Day two of the Tokyo Olympics did not get off to the best of starts from a British perspective with high-profile upsets and withdrawals.
Defending taekwondo champion Jade Jones suffered a shock first-round defeat to Kimia Alizadeh of the Refugee Olympic team, ending her hopes of becoming the first British woman to win Olympic gold medals at three consecutive Games.
And a bad hour for Team GB continued when two-time defending champion Sir Andy Murray announced his withdrawal from the men’s singles tennis with a minor thigh strain, though he still plans to continue in the doubles.
But it was not all doom and gloom – not with the irrepressible Adam Peaty around – and he remains on course to become the first British swimmer to retain an Olympic title as he reached the men’s 100 metres breaststroke final with with fastest time of 57.63. He will be joined in Monday’s final by James Wilby, who was third fastest in his semi-final.
What else has happened today?
There were no medals for the Brits in the pool, with Max Litchfield fourth in the men’s 400m individual medley final for the second Olympics in a row, while Aimee Willmott was seventh in the women’s event. Lucy Hope, Anna Hopkin, Abbie Wood and Freya Anderson set a British record of 3:33.96 in the 4x100m freestyle relay final, but that was only good enough for fifth. The defence of the women’s hockey title got off to a stuttering start with a 2-1 defeat to Germany, while there was a 5-3 defeat to Italy in the 1/8 elimination round of the women’s archery. But, following Jones’ shock defeat, Bradly Sinden raised spirits in the taekwondo with a 53-8 rout of Tom Burns in his -68kg quarter-final. World tennis number one Ashleigh Bartley was also beaten.
Social media moment
WOW, go Kimia! 💪
IOC #RefugeeOlympicTeam athlete Kimia Alizadeh has just knocked out double Olympic Champion Jade Jones in the #taekwondo women's -57kg round of 16 match. 🥋
Follow all the Olympic action on the live blog 👉 https://t.co/cZFIX14mpF #StrongerTogether #EOR pic.twitter.com/xwsTmqGlC4
— Refugee Olympic Team (@RefugeesOlympic) July 25, 2021
What’s coming up?
Sinden will continue his bid for gold while Jones can still be in with a chance of a medal if Alizadeh reaches the final. Lizzie Deignan and Anna Shackley are in action in the women’s cycling road race, while attention will very quickly turn to the gymnastics with American star Simone Biles due in action this morning. Grace Reid and Katherine Torrance will be in action for Britain when the diving gets under way too.
Covid watch
USA Golf statement on Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Reed regarding the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. https://t.co/2oT3qL4CJ5
— USA GOLF (@USAGolf) July 25, 2021
There was another high-profile competitor ruled out of the Games on Sunday as USA Golf announced that world number six Bryson DeChambeau had tested positive for Covid-19 prior to travelling to Japan. He has now been replaced in the team by Patrick Reed.
Weather watch
OFFICIAL COMMUNICATION 👇#olympicrowing #rowing #worldrowing #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/n30McxEBq9
— World Rowing (@WorldRowing) July 25, 2021
The rowing has been further disrupted by the threat of adverse weather in Tokyo. Much of the action had already been pushed back due to the threat of a storm, and it has now been announced the events have been moved back to Wednesday and Thursday.
