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Olympics Latest: US swimmer says races "probably not clean"

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:

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American backstroke star Ryan Murphy suggested that his Olympic races were “probably not clean,” seeming to take aim at Russian swimmers who beat him in two events.

Murphy made the comments Friday after taking the silver medal behind Evgeny Rylov in the 200-meter backstroke. Three days ago, he settled for bronze in the 100 back, touching after both Rylov and another Russian, Kliment Kolesnikov.

At a news conference with the other medalists, Murphy said he wasn’t making any allegations and congratulated Rylov.

Most Russian athletes were allowed to compete at Tokyo, even though they officially represent the Russian Olympic Committee — not their country — after revelations it launched a massive state-sponsored program to elude testers ahead of the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

Rylov, who has long been one of the world’s top backstrokers, denied being involved in any doping schemes. He said he’s always been clean in competition and has been tested. He said he didn’t feel like he was the target of Murphy’s frustration.

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The International Olympic Committee has challenged campaigners to show proof that an Iranian gold medalist shooter is a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The “United for Navid” group has called on the IOC to open an ethics investigation and to suspend the Tokyo Olympics title won by Javad Foroughi in men’s 10-meter air pistol.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams says “we would encourage them if they have any evidence to send that to us.”

Foroughi has reportedly served in Syria as a nurse with the IRGC, which the United States designated a terrorist organization in 2019.

“United for Navid” campaigns for Iran to be excluded from international sports. It is named for wrestler Navid Afkari, who was executed last year for an alleged murder in 2018 during the time of demonstrations against the Iranian government.

IOC president Thomas Bach and soccer’s world body FIFA joined calls for Afkari’s life to be spared.

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Track and field is underway at the Olympics, with the women laying down some very fast times in the 100 meters heats.

There were no major surprises in the opening session at the Olympic Stadium, other than those early times in what promises to be a tight women’s 100 battle.

Defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah won her heat in 10.82 seconds and fellow Jamaican and favorite Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce cruised home in 10.84 to win hers. Ivory Coast’s Marie-Josee La Tou laid down the fastest time of the heats in a surprising 10.78 seconds.

Six women went under 11 seconds. Teahna Daniels of the United States and Dina Asher-Smith of Britain also progressed. The women’s 100 final is Saturday.

In the men’s 400 meters hurdles, world-record holder Karsten Warholm of Norway went through with no trouble in a time of 48.65 seconds. Rival Rai Benjamin of the United States progressed with 48.60.

Only one gold medal is up for grabs on the opening day at the track, in the men’s 10,000 meters. It’s the last event of the evening session.

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Olympic star Simone Biles says she’s dealing with a bout of “the twisties” and is uncertain whether she’ll continue to compete at the Tokyo Games.

Biles, who withdrew from the team and all-around competition because she felt she wasn’t mentally prepared, said she started struggling with her air awareness after qualifying last Sunday.

The “twisties” are gymnastics code for when an athlete can’t figure out where they are in relation to the ground during a routine. Biles admitted she was dealing with them after the U.S. took silver in the team competition Tuesday.

This isn’t the first time Biles has dealt with the phenomenon. She said the length of the episodes have varied but typically last around two weeks. She is scheduled to compete in all four event finals early next week but has not made a decision on whether she will participate.

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French heavyweight Teddy Riner’s quest for a record-tying third consecutive gold medal in judo has ended with a strange loss to Russian athlete Tamerlan Bashaev in the quarterfinals.

The 6-foot-8 Riner lost 29 seconds into golden score when he slipped and fell onto his back as he attempted to throw Bashaev, who was given credit for a waza ari on a sumi-otoshi throw after video review.

The decision ended Riner’s attempt to tie the Olympic record of three straight gold medals set by Japan’s Tadahiro Nomura from 1996 to 2004.

Riner will still compete for bronze and his fourth consecutive Olympic medal in repechage in the evening session. The 10-time world champion also won bronze in Beijing.

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MEDAL ALERT

Great Britain’s Bethany Shriever has spoiled Colombian Mariana Pajon’s bid for a third straight gold medal in BMX racing.

Shriever jumped out to an early lead and held off Pajon at the finish in her first Olympics. Dutch rider Merel Smulders took bronze.

Pajon became the first rider to win two BMX racing gold medals with her victory at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Niek Kimmann of the Netherlands won the men’s race, edging Great Britain’s Kye Whyte at the finish line. Carlos Ramirez Yepes of Colombia took bronze.

Reigning men’s gold medalist Connor Fields of the United States did not make it to the finals after a violent crash in the third semifinal heat. He was taken off on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance after crashing on the first turn.

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Reigning BMX racing gold medalist Connor Fields of the United States has been carried off on a stretcher after crashing in the third semifinal heat at the Tokyo Olympics.

Fields was fourth after his opening two heats and landed hard off a jump heading into the first turn in the third run. The 28-year-old from Las Vegas slammed into the turn and lay on the track as medical personnel rushed out to help him.

Fields was attended to for several minutes before being carried away. He qualified for the finals, but will not be able to race.

He became the first American BMX rider to win gold at the 2016 Rio Games and was a favorite to win it again in Tokyo.

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MEDAL ALERT

China’s Wang Shun has captured gold in the men’s 200-meter individual medley at the Tokyo Olympics.

Wang edged Britain’s Duncan Scott with a time of 1 minute, 55.00 seconds. Scott took the silver in 1:55.28, while the bronze went to Switzerland’s Jeremy Desplanches in 1:56.17.

It was another disappointment for hometown star Daiya Seto, who didn’t even qualify for the final of his first two events. He finally got through in the 200 IM but missed out on a medal with a fourth-place finish — a mere five-hundredths of a second behind the Swiss bronze medalist.

American Michael Andrew led after the third leg, powering to the top spot on the breaststroke. He faded badly on the freestyle to wind up in fifth, more than two seconds behind the winner.

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MEDAL ALERT

Emma McKeon has earned another gold medal for the Australian women at the Olympic pool.

McKeon touched first in the 100-meter freestyle with an Olympic-record time of 51.96 seconds, becoming only the second woman to break 52 seconds in the sprint.

Hong Kong’s Siobhan Haughey claimed the silver in 52.27, while Aussie Cate Campbell took the bronze in 52.52. American Abbey Weitzeil was last in the eight-woman field.

The Australians have won four individual women’s events at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, in addition to setting a world record in a 4x100 free relay that included both McKeon and Campbell.

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MEDAL ALERT

Russia’s Evgeny Rylov has completed a backstroke sweep at the Tokyo Olympics.

Rylov added the 200-meter backstroke title to his victory in the 100 back, winning with an Olympic-record time of 1 minute, 53.29 seconds.

The silver went to American Ryan Murphy in 1:54.15, while Britain’s Luke Greenbank grabbed the bronze in 1:54.72.

Murphy was a double-gold medalist at the 2016 Rio Games, extending America’s dominance of the backstroke events that went back to 1992.

Rylov ended the U.S. winning streak with his two golds in Tokyo. Murphy settled for a bronze and silver this time.

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MEDAL ALERT

South Africa’s Tatjana Schoenmaker has set the first individual swimming world record at the Tokyo Olympics.

She won the women’s 200-meter breaststroke with a time of 2 minutes, 18.95 seconds, breaking the mark of 2:19.11 set by Denmark’s Rikke Moller Pedersen at the 2013 world championships in Barcelona.

The United States claimed the other two medals. Lilly King set a blistering pace early in the race and held on for a silver in 2:19.92. Annie Lazor grabbed bronze in 2:20.84.

It was the third world record at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, with the first two coming in women’s relays.

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Caeleb Dressel has set another Olympic record in the semifinals of the 100-meter butterfly.

Minutes after Hungary’s Kristof Milak took down the mark in the first semifinal heat, Dressel went even faster with a time of 49.71 seconds in the second heat.

It was the third-fastest time in history and left Milak as the second-fastest qualifier at 50.31.

In the preliminaries, Dressel tied the former Olympic record of 50.39 set by Singapore’s Jospeh Schooling to win gold at the 2016 Rio Games.

Dressel will be a big favorite in Saturday morning’s final, though he could get pushed by Milak. The Hungarian already won the 200 fly with a dominating victory.

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MEDAL ALERT

New Zealand held off a late charge from Germany over the final 250 meters to win the men’s eight in the final rowing event of the Tokyo Games.

The Kiwi boat beat the Germans by 0.96 seconds. It was the second rowing gold of the day for New Zealand after Emma Twigg won the women's single sculls.

Great Britain rallied late to take bronze in the men’s eight. The U.S. finished fourth, leaving American rowers without a medal in Tokyo.

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Paula Reto of South Africa has tested positive for COVID-19 and won't play at the Olympic women’s golf competition next week at Kasumigaseki Country Club. She had not yet left for Tokyo.

She is the first female golfer with a positive test. The men’s competition lost Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau to positive test results.

Reto has been replaced in the 60-player field by Diksha Dagar of India. Women’s golf starts on Wednesday.

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MEDAL ALERT

Canada has won the rowing women's eight gold medal. They stormed to an early lead, then held off New Zealand over the final 200 meters to win.

The victory ended American dominance in the event. The U.S. had won three consecutive Olympic gold medals but fell to fourth at the Sea Forest Waterway. The Americans were dropped by the leaders early and were never in medal position for the entire race.

China finished third for the bronze medal.

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The start of the BMX racing semifinals and finals at the Tokyo Games is being delayed by rain.

Storms moved through Tokyo Friday morning, leaving puddles on the track at Ariake Urban Sports Park.

Racing was supposed to start at 10 a.m. local time with the men’s semifinals, but track officials said it will be at least 10:45 before riders get on the track.

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MEDAL ALERT

Greece’s Stefanos Ntouskos made a strong closing burst over the the final 250 meters to win the men’s single sculls at the Sea Forest Waterway.

Ntouskas led early only to see Norway’s Kjetil Borch begin to close the gap with 500 meters to go. Ntouskas then found the late power to pull away and build a lead as large as a boat length down the stretch.

Borch won silver. Croatia’s Damir Martin rallied late to take the bronze.

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Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman have moved on to the Olympic beach volleyball knockout round after having just a little bit of trouble against the Netherlands.

Starting in a drizzle and finishing in a downpour, the No. 2 seeded Americans lost the opening set of the match 22-20. It was the first set they have lost in the Tokyo Games. They trailed 12-9 in the second before scoring four straight points and seven of the next eight to take it 21-17.

In the tiebreaking set, they pulled away to beat the winless Dutch pair of Sanne Keizer and Madelein Meppelink 15-5.

The victory gave the four U.S. beach volleyball teams — two men’s and two women’s — a 9-1 record in these Olympics. Jake Gibb and Tri Bourne (2-0) play their final match of the round robin on Friday night. Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes (2-0) finish up against Brazil on Saturday morning. Phil Dalhausser and Nick Lucena are good for at least one more match after finishing the preliminary round 2-1.

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MEDAL ALERT

New Zealand’s Emma Twigg has won gold in the women's single sculls at the Tokyo Games. She bolted to an early lead, then finished with a surge over the final 500 meters to dominate.

Twigg had finished fourth in the previous two Olympics but easily shrugged off Russia’s Hanna Prakatsen, who won silver at the Sea Forest Waterway.

Magdalena Lobnig of Austria won bronze.

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