Olympics-sparkling gold distracts from Tokyo’s woes Reuters

Author: Ossian Shine

Tokyo (Reuters)-With the Olympics finally starting, sports will begin in Tokyo on Saturday, but on the opening day, the shadow of COVID-19 and controversy has never been far away.

China issued an ominous warning that Yang Qian won the first Olympic gold medal in the morning after the Japanese global superstar https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/slimmed-down-ceremony-open-pandemic- hit-tokyo-games -2021-07-23 Tennis player Naomi Osaka ignited the Olympic flame, officially kicking off the event postponed by the epidemic.

At that moment, an opening ceremony without glitz ended, and it was staged in a weird and silent stadium.

However, although the ceremony was different from the past, the first day of the exercise gave people a more familiar feeling.

Although there are no spectators, the world’s elite athletes are still running, riding, fighting and swimming, and an atmosphere of aspiration for business as usual is beginning to build.

Seeing athletes with sparkling eyes, they will always be welcomed by the organizer and 21-year-old Chinese shooter Yang https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/shooting-chinas-yang https://www.reuters. com/lifestyle/sports/shooting-chinas-yang -wins-battle-nerves-claim-tokyos-first-gold-2021-07-24 provided it and maintained her courage in the women’s 10m rifle competition to overhaul Anastasiia Galashina.

Crumpled under pressure

The Russian was crushed under the pressure of the last stroke and scored 8.9 points. This was her worst stroke of the day and the worst result among all finalists.

“I’m too nervous, I’ve held it for too long,” she said. “My thoughts are wrong. I lost my focus. The explanation is simple.

“I was in a complicated mood and moody at the time. But now I am happy. I made a mistake. It’s no big deal. It will let me learn something, which is a lesson for the future.”

Yang was very excited and hinted at her main motivation: “Today is the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Chinese Communist Party,” she said. “I am very happy that this gold medal is a gift to my country. I am very proud.”

Later, in the shooting competition, because the South Korean failed to qualify for the men’s 10m pistol final, Admiralty missed his record-breaking goal for the fifth personal gold medal in the Olympics.

With 11 gold medals up for grabs on the first day, the organizers hope that sports can distract people from the embarrassing gaffe that has been delayed for a year and the COVID-19 dilemma.

But the global pandemic was not ignored, because the organizers said that another athlete tested positive for the virus, bringing the total number of disclosed cases to 123.

Later, two American archers said that they were free to choose whether to vaccinate against COVID-19 https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/olympics-archery-unvaccinated-us-archers-say-covid-shot -personal -choice-2021-07-24, a former US Olympic swimming gold medal candidate who refused to be vaccinated has been widely criticized on social media.

“This is a 100% personal choice. Anyone who doesn’t say that will deprive people of their freedom,” said Brady Ellison, the world’s number one and one of the hopes of Olympic archery medals, during the game.

Typhoon preparation

Organizers are also preparing for the typhoon and have rescheduled the rowing races on Monday to integrate them into the Saturday and Sunday schedules.

However, when rowers look up anxiously at the sky, surfers who start the race on Sunday should benefit from a larger wave.

12-year-old Syrian player Hende Zaza is the youngest player in Tokyo, but her table tennis match ended in a flash, losing to Austrian player Liu Jia, and then took a selfie https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle /sports/table-tennis-syrian-12-year-old-tokyo-games-youngest-competitor-exits-first-2021-07-24 with her conqueror.

Liu has a 10-year-old daughter who has been having trouble sleeping on the eve of the event.

“Yesterday I asked my daughter,’Do you know that your mother is playing against someone two years older than you?’ Her first reaction was, “Then you better not lose! “I said,’Don’t stress me!'”

3×3 basketball debut, the host lost to the Russian team in the women’s opener.

“From the streets to the Olympics” is the motto of this event, pronounced as the top three because basketball seeks to increase its global appeal.

All eyes will then be on Tadje Pogaka, the 22-year-old Slovenian who tried to win the Olympic road race gold medal less than a week after winning the Tour de France for the second time in a row.