Biles withdraws from all-around competition Simone Biles will not defend her Olympic behind Biles and Sunisa Lee. International title. The American gymnastics superstar Gymnastics Federation rules limit countries to withdrew from Thursday’s all-around com- two athletes per event in the fi nals. Simone Biles, of the Unit- petition to focus on her mental well-being. The organization said Biles will be evalu- ed States, waits to perform USA Gymnastics said in a statement on ated daily before deciding if she will partici- on the vault during the ar- Wednesday that the 24-year-old is opting to pate in next week’s individual events. Biles tistic gymnastics women’s not compete. The decision comes a day af- qualifi ed for the fi nals on all four apparatus- fi nal at the 2020 Summer ter Biles removed herself from the team fi nal es, something she didn’t even do during her Olympics, on July 27, in following one rotation because she felt she fi ve-medal haul in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. Tokyo. (AP) wasn’t mentally ready. Jade Carey, who fi n- The 24-year-old came to Tokyo as argu- ished ninth in qualifying, will take Biles’ place ably the face of the Games following the in the all-around. Carey initially did not qualify retirement of swimmer Michael Phelps and because she was the third-ranking American sprinter Usain Bolt. (AP) ARAB TIMES, THURSDAY, JULY 29, 2021 15 Djokovic keeps Golden Slam bid going Medvedev survives extreme heat at Tokyo Games TOKYO, July 28, (AP): Bent over in exhaustion before Ukraine. Ninth-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland partner Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 6-1 to keep serving. Resting on his racket between points. Grasp- will play 15th-seeded Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan his Golden Slam bid going. ing for a rubber tube blowing cool air next to his seat in the other semifi nal match. Djokovic’s quarterfi nal opponent will be Kei Ni- Euphoric Philippines, rewards on changeovers. Two medical timeouts and one visit After some rain a day earlier, the temperature rose shikori of Japan, who reached his third straight Olym- from a trainer. to 88 degrees F (31 degrees C) but the heat index pic quarterfi nal by beating Ilya Ivashka of Belarus 7-6 greet ‘Oly gold winner’ home Daniil Medvedev was struggling so much with the made it feel like a sizzling 99 degrees F (37 degrees (7), 6-0. suffocating heat and humidity at the Ariake Tennis C). Djokovic then won again with Serbian partner Nina MANILA, Philippines, July 28, on Wednesday and was whisked off Park on Wednesday that at one point the chair umpire, The problems the players faced raised questions Stojanovic in the opening round of the mixed doubles (AP): The rewards, the citations to a hotel for seven days of quar- Carlos Ramos, asked him if he could continue playing. over why organizers did not grant requests earlier in competition. They beat Marcelo Melo and Luisa Ste- and the nationwide parties are go- antine. Afterward, Medvedev said he felt “darkness” in his the tournament from Medvedev and other players - in- fani of Brazil 6-3, 6-4. ing to have to wait, for a week or “Gold at last!” read a banner eyes. In singles, Djokovic is attempting to become the so anyway. Philippine weightlifter at the airport as military person- Somehow, the second-seeded Medvedev still pulled fi rst man to achieve a Golden Slam by winning all Hidilyn Diaz, fresh from winning nel waved Philippine fl ags and ap- out a 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 win over Fabio Fognini of Italy to TENNIS four Grand Slam tournaments and Olympic gold in the her country’s fi rst Olympic gold plauded when Diaz landed. But not reach the quarterfi nals at the Tokyo Olympics. same calendar year. medal in nearly a century at the even her historic medal can eclipse Spanish player Paula Badosa was less fortunate. Djokovic has already won the Australian and French Tokyo Games, arrived in Manila coronavirus protocols in a country She left the court in a wheelchair after retiring from cluding top-ranked Novak Djokovic - to move all of Opens plus Wimbledon this year, so now he needs the grappling with continuing virus out- her quarterfi nal match against Marketa Vondrousova the tennis matches at the Games to the evening. Tokyo Games title and the U.S. Open trophy to com- because of heatstroke. As Wednesday’s play neared its conclusion, organ- plete the unique collection. Badosa also had to withdraw from a mixed doubles izers announced that matches would begin at 3 p.m. Out on Court 2, third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas WEIGHTLIFTING match later with partner Pablo Carreno Busta. starting Thursday to make it easier on the players. of Greece was far from his best in a 2-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2 Vondrousova, the Czech player who eliminated Matches had been starting at 11 a.m. loss to 14th-seeded Ugo Humbert of France. Also, Naomi Osaka a day earlier, had won the fi rst set 6-3. Djokovic was fortunate to play later in the day after 12th-seeded Karen Khachanov of ROC eliminated breaks and an economic crisis. She’s now in the semifi nals and into the medal rounds Center Court was covered by shadows. The Serbian eighth-seeded Diego Schwartzman of Argentina 6-1, The 30-year-old Diaz, who won and will next face fourth-seeded Elina Svitolina of great served nine aces and defeated Spanish training 2-6, 6-1. gold in the women’s 55-kilogram category on Monday in her fourth Olympic appearance, will be able to collect her rewards once she is released from quarantine. Philippine offi cials and business tycoons have offered more than 40 Hidilyn Diaz of Philippines cel- million pesos ($800,000) in cash. ebrates as she sets the new Others have pledged a residential world record and won the gold condominium unit in an upscale dis- medal in the women’s 55kg trict, a vacation house in a resort city weightlifting event, at the 2020 south of Manila, a new van and free Summer Olympics, on July 26, gasoline, as well as free commercial in Tokyo, Japan. (AP) fl ights for life. Olympic Medalists 3X3 BASKETBALL Men’s Quadruple Sculls Men GOLD: Netherlands (Lucas Theodoor GOLD: Latvia (Nauris Miezis, Karlis Dirk Uittenbogaard, Abe Wiersma, Lasmanis, Edgars Krumins, Agnis Tone Wieten, Koen Metsemakers) Cavars) SILVER: Britain (Harry Leask, Angus SILVER: ROC (Stanislav Sharov, Al- Groom, Thomas Barras, Jack Beau- exander Zuev, Ilia Karpenkov, Kirill mont) Pisklov) BRONZE: Australia (Jack Cleary, BRONZE: Serbia (Aleksandar Ratk- Caleb Antill, Cameron Girdlestone, ov, Dejan Majstorovic, Mihailo Vasic, Luke Letcher) Dusan Domovic Bulut) Women’s Four Women GOLD: Australia (Lucy Stephan, GOLD: United States (Kelsey Plum, Rosemary Popa, Jessica Morrison, Jacquelyn Young, Stefanie Dolson, Annabelle McIntyre) Allisha Gray) SILVER: Netherlands (Elisabeth SILVER: ROC (Yulia Kozik, Anasta- Hogerwerf, Karolien Florijn, Ymkje Luke Fleurs of South Africa, (left), and Mexico’s Eduardo Aguirre go for a header during a men’s soccer match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, on July 28, siia Logunova, Olga Frolkina, Evge- Clevering, Veronique Meester) in Sapporo, Japan. (AP) niia Frolkina) BRONZE: Ireland (Aifric Keogh, BRONZE: China (Shuyu Yang, Zhit- Eimear Lambe, Fiona Murtagh, Emi- ing Zhang, Jiyuan Wan, Lili Wang) ly Hegarty) Women’s Double Sculls CYCLING ROAD GOLD: Romania (Ancuta Bodnar, Men’s Individual Time Trial Simona Radis) GOLD: Primoz Roglic, Slovenia SILVER: New Zealand (Brooke Argentina, France and Germany SILVER: Tom Dumoulin, Nether- Donoghue, Hannah Osborne) lands BRONZE: Netherlands (Roos de BRONZE: Rohan Dennis, Australia Jong, Lisa Scheenaard) Women’s Individual Time Trial Women’s Quadruple Sculls GOLD: Annemiek van Vleuten, Netherlands GOLD: China (Yunxia Chen, Ling SILVER: Marlen Reusser, Switzer- Zhang, Yang Lyu, Xiaotong Cui) eliminated from Olympic soccer land SILVER: Poland (Agnieszka Kobus- BRONZE: Anna van der Breggen, Zawojska, Marta Wieliczko, Maria Netherlands Sajdak, Katarzyna Zillmann) BRONZE: Australia (Ria Thompson, DIVING Rowena Meredith, Harriet Hudson, Egypt through to quarters with win over Australia Caitlin Cronin) Men’s Synchronised 3m Springboard GOLD: China (Siyi Xie, Zongyuan RUGBY SEVENS SAITAMA, Japan, July Wang) Men 28, (AP): No third gold for SILVER: United States (Andrew Ca- GOLD: Fiji (Josua Vakurunabili, pobianco, Mike Hixon) Iosefo Masikau Baleiwairiki, Kalione Argentina. No return to the Japan’s fi eld hockey teams still winless BRONZE: Germany (Patrick Haus- Nasoko, Jiuta Wainiqolo, Asaeli fi nal for Germany. No de- ding, Lars Rudiger) Tuivuaka, Meli Derenalagi, Vilimoni TOKYO, July 28, (AP): It was an- Japan women’s coach Xavier The Japan women played domi- Botitu, Waisea Nacuqu, Jerry Tuwai, fensive ability for France. other rough day for Japan’s fi eld Arnau Creus considered how well nant defense - Australia didn’t even EQUESTRIAN Semi Radradra, Aminiasi Tuimaba, Some of soccer’s biggest nations hockey teams. Australia had been playing when get a shot off in the fi rst quarter, Napolioni Bolaca, Sireli Maqala) The Olympic hosts have had he assessed his team’s result. The which ended in a scoreless tie. Dressage Individual SILVER: New Zealand (Scott Curry, have fallen at the fi rst stage in the GOLD: Jessica von Bredow-Werndl, Tim Mikkelson, Tone Ng Shiu, Etene good moments on both the men’s Hockeyroos opened the Olympics Australia threatened in the sec- Germany Tokyo Olympics men’s tourna- Nanai-Seturo, Dylan Collier, Ngarohi ment, failing to advance from the and women’s sides, but neither has ond quarter, but Japan goalkeep- SILVER: Isabell Werth, Germany McGarvey-Black, Amanaki Nicole, won a match at the Games, and er Sakiyo Asano blocked Kaitlin BRONZE: Charlotte Dujardin, Britain Andrew Knewstubb, Regan Ware, group stage Wednesday.