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Tokyo 2020 Olympics briefing: (high) jumping for joy and a new 100m king

<span>Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters</span>
Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters

Today in a nutshell: Double gold for Italy in the athletics capped a day that featured Alexander Zverev winning the men’s tennis, Xander Schauffele winning the men’s golf, two more golds for Team GB and an incredible world record in the triple jump for Yulimar Rojas.

Tomorrow’s key moments: The track cycling starts, we’ll find out who wins the equestrian eventing, the athletics features the men’s 3,000m steeplechase and the women’s 5,000m, and in the weightlifting Laurel Hubbard will become the first transgender athlete to compete at the Games.

There was a golden double for Italy in the Tokyo Olympic stadium as Marcell Jacobs won the men’s 100m in a time of 9.80 seconds, just minutes after Gianmarco Tamberi had won a sensational high jump gold – which he shared with Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar. The pair could not be separated at 2.37m, and as an official tried to discuss the jump-off process with them, they simply agreed to have two golds instead. Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus also cleared the 2.37 mark but he had more failed attempts, resulting in the bronze medal.

Texas-born Jacobs took gold in the 100m ahead of Fred Kerley of the US in second and Andre De Grasse of Canada in third. Britain’s Zharnel Hughes was disqualified for a false start. 26-year-old Jacobs is the first person who isn’t Usain Bolt to win the 100m gold since 2004.

Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas did her very best to generate some sort of atmosphere in the Olympic Stadium, where her main competitor was the world record. She smashed it. With the last leap of the competition, her triple jump of 15.67m extended by 17cm a record that had stood for a quarter of a century. Patrícia Mamona of Portugal won silver with a jump 66cm shorter. Ana Peleteiro of Spain was third.

Yulimar Rojas, of Venezuela in the triple jump.
Yulimar Rojas of Venezuela in the triple jump. Photograph: David J Phillip/AP

In the final pool swimming session, American Caeleb Dressel won his fifth gold medal of the Games in the 4x100m medley relay. Ryan Murphy, Michael Andrew and Zach Apple joined him on the winning team. Earlier, Dressel had won the 50m freestyle as well. Australia’s Emma McKeon completed her own freestyle sweep, adding the 50m to the 100m. She’s taken seven medals in the Games.

Caeleb Dressel celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men’s 50m freestyle.
Caeleb Dressel celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men’s 50m freestyle. Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

Team GB secured medals in every category in the BMX cycling, including a sensational gold today for Charlotte Worthington. She became the first woman to land a 360 backflip in competition. Favourite Hannah Roberts ended up with silver. The men’s event was won by Australia’s Logan Martin, as Declan Brooks took bronze for Team GB.

Britain’s Charlotte Worthington competes in the cycling BMX freestyle women’s park final.
Britain’s Charlotte Worthington competes in the cycling BMX freestyle women’s park final. Photograph: Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images

Max Whitlock became the first man in more than 30 years to retain a pommel horse title, winning Team GB’s 10th gold of Tokyo 2020. He outclassed the field with a score of 15.583 and has now won pommel gold at the past five world championships and Olympics. Taiwan’s Lee Chih-kai won the silver and Kazuma Kaya won bronze.

Max Whitlock of Britain on the pommel horse.
Max Whitlock of Britain on the pommel horse. Photograph: Ashley Landis/AP

A birdie on the final hole won the golf for Xander Schauffele of the US in a tense finish. He said he was in shock. “I was trying so hard to just stay calm … But man, it was stressful. And I made that putt and it was just a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and just very relieved and happy.”

Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia took silver. Then there was a seven-way play-off for the bronze. That saw bitter disappointment for Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama who had started the day in contention for another gold for the hosts but ended up empty-handed. CT Pan of Taiwan eventually took it after four play-off holes.

Xander Schauffele of the United States watches his tee shot on the second hole during the final round of the men’s golf event.
Xander Schauffele of the USA watches his tee shot on the second hole during the final round. Photograph: Matt York/AP

Alexander Zverev followed up his shock defeat of Novak Djokovic by becoming the first German man to win a singles gold at the tennis with a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Karen Khachanov of the Russian Olympic Committee team.

Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates after winning his gold medal match.
Alexander Zverev of Germany celebrates after winning his gold medal match. Photograph: Stoyan Nenov/Reuters

Off the field, organisers said they are investigating after a group of athletes were found drinking alcohol in the Olympic village this week, violating Covid prevention measures.

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The briefing’s picture of the day

France’s Mourad Aliev staged an hour sit-down protest against his disqualification from the boxing- t o no avail, as GB’s Frazer Clarke secured at least a bronze after being awarded the bout against him.

Mourad Aliev of France sits outside the ring in protest after the referee stopped his fight.
Mourad Aliev of France sits outside the ring in protest after the referee stopped his fight. Photograph: Xinhua/REX/Shutterstock

🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺 Australia update

Tokyo 2020 has already been a historic Olympics for Australia. The national team has had its most successful first week at an Olympics. Kieran Pender says it is a haul that puts Australia’s Olympians on the verge of a golden era. Kaylee McKeown was leading the charge as the swimmers picked up four more medals today.

Such was sailor Matt Wearn’s dominance in the 10 qualifying races during the week that he held an insurmountable lead heading into the 11th and final encounter. Wearn only needed to start and finish the race to secure gold, which he did.

Australia’s Matt Wearn celebrates after placing first in the men’s laser medal race.
Australia’s Matt Wearn celebrates after placing first in the men’s laser medal race. Photograph: Bernat Armangué/AP

However, Rohan Browning’s Olympic 100m adventure ended in the semi-finals. But there is still hope for Peter Bol in the 800m.

🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 Team GB update

The story took 20 minutes to tell in Tokyo, mixed with tearful moments, a few laughs, and a sense of something finally being allowed to pass. That road had taken Asher-Smith all the way to the finish line of her 100m semi-final. But not, in the end, any further.

Barney Ronay on Dina Asher-Smith’s extraordinary tale of desperate dash for fitness.

Team GB will go into the final day of eventing in a strong position. Oliver Townend, Laura Collett and Tom McEwen lead the team event, and Townend is at the top of the individual standings. The medals will be decided on Monday by a team round of showjumping, and then a second round will confirm the final individual places. They are at quite TV-friendly morning and early afternoon times for UK viewers.

William Fotheringham previews the track cycling for us with a profile of Jason and Laura Kenny, cycling’s golden couple, and here’s Sean Ingle on Laura Muir’s journey: from chasing lambs to racing for Tokyo 1500m gold.

Pat McCormack will fight for gold in the men’s welterweight on Wednesday after an injury to Irish opponent Aidan Walsh forced his withdrawal. There are also more guaranteed British medals in the sailing. Giles Scott and the pair of John Gimson and Anna Burnet cannot finish lower than third place in their respective classes.

The road is over though for the men’s hockey team. India will face Belgium in the semi-final after despatching Team GB 3-1. Australia v Germany is the other semi-final.

🇯🇵🇯🇵🇯🇵 The hosts and beyond

Artem Dolgopyat won Israel’s first ever Olympic medal in artistic gymnastics. Dolgopyat captured gold in the men’s floor exercise by edging Rayderley Zapata of Spain on a tiebreak. It is only Israel’s second ever gold.

In the women’s vault, Rebeca Andrade added a gold to her silver in the all-around – the first and second ever for Brazil in gymnastics at the Games. American MyKayla Skinner – selected for the final after the withdrawal of Simone Bilescaptured silver. Yeo Seo-jeong of South Korea took the bronze.

Nina Derwael of Belgium won the uneven bars with Anastasiia Iliankova of Not Russia in silver. Sunisa Lee added bronze to her earlier gold in the all-around and silver in the team.

Puerto Rico’s Jasmine Camacho-Quinn won her 100m hurdles semi-final in an Olympic record 12.26 seconds. The final is tomorrow.

China’s Chen YuFei eventually bettered Taiwan’s Tai Tzu-ying in an epic women’s singles badminton final.

There was a one-two for China in the women’s 3m springboard diving final. Shi Tingmao claimed her second gold of the Games, ahead of her synchronised diving partner Wang Han.

The all-Not Russia final of the mixed doubles in the tennis ended with a victory for Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova and Andrey Rublev over Elena Vesnina and Aslan Karatsev in three sets.

Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan has announced she will make an audacious and historic assault on the 1500m, 5,000m and 10,000m treble. It involves six hard races in eight days, including competing in the 1500m heats on Monday morning followed by the 5,000m final the same night. Rather her than me.

Some top golfers have been a bit sniffy about the Olympics but Rory McIlroy confirmed he would compete again in Paris 2024, saying: “I’ve never tried so hard in my life to finish third. It’s not just another golf tournament – it’s something much bigger than that.”

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 Team USA update

As well as Dressel’s heroics in the pool, Bobby Finke added the 1500m to his earlier 800m title. Krysta Palmer’s bronze in the 3m springboard made her the first diving medallist for the US since 1988. Raven Saunders secured silver in the shot put, behind China’s Gong Lijiao, but there was no joy in the 800m semi-final for Isaiah Jewett. He ended up in a hug with Botswana’s Nijel Amos, after an accidental collision ended the race for both of them

Isaiah Jewett, of the United States, and Nijel Amos, right, of Botswana, shake hands after falling in the men’s 800m semi-final.
Isaiah Jewett and Nijel Amos shake hands after falling in the men’s 800m semi-final. Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

Vlatko Andonovski, the USA manager, said his side are “focused and confident” going into their women’s football semi-final on Monday with old foes Canada.

American swimmer Lilly King doubled down on criticism of Russian athletes hours after the president of the Russian Olympic Committee said his teams’ medals are the “best answer” to critics who questioned why the country is allowed to compete following doping scandals. “There are a lot of people here that should not be here,” said King.

Did you know?

Women were not able to compete in the first Olympic Games in 1896, and then were only admitted to take part in a handful of sports. Such was the strength of feeling about the exclusion of women that Alice Milliat established the Women’s World Games as a quadrennial alternative to the Olympics, running from 1922 to 1934, which ultimately forced the admission of women’s athletics by the IOC.

Key events for Monday 2 August

Related: Tokyo 2020 Olympics: complete event schedule

All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Edinburgh, 13 hours for New York and 16 hours for San Francisco.

🌟If you only watch one thing: 3.30pm-6.30pm, Track cycling – cycling moves indoors to the Izu Velodrome, and opens with the women’s team sprint competition. The final starts at 6.09pm 🥇

  • 9am, Beach volleyball – it is the round of 16 in both the men’s and the women’s sections

  • 9am-11.55am and 7pm-10pm, Athletics – another packed programme in the stadium. The medals will come from the women’s 100m hurdles final (11.50am), women’s discus (8pm), the men’s 3,000m steeplechase (9.15pm) and the final race of the day at 9.40pm is the women’s 5,000m

  • 11.50am and 3.50pm and 7.50pm, Weightlifting – it is the women’s 87kg and +87kg groups in the morning, and then the final of the 87kg group at 3.50pm, with the evening final being the +87kg. The +87kg category will feature Laurel Hubbard 🥇

  • 1pm and 8pm, Badminton – the afternoon sees the bronze and gold medal matches in the women’s doubles. The evening session is the climax of the men’s singles 🥇

  • 5pm, Artistic gymnastics – there are medals in three disciplines. The men have the rings final and vault final, and the women have the floor exercise final 🥇

  • 5pm and 8.45pm, Equestrian – it’s the final day of the eventing competition and the team and individual medals will be decided by showjumping 🐴🥇

  • 5pm and 8pm, Football – the women’s semi-finals are on Monday. USA v Canada in Kashima first, then Australia v Sweden in Yokohama

  • 7.30pm, Artistic swimming – it is the opening free routine preliminary round.

You can find our full interactive events schedule here. It also acts as a live scorebaord during the day so you can see exactly what is happening where.

As it stands

Here’s how the emoji table stood at 10.25pm Tokyo time:

1 🇨🇳 China 🥇 24 🥈 14 🥉 13 total: 51
2 🇺🇸 USA 🥇 20 🥈 23 🥉 16 total: 59
3 🇯🇵 Japan 🥇 17 🥈 5 🥉 9 total: 31
4 🇦🇺 Australia 🥇 14 🥈 3 🥉 14 total: 31
5 ◽️ Not Russia 🥇 12 🥈 19 🥉 13 total: 44
6 🇬🇧 Great Britain 🥇 10 🥈 10 🥉 12 total: 32
7 🇫🇷 France 🥇 5 🥈 10 🥉 6 total: 21
8 🇰🇷 South Korea 🥇 5 🥈 4 🥉 8 total: 17
9 🇮🇹 Italy 🥇 4 🥈 8 🥉 15 total: 27
10 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🥇 4 🥈 7 🥉 6 total: 17

Get in touch

The news that athletes were being investigated for having a drink in the Olympic village was a sharp reminder that this has not been a normal games to participate in as an athlete, and they aren’t getting the full experience.

There do seem to be getting well looked after, though. Wendy Cowling messaged me to say that watching on TV from Australia she has been impressed by the quiet courtesy and the efficiency of the officials. She said: “There are small, thoughtful touches that are impressive – for example combs and mirrors are supplied in the marshalling rooms for the medal-winning swimmers to tidy their hair before they go out to the presentations. It may not be big thing for the men who have shaved their heads but a pleasing thing for others.”

That would definitely be a boon for me as I still have an unruly mop of lockdown hair at the moment. Have you noticed anything that has particularly impressed you about the organisation of the Games? And do you feel for the athletes having such a restricted experience? You can get in touch with me at martin.belam@theguardian.com. I’ll see you tomorrow.

The last word

Britain’s Adam Peaty leaves the pool after his team finished second in the mixed 4x100m medley relay.
Britain’s Adam Peaty leaves the pool after his team finished second in the mixed 4x100m medley relay. Photograph: David Goldman/AP

Sport needs money, everyone knows that. Right now we need more investment than ever, to secure the next generation. Where you’ve got swimming clubs who are having to run raffles to do their fundraising, from my personal point of view I would ask if the government, or another body, should be stepping in to fund them. There’s going to be a lot of clubs closing down, and without the clubs, without the leisure centres, you can’t do this sport – Adam Peaty, Team GB.