee 6-3, 6-1 for the biggest title of his career. It followed a comeback victory for Zverev over top-ranked Novak Djokovic in the semifinals. Pablo Carreno Busta of Spain won bronze Saturday. Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev beat Russian teammates Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev 6-3, 6-7 (5), 13-11 for gold in mixed doubles. Ash Barty and John Peers of Australia won bronze. Artem Dolgopyat won Israel’s firstever Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics. Dolgopyat captured gold in the men’s fl oor exercise by edging Rayderley Zapata of Spain on a tiebreak. Dolgopyat and Zapata were both awarded a score of 14.933 during the event finals. They both had matching execution scores during their routines. Dolgopyat earned the gold because his set was slightly more difficult than Zapata’s.

Xiao Ruoteng of China earned the bronze for his third medal in Tokyo. He took silver in the men’s all-around and won a bronze during the team event last week. Max Whitlock of Britain defended his Olympic title in pommel horse. Whitlock led off the eight-man final and posted a score of 15,583 points. That is the highest of any male or female gymnast on any event so far at the Tokyo Games. Lee Chih Kai of Taiwan took silver to earn the first-ever medal for his country in gymnastics. Kazuma Kaya of Japan took the bronze to earn a second medal to go with the silver he won in the team competition. Nina Derwael of Belgium won the gold medal in the uneven bars and Olympic all-around gymnastics champion Sunisa Lee added a bronze medal to her haul at the Tokyo Games. The 18-year-old Lee’s total of 14.500 points was good enough for third behind Derwael and Russian athlete Anastasiia Iliankova. Lee’s bronze gives her three medals so far at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade added a gold medal on vault to go with the silver she earned in the all-around. Andrade put together a pair of soaring vaults to post an average of 15.083. The medals she won in Tokyo are the first and second ever for Brazil in gymnastics at the Games. American MyKayla Skinner, who entered the competition after defending Olympic champion Simone Biles

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