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TOKYO — Japan topped the medals table at the Tokyo Olympics after the host nation won three golds on Monday and British diver Tom Daley was finally crowned an Olympic champion at his fourth Games in an emotional triumph.

Heading the Japanese charge was 13-year-old skateboarder Momiji Nishiya who took gold a day after the host nation also won the men’s title.

“I’m so glad to become the youngest [Japanese gold medallist] at my first Olympics... tears came to my eyes,” Nishiya said.

Shohei Ono, one of Japan’s biggest judo stars, won his second straight Olympic title with a tense victory over Georgian world champion Lasha Shavdatuashvili at the Nippon Budokan, the spiritual home of the sport.

Japan’s third gold, and eighth of the Games so far, came in a table tennis shock as mixed doubles pair Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito claimed their country’s first ever Olympic title in the sport.

China had won every Olympic table tennis gold medal since the 2004 Athens Games, but Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen blew a two-game lead in a thrilling final.

Tears flowed at the diving venue as Britain’s Daley claimed a surprise first Olympic gold in the synchronised 10m platform event with Matty Lee.

His Olympic journey began as a 14-year-old at the 2008 Beijing Games and he won bronzes at the 2012 and 2016 Rio Olympics, but a gold medal had remained frustratingly elusive.

However on Monday, Daley and Lee capitalised after a rare blunder by China’s Chen Aisen and Cao Yuan to snatch gold.

Tribute to dad

A tearful Daley paid tribute to late father Rob, who died of cancer in 2011 at the age of 40.

“He never saw me win an Olympic medal, get married, have a child, teach me to drive, have a pint down the pub,” said Daley.

“He took me to every training session, every competition, he was always there.”

Elsewhere Monday, the battle for supremacy between swimming superpowers Australia and the United States heated up.

Ariarne Titmus landed the biggest blow for Australia with a pulsating victory over American great Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle.

Ledecky came to Japan on the back of winning four gold medals and a silver at Rio in 2016, but Titmus ousted her as world champion in 2019 and topped the timesheets this season.

The Australian reeled in Ledecky over the final 50m and said afterwards: “To pull it off in the backend against someone who has an amazing second half of her race, I’m really proud of that.”

The United States bounced back to claim an emphatic victory in the men’s 4x100m freestyle relay. Zach Apple brought them home after Caeleb Dressel led off, ensuring they touched in 3:08.97, ahead of Italy and Australia.

Despite her setback, Ledecky was back in the pool in the evening to post the quickest time in the 200m heats and qualify fastest for the 1500m final.

In gymnastics, the Russian team claimed their first men’s team gold since the 1996 Atlanta Games as they stormed past defending champions Japan and left China in bronze medal position.

The outcome of the first gymnastics gold on offer was in the balance right until the closing exercise when reigning world all-around champion Nikita Nagornyy secured the gold with a superb score on the horizontal bar.

Britain’s unstoppable Adam Peaty extended his dominance of the 100m breaststroke, powering to gold in 57.37sec ahead of Dutchman Arno Kamminga to retain his 2016 Olympic crown.

Tom Pidcock won the mountain bike cross-country title for Britain’s third gold of the day.

Day three’s action got under way with chaotic scenes at the men’s triathlon, eventually won by Norway’s Kristian Blummenfelt.

In a farcical false start, around two-thirds of the 56 competitors dived into the water and set off on the swimming leg only to be hauled back.

The bungled start was caused by a media boat filming the competitors before they dived in for the swimming leg.

NBA star Luka Doncic made a sensational Olympic debut, hitting 48 points as Slovenia routed Argentina 118-100. 

“It was very special,” Doncic said. “Both for me and the whole team.”

COVID-19 continued to stalk the Games however, with Dutch tennis players Jean-Julien Rojer and Wesley Koolhof pulling out of the men’s doubles after Rojer tested positive for coronavirus.

TOKYO — A Japanese skateboarder claimed a piece of Olympic history as the host nation enjoyed a gold rush at the Tokyo Games on Sunday, while France inflicted the first defeat on a men’s USA basketball team since Athens 2004.

There were 18 gold medals up for grabs, including the first ever in skateboarding, one of several new sports introduced in Tokyo in a bid to attract younger fans.

A perfectly scripted final saw Japanese world champion Yuto Horigome strike gold.

Horigome’s victory was one of four golds Japan won on Sunday to take the host nation to second in the medals table behind China.

The haul included brother and sister Uta and Hifumi Abe both winning Olympic titles within an hour of each other.

Uta Abe was first to strike gold in the women’s under-52kg category, beating Amandine Buchard of France.

She then cheered on as her big brother Hifumi overpowered Georgian judoka Vazha Margvelashvili in the under-66kg gold medal fight.

Earlier, unheralded swimmer Yui Ohashi had sparked the Japan gold spree in an action-packed morning session at the pool.

Ohashi powered to victory in the women’s 400 individual medley, toppling Hungary’s defending champion Katinka Hosszu.

“I swam believing in myself. I really did not think of winning the gold,” said Ohashi.

A USA men’s basketball team lost at an Olympics for the first time since the 2004 Athens Games as a team led by 11-time NBA All-Star Kevin Durant was beaten 83-76 by France.

Durant was held to just 10 points in an upset that shows the Americans have a fight on their hands to retain their title.

NBA player Evan Fournier top-scored with 28 points for France, finding form from three-point range late in the game to help his team claw back a 10-point deficit to stun the Americans.

Tunisian teenager Ahmed Hafnaoui pulled off the day’s biggest swimming surprise by winning the men’s 400m freestyle.

The 18-year-old had only qualified eighth-fastest for the final but produced a devastating late burst to win in 3min 43.36sec, overhauling Australian Jack McLoughlin.

“I just can’t believe that, it’s amazing,” Hafnaoui said. “I felt better in the water this morning than yesterday and that’s it. I’m the Olympic champion now.”

It was just Tunisia’s third gold ever in swimming.

The other swimming medals were split between the US and Australia, with Chase Kalisz winning the 400m medley and Australia taking gold in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay in a world record 3:29.69.

The upsets extended beyond the pool later Sunday, with Australian World No.1 Ashleigh Barty crashing out in the first round of the women’s tennis singles. The reigning Wimbledon champion lost 6-4, 6-3 to Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo.

Austrian mathematician Anna Kiesenhofer claimed a surprise victory in the women’s cycling road race, which ended in bizarre fashion with Dutch veteran Annemiek van Vleuten crossing the line mistakenly thinking she had won.

Van Vleuten was oblivious to the fact that Kiesenhofer had broken away from the peloton to take gold.

“I’m gutted about this, of course,” Van Vleuten said. “At first I felt really stupid, but then the others [her teammates] also did not know who had won.”

Elsewhere on Sunday, a century-long wait to see surfing at the Olympics came to an end at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach.

It marked the culmination of efforts to get surfing added to the Olympic programme dating back more than 100 years.

The spectre of COVID-19 meanwhile continued to stalk the Olympics, with the men’s golf tournament upended by two high-profile withdrawals.

World number one Jon Rahm was ruled out after returning a positive test — his second COVID-19 positive in two months — while Bryson DeChambeau also saw his Olympic hopes end with a positive case.

In gymnastics, US superstar and defending champion Simone Biles produced a rusty performance in qualifying, with several uncharacteristic mistakes in a near-empty arena.

Biles rolled her eyes after one unsteady landing on the vault and had her performance director Tom Forster shaking his head in disbelief after a shaky end to her beam routine.

“Simone took three big steps on the beam dismount, I’ve never seen her do that before,” said Forster.

“This is not the finals, this is getting into the finals, this might be a great awakening for us,” he said.

TOKYO — Britain’s Adam Peaty clocked a scorching heat time Saturday to kickstart the defence of his Olympic 100m breaststroke crown on the opening day at the Tokyo pool, but Japanese world champion Daiya Seto failed to make the 400m medley final.

Peaty, 26, who has lowered the world record five times and is arguably the greatest ever over the distance, hit the wall in an eye-catching 57.56 sec.

And he’s just getting warmed up.

“Of course, a heat’s a heat. I always have cobwebs, I did in Rio, and I always build on that,” he said at a 15,000-seat Tokyo Aquatics Centre devoid of fans, but with US First Lady Jill Biden poolside on the first of nine days of action.

“I was a bit shaky on the start, for some reason I was ripping it a bit too hard but there’s a lot of variables when it comes to the Olympics.”

Peaty appears unstoppable heading into Sunday’s semifinals, but he does have competition from Arno Kamminga, who clocked a monster 57.90 in May to be the only other swimmer besides Peaty to go under 58 seconds. 

And the Dutchman bettered that Saturday, touching in 57.80.

American Michael Andrew, who caused a stir by opting not to be vaccinated against Covid-19 before heading to Tokyo, was third fastest.

While Peaty cruised, Seto badly misjudged his swim to crash out, shattering Japanese hopes of a gold medal on Sunday.

The Rio bronze medallist and world champion, who has had a tumultuous year, resigning as captain of their swim team after an extramarital affair, was leading his heat through 300m.

But he eased up and was hauled in by Australian Brendon Smith who qualified fastest in 4:09.27 ahead of New Zealand’s Lewis Clareburt.

Seto faded to fifth and ninth overall and admitted he misread the situation.

“In Rio five years ago I went too fast in the prelims and couldn’t work my best in the finals so I tried to avoid that situation,” he said. “I didn’t let it all out, and I regret that.”

Whatever happens in Sunday’s final, a new champion will be crowned with reigning gold medallist Kosuke Hagino opting out of the event to focus on the 200m medley.

‘Iron Lady’

In the evening’s other heats, Hungarian world record holder Katinka Hosszu struggled in her fifth Olympic campaign.

The triple gold medallist, nicknamed the “Iron Lady”, finished fourth in her heat and seventh overall.

She made Sunday’s final but was nearly three seconds adrift of quickest qualifier Emma Weyant, who touched in 4:33.55.

“I’m really happy with my time, it’s right off what I had at trials,” said the American teenager, who was almost two seconds clear of second-placed Aimee Willmott of Britain.

“Obviously my goal is to come home with a medal for the United States.”

Sweden’s Sarah Sjostrom’s comeback from a broken elbow this year gathered steam as she motored through her 100m butterfly heat in 56.18 to make Sunday’s semi-finals.

But the defending champion and world record holder will need to find another gear with China’s Zhang Yufei and Australian Emma McKeon both touching in 55.82.

Germany’s Henning Bennet Muhlleitnet topped the times in the men’s 400m freestyle in 3:43.67 ahead of Austria’s Felix Auboeck (3:43.91).

Elijah Winnington, who shocked Mack Horton at the Australian trials to deny him the chance of defending his Olympic title on Sunday, was fourth quickest in a tie with teammate Jack McLoughlin.

The door to a gold medal is wide open with China’s Sun Yang, the 2012 London champion, also missing as he serves a doping ban.

Meanwhile, Australia’s world-leading women’s 4x100m relay team stormed home in 3:31.73, nearly two seconds clear of second fastest, the Netherlands. 

And that was their B team, missing Cate Campbell and Emma McKeon, making them hot gold medal favourites on Sunday.

TUNIS — Ons Jabeur intends to fly the flag for Tunisia and beyond at the Tokyo Olympics, hoping to inspire more young Arab women to take up tennis, especially in North Africa.

The two-time Grand Slam quarter-finalist is preparing for her third appearance at the Games, and will arrive in Japan a much improved player from the one who suffered first-round exits in 2012 and 2016.

“I’ve been preparing for the Olympic Games since Roland Garros [in June],” Jabeur, ranked a career-high 23rd, told AFP from her training base in Tunis.

“I have to stay focused, especially since I know lots of Tunisians expect the best from me at the Games against the best players, in matches that will be very difficult.”

Jabeur, 26, will meet cancer survivor Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain in her opening match at Ariake Tennis Park, with Wimbledon runner-up Karolina Pliskova a potential second-round opponent.

“I’m ready for this challenge. The gold medal in Tokyo is my dream. What I am most proud of is representing Tunisia,” said Jabeur.

“The Grand Slams are important, but the Olympics are something special, and I say to Tunisians that I’m going to give everything on the court for you.

“My position in the tennis world is not the same as other players because I’m representing Tunisia, Arabs and Africa at the same time, and it’s something of which I’m very proud,” she added.

“There are lots of players who come from France, Australia, the United States, and I’m proud to represent an entire nation on my own.”

Jabeur broke into the top 50 last year following her run to the last eight of the Australian Open, where she became the first Arab woman to reach the quarter-finals of a major in the Open era.

Winding road 

after junior success

She was hailed as “an example for women and young people” by Tunisian President Kais Saied following that breakout performance, which came almost a decade after she won the French Open junior championship in 2011.

“I’ve learned from my mistakes. In 2019, I told my team I’d had enough of being ranked 60th and that I wanted to be among the best players in the world,” said Jabeur.

“When I got to the Australian Open quarter-finals, I gained more experience and confidence and that allowed me to better prepare for tournaments. The other players have started to fear playing me.”

Jabeur made history as the first Arab woman to win a WTA tournament on the eve of Wimbledon, defeating Daria Kasatkina on grass in the Birmingham Classic final.

Her success has helped in part lift the gloom of Tunisia’s political and health crisis. The country has been overwhelmed by COVID-19 cases, including nearly 18,000 people who have died in a nation of 11.7 million.

Jabeur recently auctioned a racquet to raise funds for local hospitals, which have faced acute shortages of oxygen, staff and intensive care beds.

“It was my duty to help my country when it needs it. We were able to collect 75,000 dinars, around $27,000, to buy equipment for the hospitals that lack it,” she said.

While Jabeur aims to drive up participation rates in the sport back home, she still has plenty goals of her own to achieve.

“My dream since childhood is to win titles in the big competitions, and I know very well that I’m not far off,” said Jabeur, whose husband Karim Kamoun is also her fitness trainer.

“I always say nothing is impossible, you have to work, rely on yourself and have confidence in your abilities.

“During my career, plenty have doubted my ability to ever reach this level, but my belief in myself and my work have allowed me to move forward.”

PARIS — Tadej Pogacar won a second successive Tour de France on Sunday as Wout van Aert claimed the final stage on the Champs-Elysees in Paris.

Pogacar stole in at the 11th hour to win the 2020 edition, but this year he stamped his authority in the first week and will pull on the yellow jersey beneath the Arc de Triomphe as the undisputed champion aged just 22.

"We did it," he said with a huge smile that was absent after his exhausting time-trial on Saturday when he effectively sealed this victory.

"It's never over until the last lap of the Champs-Elysees."

Jumbo's Belgian rider Van Aert stormed past Briton Mark Cavendish to take the 21st stage after also winning a time-trial at Saint-Emilion and a mountain stage at Mont Ventoux.

"I've won a giant Tour de France stage," Van Aert said.

"It's incredible to win again today, it hasn't sunk in," he said holding his baby on the podium.

"It's a great send-off for Tokyo," he said before flying off to the Olympic Games on Monday where he will lead the Belgian team.

Marking the end of the old era 36-year-old Cavendish narrowly missed out on a fifth win on this edition — and a record 35th ever on the Tour de France.

Jasper Philipsen was second on the day as Deceuninck rider Cavendish fell just short, punching his handlebars in frustration.

Cavendish did squeeze on to the roster in third. Four wins in the six stages that ended in a mass bunch sprint were enough for him to equal Eddy Merckx's record of 34 stage wins on the Tour and secure him the green sprint points jersey.

Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard, also of Jumbo, was a surprising second in the general classification, while Ineos' Richard Carapaz was third to follow his 2019 triumph on the Giro d'Italia.

The Bahrain Victorious outfit won the team award to end the Tour with a smile after a police swoop on their hotel and team bus earlier this week.

Pogacar "rode between the raindrops" after surviving a litany of crashes as the Tour embarked from the nation's western tip at the Atlantic port of Brest.

The Slovenian then pulverised his rivals in the first time-trial as the race headed towards the Swiss and Italian border ski resorts where he also held his own.

The UAE Team Emirates leader then produced a pair of joyful mountain victories in the Pyrenees to rubber stamp his status as the best rider on the Tour this year.

Pogacar also won the awards for best rider under-25 and the king of the mountains polka-dot jersey, a triple he also achieved on his debut last year.

SILVERSTONE, United Kingdom — World championship leader Max Verstappen wonFormula One’s inaugural sprint race on Saturday to take pole position for the British Grand Prix.

The Red Bull driver finished the 100km dash around Silverstone ahead of defending world champion Lewis Hamilton with Valtteri Bottas in the second Mercedes in third place.

Verstappen went into the weekend with a 32-point lead over seven-time champion Hamilton who is hoping to capture an eighth British Grand Prix triumph on Sunday.

“We were pushing each other hard as the tyres were blistering a lot,” said Verstappen who collected three points for his win.

Hamilton took two and Bottas one.

“I am happy to have scored the three points and it is funny to say I have scored the pole position too, but we’ll take it,” added the Dutchman.

Hamilton started the 17-lap sprint at the front of the grid having topped qualifying on Friday but was immediately passed by Verstappen. 

He admitted he will face a battle to secure a 99th career win in front of around 90,000 fans on Sunday with the main event raced over 52 laps.

“First of all, let me say thank you to the fans, their energy is amazing,” he said.

“I gave it everything today, I’m just sorry I couldn’t win it for them. Tomorrow we will fight again, but Red Bull are just so strong.”

He added: “Verstappen was pulling away and there was nothing I could do to hold on to him. Their starts have been great this year and we’ve lost a bit on our starts and losing position is never a good thing — I wish we could do the start again.”

Bottas shared Hamilton’s lack of optimism for Sunday.

“We tried to do something different and the target was to try and get Verstappen in the first lap. It didn’t happen,” said the Finn. 

“Today shows that tomorrow is not going to be easy. If it’s going to be a bit warmer, then we might see more issues.

The rest of the top 10 was made up of Charles Leclerc in a Ferrari in fourth, Britain’s Lando Norris, in a McLaren, in fifth, and teammate Daniel Ricciardo just behind.

Two-time champion Fernando Alonso, behind the wheel of an Alpine, shrugged off his 39 years to climb to seventh on the grid.

Behind him are four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel in the Aston Martin, Williams’ George Russell and Esteban Ocon in the second Alpine.

Saturday’s sprint qualifying race was the first of three planned for this year.

Another will follow at the Italian Grand Prix in September with the third venue still to be confirmed.

MILWAUKEE — Phoenix won't hit the panic button after squandering a two-game advantage in the NBA Finals, but the Suns will need improved ball-handling and rebounding to slow the momentum-fuelled Milwaukee Bucks.

Khris Middleton scored 40 points and Greek forward Giannis Antetokounmpo added 26 points, 14 rebounds, eight assists, three steals and two blocked shots to power the Bucks over Phoenix 109-103 on Wednesday, knotting the best-of-seven series at two wins each.

The Suns, who led by seven in the fourth quarter, committed 17 turnovers, five by star guard Chris Paul to match the Bucks' total, and allowed 17 offensive rebounds.

"We certainly had a lot of self-inflicted stuff," Suns coach Monty Williams said.

Having wasted a 2-0 series edge, the Suns will return to Phoenix for game five on Saturday needing to tighten their defensive work and hustle harder in key situations.

"There's no hitting the panic button. There's no panic. You go back home and look at it and adjust," said Suns forward Cam Johnson.

"It's the finals. You're not going to get away with anything easy. You're not going to coast to any victory."

The Suns are chasing the first title in the team's 53-year history while the Bucks seek their second overall crown and first in half a century.

"It's high stakes, very high stakes," Johnson said. "We know what's on the line."

Milwaukee closed on a 12-4 run in the last 2:07 to win after the Suns had led most of the night, Phoenix wasting a 42-point performance from guard Devin Booker, who missed much of the fourth quarter with foul trouble.

"We was holding it down, defending at a high level," Booker said. "We have to close possessions and that's something that hurt us."

Paul, in the first finals of his 16-year NBA career at age 36, said each team knows the other well and performance will decide the champion.

"You know the sets. They can call out our plays, we can call out their plays. It's about execution," Paul said.

"Down the stretch we've got to box out, we've got to execute. We're a team that's closed out games like that all season long.

"So this is a tough one but we got to bounce back. That's why we fought all season to get home court."

The Suns, who would host a game seven on July 22, lost twice in a row in the playoffs early to the Los Angeles Lakers and responded by winning nine games in a row.

"You can't just bank on the fact that you got home court," Paul said. "You got to go out there and play the game. You got to execute, so we'll do that.

"We tend to respond well. We know what we got to do — be better."

Suns coach Monty Williams isn't worried about how Paul will respond with his best chance at an NBA crown now in jeopardy.

"We expect him to bounce back," said Williams. "He had five [turnovers] but we had 17 and they scored 24 points. That was pretty much the game right there.

"It wasn't just Chris. As a team, we've got to take better care of the ball."

GENEVA — Roger Federer announced on Tuesday he has withdrawn from the upcoming Tokyo Olympics after a “setback” in his recovery from a knee injury.

The 20-time Grand Slam champion was knocked out of Wimbledon in the quarter-finals by Hubert Hurkacz last week.

The 39-year-old Federer, who has never won an Olympic singles gold medal, underwent two surgeries on his right knee in 2020.

“During the grass court season, I unfortunately experienced a setback with my knee, and have accepted that I must withdraw from the Tokyo Olympic Games,” Federer said in a statement on social media.

The tennis competitions in Japan are set to start on July 24, the day after the opening ceremony.

Federer, who turns 40 next month, pulled out of the French Open after reaching the fourth round, hoping to get fit for Wimbledon.

He showed signs of his best during his run to the quarter-finals, but bowed out tamely, losing 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-0 to Poland’s Hurkacz.

That defeat sparked talk among fans and pundits speculating whether the eight-time Wimbledon winner would retire, with Federer saying he “didn’t know” if his Wimbledon career was over.

But on Tuesday, the former World No.1 said he was hoping to return to the ATP Tour later this summer.

“I have already begun rehabilitation in the hopes of returning to the tour later this summer,” he added.

“I wish the entire Swiss team the best of luck and I will be rooting hard for the team from afar.”

He is just the latest to join a long list of tennis stars to skip the Olympics.

Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams and Dominic Thiem have all pulled out, while newly-crowned Wimbledon champion Novak Djokovic put his chances of playing in Tokyo at “50/50”.

The Games have been badly affected by Covid. The 2020 edition was delayed by a year and although it will go ahead, it will largely be held behind closed doors and with strict health restrictions in place.

The Olympic singles title is the only major tournament Federer is yet to win. He has completed the career Grand Slam and won the season-ending ATP Finals six times.

He lost in the semi-finals in 2000 in Sydney and reached the final in 2012, only to be beaten by Andy Murray in London, just weeks after edging out the Briton on the same Centre Court in the Wimbledon final.

Federer did, however, win doubles gold with Stan Wawrinka in Beijing 13 years ago.

‘Need to get 

in better shape’

The loss to Hurkacz was only Federer’s 14th defeat at Wimbledon in 119 matches, and the first time he had been beaten in the tournament in straight sets since a first-round exit at the hands of Mario Ancic in 2002.

It was also the first time he had lost a set 6-0 at Wimbledon and just the third time at a Slam.

“With everything that comes after Wimbledon, we were always going to sit down and talk about it because clearly now Wimbledon is over,” Federer said after the match.

“I got to take a few days. Just see, okay, what do I need to do to get in better shape so I can be more competitive.”

He slipped to ninth in the ATP rankings after Wimbledon — his lowest position since March 2017.

“Rest up, @rogerfederer,” Wimbledon tweeted. “It was great having you back this year.”