All Sunday's news from Tokyo
Right then, with only one medal still undecided today (China currently lead Italy 23-21 in the wheelchair fencing women’s team foil gold medal match) I’m going to sling my proverbial hook. We’ll be back for more a little later, ahead of day six. Here are some of tomorrow’s highlights:
Swimming: Ellie Robinson and Grace Harvey are in the women’s S6 50m butterfly final, with Robinson probably Britain’s best chance of gold. Other Brits in the pool include Stephanie Millward in the women’s S9 100m backstroke, today’s silver-medallist Ellie Challis in the women’s S3 100m freestyle, and Lyndon Longhorne in the men’s S4 200m freestyle. All of the finals in the pool come in three hours, starting at 5pm local/9am BST.
Equestrian: After today’s dressage team gold tomorrow it’s time for the individual events, about six hours of them in five grades (puzzlingly starting with Grade 4, moving on to Grade 5, and following that with Grades 3, 2 and 1). Lee Pearson, who won his 13th Paralympic medal today, is after No14 in the final event.
Athletics: Jonnie Peacock was beaten by Felix Streng in today’s heats, but can he turn the tables in the final? That’s the last of 15 finals at the Olympic Stadium, with a scheduled 8.43pm local/12.43pm BST start.
Table tennis: Only eight matches, but every one of them has a gold medal on the line. All killer, no filler.
Also a sprinkling of medals in archery, power lifting and shooting, plus a variety of preliminary, early-stage and group action.
For now, though, I’m off. Bye!
Fencing: The women’s team foil gold medal match is now able to get under way, with Italy attempting to stop China claiming a team gold double.
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Fencing: the men’s team foil final has finished, and after balancing on a knife-edge until the final minutes Li Hao smashed Oliver Lam-Watson 6-0 and then Sun Gang beat Piers Gulliver 5-3 and it ended 45-38 in China’s favour. Great Britain pocket another silver, and France beat the nation that shall not be named earlier to take bronze.
Athletics: Peacock is safely through in second place, but Germany’s Felix Streng, who is coached by Peacock’s former coach Steve Fudge, looks very comfortable in winning the heat. They qualify along with Mpumelelo Mhlongo of South Africa for tomorrow’s final.
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Athletics: Jonnie Peacock is on the track and about to go in his T64 100m heat...
Fencing: The men’s team foil gold medal match continues, between China and Great Britain. So far the British have basically been beating everyone put in front of them ... except Sun Gang, who is single-handedly responsible for China’s current 27-26 lead. He ends the event against Piers Gilliver, but there’s a way to go before that.
Here’s some further reading about today’s Paralympic action:
In the early athletics session Team GB’s Hannah Cockroft won her sixth gold medal in the T34 100m, while Lauren Steadman won gold in the PTS5 triathlon gold.
Will Bayley took silver in the TT7, beaten by China’s Tan Shuo in the final. “I believe I’m the best player in the world so it’s a bit disappointing that I didn’t win it,” the Briton said. “He played well and I missed some crucial shots, it is what it is.”
Some people took some good pictures:
Wheelchair rugby: If this felt like a big, impactful moment then it was surely appropriate. Wheelchair rugby, the sport of smashing and grabbing and sprinting and crashing, is an iconic Paralympic event. It’s a sport of danger and cunning and of absolute granite determination. For the first time, Great Britain are its champions.
Led by Stuart Robinson, the former RAF gunner who lost both his legs to an IED in Afghanistan, and Jim Roberts, who turned to wheelchair rugby during the three years he spent in hospital recovering from bacterial meningitis, Great Britain beat the United States – the most successful nation in the history of the sport – by 54 tries to 49 and led from start to finish.
Not that it was easy. The US team, led by the cunning Charles Aoki, steadily reduced a three point first-quarter deficit until the game was in the balance in the final eight minute period. After relying throughout on Roberts’ consistent scoring, however, it was a triumphant final quarter from Robinson that secured victory. Coming back from a turnover that had led to the US tieing the score, Robinson dominated play; he secured two turnovers of his own, and scored eight tries, including two superlative solo runs, to break American spirits.
Much more here:
Fencing: The men’s foil team gold medal match is under way, between Great Britain and China. Very early days in this one, but China are 3-1 up as I type.
The best pictures from day five in Tokyo, all in one place:
Equestrian: It’s gold for Great Britain’s Lee Pearson, Natasha Baker and Sophie Wells in the Grade IV dressage team test to music. Denmark’s dream run didn’t happen - they ended up fourth - while it’s silver for the Netherlands and bronze for the USA.
Athletics: Another remarkable final, this time in the Men’s T54 400m. Athiwat Paeng-Nuea seems destined to take gold for Thailand, but in the final 50m Daniel Romanchuk of the USA makes up an entire wheelchair length to win it by a single hundredth of a second, or about a tyre’s width in a photo finish.
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Equestrian: The Grade IV dressage is reaching it’s climax, and with the final horses now dancing Great Britain sits in gold medal position, with Denmark needing absolute horse dancing perfection if they are to snatch top spot.
Archery: Finals don’t come any closer than the mixed team compound event which just ended, with China needing a perfect 10 with their final arrow to steal victory from Turkey ... and nailing it! A remarkable final thus ended 153-152. The nation that shall not be named had earlier beaten Iran 153-151 in the bronze medal match to take third place.
Athletics: Jason Smyth wins T13 100m gold again! The Beijing, London and Rio champion has done it again, by the tightest of margins: Algeria’s Skander Djamil Athmani was surging through, and would surely have won gold had the race been over 101m, but Smyth holds him off by a 0.01sec margin. Colombia’s Jean Mina Aponza comes third, while the British finalist, Zak Skinner, trails the field, coming in eighth.
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Swimming: The final race of the night is the women’s 4x100m 34pts freestyle, and it ends in surprise, chaos and bemusement as the USA (who appeared to have won the race) and Great Britain (who were out of the medal places anyway) are both disqualified for reasons as-yet unknown and Italy thus vault to first, Australia to second and a delighted Canada to third.
Athletics: China’s Zhou Xia streaks to gold in the women’s T35 200m, overtaking Australia’s Isis Holt in the home straight to win by about five metres. Britain’s Maria Lyle finished a couple of seconds further back, but it was good enough for a bronze medal.
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Wheelchair rugby: Absolute scenes.
Wheelchair rugby: Absolute pandemonium here in the Yoyogi National Stadium as Great Britain beat the USA 54-49 to win their first ever gold medal in wheelchair rugby and, we think, their first ever gold in a team sport full stop. Wheelchair rugby is such a symbolic parasport, it’s murderball after all, that this is like winning the Euros or something. And what a performance in the final quarter to seal it! GB veteran Stuart Robinson went from fall guy to firestarter as he brushed off being turned over at the start of the second half to absolutely dominate the final quarter. He and Jim Roberts were like Batman and Robin out there, or Martin Johnson and Jonny Wikinson, or Kane and Son whatever you like. It was glorious.
Wheelchair rugby: Jim Roberts has a chat after Britain’s rugby success. He’s asked whether he still intends this to be his last Paralympics. “For the moment, yeah,” he answers, awkwardly. Also:
What an amazing shift that was. That was one to remember. I play to win every game I go into, so that’s what I wanted to come for. We knew there woul dbe some amazing teams here. USA are a class act, and it was just amazing to meet them in the final. They always beat us in the major tournaments and it was nice to put a nail in that one.
Wheelchair rugby gold for ParalympicsGB
Gold for Great Britain in wheelchair rugby! They pull away in the final quarter to beat the USA 54-49, with Japan having sealed bronze by beating Australia earlier today.
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Swimming: Just one race to go in the pool now. The women’s S11 50m freestyle has just ended with Ma Jia winning gold for China, Li Guizhi taking silver and the Cypriot Karolina Pelendritou finishing third. All three broke the previous world record, which had been held by Pelendritou - Ma took over half a second off it.
Athletics: The evening session is under way, and Madison de Rozario has taken gold for Australia in the women’s T53 800m, her first Paralympic gold in her fourth games, completing a nine-year climb of the ladder after bronze in this event in Rio and fourth place in London. Zhou Hongzhuan won silver for China an Catherine Debrunner bronze for Switzerland. Britain’s Sam Kinghorn finished 0.04sec outside the medals in fourth.
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Wheelchair rugby: This final is on a knife-edge, with Team GB leading the USA 37-36 at the end of the third quarter. Paul MacInnes has sent another update:
This is some game. A hail mary try (sorry to mix sporting jargon there) gives the US a vital score in the last seconds of the first half to preserve the 1 point narrowing they achieved early on with a turn over on Stuart Robinson. US with the deep block and the over load, GB with the high press and the counter.
Wheelchair rugby: The final is in progress, with Great Britain leading the USA 19-16 as I type, inside the second quarter. Paul MacInnes is there, and here’s his end-of-first-quarter mini report:
Strong first quarter from Great Britain with Jim Roberts to the fore. He has one steal and seven tries to his name and is both finding space in attack and closing it down in defence. I really think he looks like Kevin de Bruyne but no one agrees with me. Also some excellent timewasting by the Brits in that quarter. Is that ... shithousery?
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Swimming: Hannah Russell could only finish sixth in the women’s S13 50m freestyle final, won by Maria Gomes Santiago of Brazil, with Anna Krivshina of the nation that shall not be named in second, and Carlotta Gilli winning yet another medal for Italy, finishing as she did in third.
Judo: It’s gold for Britain’s Chris Skelley in the men’s 100kg judo! Ben Goodrich of the USA can’t stop him in the gold final, and as I type he and his coach are embracing on the floor, wrapped in a union flag. And then come the tears!
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Swimming: Another silver for Britain in the pool, this time for Ellie Challis, who seems entirely delighted with the result. Ariola Trimi of Italy comfortably won gold by a margin of nearly four seconds, with Iulia Shishova of the nation that cannot be named came third.
It’s quite frankly incredible to see and experience the system that’s been put in place to make Tokyo 2020 happen. It can sometimes be bizarre too.
Mammoth logistical operations for security or Covid testing that may have been in high demand during the Olympics are often eerily deserted now but the same rules are in place and there’s a distinct art to working out how to follow them.
I bonded with some Kenyan delegates the other day after we were forced to stand and wait at a red light. No one jaywalks in Japan, that’s well understood, but this delay seemed a little too much: we were being forced to stand and wait on a road that was closed to traffic.
Swimming: Another world record in the women’s SB14 100m breaststroke, this time from Spain’s Michelle Alonso. Louise Fiddes trails in nearly four seconds behind her but it’s still enough to claim silver for Britain - she was fifth at the halfway mark, whereupon she ignited the afterburners - and Beatriz Carneiro comes third, two hundredths of a second ahead of her twin sister Débora, who comes fourth.
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Swimming: It’s gold and a world record for Naohide Yamaguchi of Japan in the men’s SB14 100m breaststroke final, with Australia’s Jake Michel second and Scott Quin snaffling bronze for Britain.
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Swimming: A quick guide to Britain’s medal hopes in the pool today, with BST times on this occasion (add eight for Tokyo times):
9.22am: The men’s 100m breaststroke SB14 final, featuring Conner Morrison and Scott Quin, is about to go.
9.28am: The women’s event features Louise Fiddes
9.35am: Simone Barlaam goes in the 50m freestyle S9 final
10.17am: The women’s S13 50m freestyle final includes Hannah Russell and Rebecca Redfern
11.34am: Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay 34pts final
Judo: The first of the Judo medal matches have finished, deciding the men’s -90kg category, and in the gold final Iran’s Vahid Nouri has beaten Britain’s Elliot Stewart to maximum glory.
Table tennis: Zhang Bian has beaten Pan Jiamin in a marathon see-saw women’s Class 5 table tennis final, coming back from two games down to win her fourth successive Paralympic gold.
Table tennis: There was to be no table top celebration for Will Bayley this time. The larger than life table tennis star, who won a famous gold in the TT7 event in Rio, was outmuscled by Yan Shuo of China in this year’s final and had to take succour in silver instead.
The Englishman had the early momentum but a decisive moment in the second game saw Shuo grow in confidence and use his physical size to dominate the match. The Chinese athlete came back from one game down to win 3-1, the final game a superb test of contrasting styles that was ultimately decided by Shuo’s smash. But to describe Bayley as beaten, wouldn’t quite feel right.
“He played well today and deserved to win. You’ve got to give it to him,” Bayley said after the match. “I believe I’m the best player in the world so it’s a bit disappointing that I didn’t win it. He played well and I missed some crucial shots, it is what it is.”
Much more here:
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Hello world!
Medals incoming: There’s an absolute load of titles still to be decided today: table tennis, where the women’s Class 5 singles final is ongoing (China are guaranteed both gold and silver there) with the Class 3 final to follow (In which a Slovakian might beat China to gold), with men’s Class 11 (featuring Australia’s Samuel Von Einem) and Class 10 gold medal matches to follow. There have been delays in the fencing, but men’s and women’s team foil medal matches should start shortly, and there is a mixed wheelchair rugby gold medal match, between the USA and Great Britain, scheduled for 6pm local time.
Then there’s another flood of swimming and athletics medals to be decided, with the evening session in the pool starting at 5pm local time, and on track and in field from 7pm. A panoply of judo finals get under way in about 20 minutes, and there are powerlifting finals in both women’s -79kg and men’s -97kg, mixed team compound archery medal matches scheduled for about 7.30pm, and dressage about 15 minutes earlier.
And in terms of medal events, that’s yer lot.
I’m going to hand you over to Simon Burnton now, who will take you below the action and much, much more. Ciao for now.
There is still plenty of action to come on the busiest single day of these Games. Seventeen sports sports are in action and 62 gold medals on offer. Big night for the swimming with 13 golds up for grabs at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, more athletics finals at the Olympic Stadium and the sitting volleyball and table tennis medal matches. The wheelchair tennis has also got away on time after delays the past couple of days due to the heat.
Wheelchair basketball: The United States are making a statement against Australia in the men’s preliminary round, leading 45-28 in the third quarter. GB lead Group B but Australia and the US – second and third place respectively – have this game in hand. At this rate, the Americans will leapfrog both.
Wheelchair rugby: That’s all she wrote. Batt was vocal until the very end, never letting it rest, but the host nation were too strong, too consistent, and have taken the bronze. Wheelchair rugby is a popular sport in Japan and it seems fitting this team stood on the podium at a home Games. Disappointment is written all over the Steelers’ faces.
Wheelchair rugby: There are 90 seconds to play and while the Steelers closed the gap by a couple of points the score still stands at 58-50 in favour of Japan.
Table tennis: Bhavina Patel, who on today became the first Indian table tennis player to earn a place on the Paralympics podium to date, has a high-profile fan.
What a wonderful news for all of 🇮🇳 on #NationalSportsDay. Congratulations on the silver medal @BhavinaPatel6. This is a historic achievement!
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) August 29, 2021
Every medal we win will inspire millions into the sport, & sow the seeds for more medals in future. Good start for us at #Paralympics . pic.twitter.com/4f0pz0hKuc
Patel lost 0-3 to China’s world No 1 paddler Ying Zhou in the women’s singles class 4 final.
Wheelchair rugby: Japan lead 45-36 at the final break and it’s very difficult to see Australia recovering in the time they have left. The Steelers were never on the front foot against the host nation and barring some kind of outrageous late drama it looks as if the Steelers will leave a Paralympics without a medal for the first time since 2004 and just the third time since the sport was introduced in 1996.
Wheelchair rugby: The Steelers are in a hole. A big one. Japan lead 41-33 with two minutes to play in the third quarter and Australia’s defensive errors are letting them down.
In case you missed this story overnight, Afghanistan athletes Zakia Khudadadi and Hossain Rasouli will take part in the Tokyo Paralympics after being safely evacuated from Kabul. The pair looked set to miss the event following the Taliban’s return to power in their native country but arrived in the Japanese capital on Saturday via a week-long stay in Paris.
Wheelchair basketball: Australia’s men have started their Group B match against the USA and lead 8-5 in the first quarter, while Germany are up 4-0 against Algeria.
Wheelchair rugby: Japan have consolidated their lead 30-25 at half-time. Australia have work to do in these next two quarters.
Here’s the dramatic finish to the women’s triathlon earlier:
😲 What an extraordinary finish to the women's PTWC #Triathlon! #USA's Kendall Gretsch beats #AUS's Lauren Parker ON THE FINISH LINE!#Tokyo2020 #Paralympics @worldtriathlon pic.twitter.com/RL22NTIB87
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) August 28, 2021
Wheelchair rugby: The pressure is on Australia, who trail 17-14 at the first break, particularly from Japan’s undisputed star Daisuke Ikezaki.
Goalball: A round-up of results:
Japan 3-8 Brazil (men’s Group A)
Egypt 0-10 Japan (women’s Group D)
Belgium 2-4 Ukraine (men’s Group B)
Still to come today:
Israel v China (women’s Group C)
Algeria v USA (men’s Group A)
Australia v Russia Not Russia (women’s Group C)
A defensive foul is called for an errant hand from Ryley Batt and he’s sin-binned. The Japanese will want to keep the Australian captain off the court as much as they can. Batt has four tries but Japan have just headed into a timeout ahead 8-7.
Also a heads-up that the USA will play Great Britain for the gold medal at 6pm local time.
Wheelchair rugby: Australia have just started their bronze medal match against Japan and it’s 2-2 two minutes in. The Steelers are having to work hard to keep possession though.
A recap from earlier today for the ParalympicsGB fans, Great Britain picked up a full complement of triathlon medals, led by former Strictly Come Dancing star Lauren Steadman who upgraded the PT4 silver she won in Rio five years ago to PTS5 gold with a finish of 1:04:46 – 41 seconds clear of American Grace Norman.
GB teammate Claire Cashmore completed the podium in that race in a time of 1:07:36, while fellow Briton George Peasgood won men’s silver in 58:55.
A second #ParaRowing gold of the day for #GBR !
— Paralympic Games (@Paralympics) August 29, 2021
Ellen Buttrick, Giedre Rakauskaite, James Fox and Oliver Stanhope, plus cox Erin Kennedy, prevail in the PR3 mixed coxed four - PR3Mix4+ final#Gold #GBR #Silver #USA #Bronze #FRA #Tokyo2020 #Paralympics @WorldRowing
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Boccia: A LOT of pool games happening at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Australia’s Spencer Cotie has beaten Brit Jamie McCowan 5-2 and McCowan’s brother Scott has seen off Stefania Ferrando 6-1.
This is a nice quick explainer on the sport to help your viewing pleasure:
Athletics: Australian vision-impaired sprinter Chad Perris, who was born with albinism and is nicknamed the White Tiger, has finished second in his T13 100m heat in 10.90 to progress to tonight’s final.
Australian rowing silver medallist Erik Horrie has just spoken to Seven. He did not secure the gold he has long coveted but did make it a third consecutive silver at a Paralympics in the men’s single sculls rowing final.
“It means the world to me,” he says. “That was one of the hardest races I think we’ve had to go through ... it means a little bit more for me today. It’s my son’s ninth birthday. He was born at my very first Paralympics in London, so this one is definitely for him.
Horrie, a Lifeline ambassador, also addresses some of his mental health challenges.
“Never give up,” he says. “Never let anyone tell you you can’t do something. You might go for through tough times. Remember, you’re the one that makes the choice. You’re the one that can controls your path. And don’t be shy to speak up if you need help put your hand up. I struggled for so long trying to fix my issues, behind closed doors. And when people realised I was struggling, it’s made me a better person. It’s made me a better father, a better partner, a better athlete and teammate to be around.”
T36 200m gold for China
Athletics: Yet another world record, this time in the women’s T36 200m, and yet another Chinese gold, this time for Shi Yiting (28.21 seconds), who accounted for 20-year-old Kiwi Danielle Aitchison (29.88) by more than a second and a half. Argentine Yanina Andrea Martinez (30.96) was a further second adrift.
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Table tennis: Britain’s William Bayley couldn’t hang in their against Yan Shuo of China, going down in four games despite winning the first comfortably. Yan prevailed 3-1 (4-11, 11-9, 11-2, 11-8) to walk away with gold. Still it’s a 14th silver for Team GB at the Games to take their total medal tally to 49. They currently sit second on the table, well behind leaders China who have a ridiculous 82 medals including 33 gold.
Russian Gnezdilov reigns in shot put
Hello, no sooner have I logged on than Russian shot putter Denis Gnezdilov has set a world record on his way to winning gold in the men’s F40 category. He thew 11.16m, which easily accounts for the previous record of 11.01m set in February by Portugal’s Miguel Monteiro. Iraq’s silver medallist Garrah Tnaiash was breathing down his neck with 11.15m while Monteiro claimed bronze with 10.76.
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Righto, knock off time for me. So much more to come. Emma Kemp is ready to take you through it.
Powerlifting gold for Jordan
The standings remain as they were. Khattab gold, Ye silver, Abdelhady bronze. The winning lift of 231 is a Games record, though Khattab doesn’t attempt to push past his separate world record.
More rowing gold for Great Britain
The coxed four PR3 final this time. Ellen Buttrick, James Fox, Giedre Rakauskaite, and Oliver Stanhope, coxed by Erin Kennedy. A splendid Tokyo morning for Great Britain on the waterway.
USA silver, France bronze.
Table tennis: I have to say, the Chinese team shirts with a massive purple dragon on a black background deserve all the gold medals, tennis results not withstanding. The score is 8-8 in the second set for Bayley and Yan.
Table tennis: Bayley is up one set to nil in his gold medal match...
Powerlifting: Khattab has gone to 231 in the final, just for kicks really. Ye tries to lift 231 as well, but can’t. Abdelhady tries 221 to take Ye’s silver spot, but also falters. One more lift apiece.
Table tennis: William Bayley is up for a Great Britain gold medal in the men’s Class 7 final against Yan Shuo. Starting... now.
Football: Another brutal game of blindfolded 5-a-side has begun, with Brazil playing China in the men’s draw.
Gold for Great Britain in the double sculls
No, Barry, not that sort. Laurence Whitley and Lauren Rowles win another gruelling rowing race in 8:38.99. This sport looks extremely tough. Most of them do, but rowing especially. The GB pair establish a decent lead by the 1000m mark and hold it fast for the second half.
China is in second place for much of the race, but it sounds like they lost navigation and accidentally crossed over a lane towards the end. They still qualify for a finish in third place, but the Dutch yoink them for a silver medal.
Powerlifting: In the men’s -88 kg final, it’s Jordan in the lead - the kingdom, not the model - via Abdelkareem Mohmmad Ahmad Khattab. The big guy holds the world record of 240 kilograms benched. He’s gone as far as 225 today, with another lift of 226 pencilled in just in case China’s Ye Jixiong succeeds with a proposed lift of 225. Hany Abdelhady has the bronze spot currently for Egypt with 214.
Table tennis: Valentin Baus won gold in that earlier match for Germany, the men’s Class 5 final over Cao Ningning. China scores a gold in the next match though, with Zhou Ying taking the women’s Class 4 over Bhavinaben Hasmukhbhai Patel, who wins India’s first medal of these Games with silver.
Archery: Great Britain archer Phoebe Patterson Pine wins through her 1/16 elimination match against the Russian Tatiana Andrievskaia, 138-142.
PPP lost the fifth set by three, which makes the overall look closer than it was, but she’d won the first and third sets, and tied the others.
Silver for Australia in the rowing
The men’s PR1 single sculls, not an event for the fainthearted, with ten minutes or so of intense solo time on the river, is done. Ukraine’s Roman Polyanskyi takes it out, the world record holder able to go much more easily here, and still gets in 12 seconds ahead of Australia’s Eric Horrie. The pair shake hands from boat to boat. Rene Campos Pereira takes bronze for Brazil.
Gold world record for Yao Juan, bronze for Australia
Discus: The standings remain as they were, but the throws change in the women’s F64. Sarah Edmiston steps up to throw yet another personal best today, an area record as well for the whole region, with 37.85. Bronze.
Yang Yue has her last throw disqualified, but keeps silver with 40.48.
Then Yao steps up for the last throw of the final, that easy looking approach again, and launches a new world record of 44.73m. She celebrates by going to stand next to the digital screen as her score comes in, posing for photos with the number by her name.
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Gold for Norway on the river
The first rowing medals in these games are won. Birgit Skarstein gets the gold in the women’s PR1 single sculls, an absolute mile (or 21 seconds) ahead of Israel’s Moran Samuel, and 31 seconds ahead of France’s Nathalie Benoit. That’s some kind of dominance. Skarstein was fourth in Rio, and has apparently done nothing but row like some Norse god of the oars ever since.
First gold of the Games for Norway, which until now had one bronze medal in table tennis.
Archery: Ireland’s Kerri-Louise Leonard has won through her 1/16 elimination round against Jyoti Jyoti of India, in the women’s individual compound.
Wheelchair basketball: Great Britain take care of Iran in the men’s match, 54-69.
Discus: In the women’s F34 event, Australia’s Sarah Edmiston has thrown her way into a bronze medal position so far, improving with each of her first three throws to sit at 37.41. I think that’s a PB as well.
Mind you, you get a sense of the gulf to the very top when Yao Juan steps up with a spin of what looks like minimal effort, and casually Frisbees the discus 44.4 metres.
Yang Yue has 40.48. Another gold-silver combo looking locked on for China.
Four gold medals in a row for Oksana Zubkovska
Long jump: What an extraordinary achievement. Gold in Beijing, gold in London, gold in Rio, gold in Tokyo. Four times winning her event over the course of 13 years, the last of them coming at 40 years of age. One of the grandest records on the track or in the field.
Martinez misfires on her last jump, unable to do much more but run through after her sprinting approach. Then she immediately dissolves into tears - of joy, apparently - at having won a silver medal.
Zubkovska does line up for a final jump, then with true show style, walks down to the sandpit and steps dramatically into it. Quite the touch. She knows she’s won. Rather than tears, she’s now down there working the lanes like a Saturday Night Live host, chatting to people over the fence, shouting one-liners, looking calm and confident rather than overcome.
The bronze goes to Lynda Hamri of Algeria, who jumped 5.33m.
800m T53: Australian fave Madison de Rozario qualifies first in her heat, four seconds outside her world record time.
Table tennis: Cau and Baus are locked at two sets apiece in that first table tennis final that we mentioned earlier. “Down to the wire” klaxon.
Long jump. Sara Martinez has used up five of her jumps now, but none have surpassed her second effort of 5.38. That leaves her 6cm behind Zubkovska, who has declined to jump on her last two opportunities. Come and get me, she’s saying.
Golden world record for Hannah Cockroft
The women’s 100m T34 sees another champion performance. The Great Britain wheelchair racer won the 100m and 200m in London, the 100m, 400m, and 800m in Rio, and now the 100m here in Tokyo. Takes 0.18s off her own world record from earlier in the year, finishing in 16.39.
Her compatriot Kare Adenegan challenged her up to about the 70 metre mark but Cockroft just shot away from that point on, too much power. Silver for Great Britain there, with the third British racer Fabienne Andre finishing fifth.
And bronze for Australia with Robyn Lambird coming in third.
Table tennis: There will be more medals for China coming today, I would suggest. Eight gold-medal matches across categories. China has a contestant in six of those matches, and both contestants in two of them. The first has begun, the Class 5 with Cao Ningning and Germany’s Valentin Baus.
Long jump: Japan’s Sawada Uran improves on her mark, jumping 5.15m. Stays in fifth place but that’s her season best.
The medal tally
China is absolutely dominating, with a few that might not even have been added to our interactive yet. 30 gold and 77 total so far. Great Britain second with 17 gold and 46 total.
The plucky Aussies have slipped down to sixth behind I Can’t Believe It’s Not Russia, the USA and Ukraine.
Long jump: Anna Kaniuk runs right through the launching pad and across the sandbox without jumping. It does take her past the 8 metre mark but technically that’s not a legit result, Anna. Belarus will have to try again.
Long jump: Big effort from Zubkovska, a cheer upon standing, and... she’s jumped into the lead. That’s 5.54 metres, all of 6cm past Martinez. Can the Spaniard respond? Her third attempt, before Zubkovska’s jump, didn’t get near her second.
Wheelchair basketball: Not far into the third quarter, and Great Britain men lead Iran 33-44.
Archery: Lots of elimination matches happening in the archery, which I can’t describe to you because the broadcaster has not elected to broadcast it. Don’t know why that is, but all I can do from here is check the text results.
Boccia: Let a million flowers bloom, but instead of flowers they’re boccia games. So many happening at the moment. They’re held on indoor courts with coloured boules, so it doesn’t have the Italian-pensioner-village-square kind of vibe, but it’s still more chilled out than the other sports. As a player? Go for this ahead of the football.
Athletics: The T12 women’s long jump final is underway, second round of jumps happening now. Sara Martinez of Spain currently leads with 5.38m. Ukrainian Oksana Zubkovska holds the world record of 6.6 metres, but she set that nearly a decade ago, and her best today is well over a metre short of that.
Football: I’ve not had the experience of watching this kind of 5-a-side before, and let me tell you, it is absolutely brutal. Non-contact? Pfffft. They are belting into each other every other moment.
This is a visual impairment sport, so the players are blindfolded aside from the goalkeepers, who aren’t allowed to leave a tiny box in front of goal. There are bells in the ball, and the goalkeeper can call directions to the players, as can an assistant behind each team’s target goal, directing the shooting.
And there’s a fence all the way down the sidelines, which means that the ball doesn’t go out.
So it bounces around in the field, and players wearing shades go sprinting after it and bash one another out of the way. Then if someone has possession and is running forward, a defender will stand in their way and the two just iron one another out. And when the ball comes up against the side fence, one player might try to trap it there while an opponent or two comes up and barrages them to break the ball free.
Not for the faint-hearted. Most of the players have spent most of their time lying on the deck after being crunched.
Anyway. Japan just beat France 3-0.
Triathlon: Lauren Parker speaks after being caught just before the line, saying that she knew Gretsch was on the way.
“I gave it everything I could. I put my head down and went for it. I’m pretty proud of my efforts.”
Wheelchair basketball: A good start for the Great Britain men’s team against their old rivals Iran (I made that up), leading 19-24 in the second quarter. The Brits are currently second in their group behind their old rivals Australia (I made that up too).
Triathlon golds for US and Netherlands
After another early start for the para-triathletes, Kendall Gretsch of the US roared from behind to pip Australia’s Lauren Parker in a thrilling finish at the line of the women’s PTWC race at Odaiba Marine Park. It looked like Parker would secure another gold for Australia, but an unbelievable final effort saw Gretsch reel her in on the final sprint to cross the line first by the slightest of margins. Incredible scenes. Eva Maria Moral Pedrero of Spain took bronze. In the men’s race, Jetze Platz ofd the Netherlands won gold, ahead of Florian Brungraber of Austria and Giovani Achenza of Italy.
Both PTS5 races are under way.
Before we get properly stuck into today’s action, have a look at the best pics from day four in Tokyo.
Preamble
Hello and welcome. Today, day five, marks the single busiest day of these Games – a total of 62 (sixty-two!) gold medals are up for grabs across 17 sports. We’re already two down – in the early-starting men’s and women’s PTWC triathlon. More on those races shortly. But for now, here’s what else is on today’s agenda, courtesy of my colleague Martin Belam.
All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Sydney, subtract eight hours for Leeds, 13 hours for New York and 16 hours for San Francisco.
- 6.30am and 8.30am Triathlon – it is another early Tokyo start for the paratriathletes. There are four races today, as the men and women compete separately in the PTWC and PTS5 categories. 🥇
- 8.30am-7.30pm Wheelchair fencing – Sunday sees the men’s and women’s team foil competitions. The medal bouts start at 5.30pm 🥇
- 9am-7.30pm Football 5-a-side – the first day of this event sees four men’s preliminary group games, opening with the hosts against France.
- 9am-10.44am and 5pm-7.32pm Swimming – the swimming never stops, there are 13 golds on offer in the pool on Sunday 🥇
- 9.30am-11.50am Rowing – the first medals at the Sea Forest Waterway will come on Sunday. There are finals in the men’s and women’s PR1 single sculls, the PR2 mixed double sculls and the PR3 mixed coxed four 🥇
- 9.30am-1.02pm and 7pm-10.02pm Athletics – another busy day on Sunday, with the evening session in particular featuring nine finals on the track 🥇
- 10am-2pm and 4pm-8pm Table tennis – there are eight singles finals across the day 🥇
- 11am Wheelchair tennis – the schedule is back on track and there will be another full day of play at Ariake Tennis Park – we’ll get quarter-finals in the women’s doubles and the semi-final of the quads’ doubles.
- 2pm and 6pm Wheelchair rugby – first the bronze medal match between Australia and Japan and then the gold medal final between the US and Great Britain 🥇
- 4.30pm-7.50pm Judo – there are five gold medals on offer in the evening session 🥇
- 6pm Equestrian – it is test to music in the dressage, with the gold medal contest for Grade IV starting at 7.32pm 🥇
- 7.36pm-7.56pm Archery – the competition runs all day, but in the evening at Yumenoshima Final Field it will be time for the mixed team compound archery bronze contest, followed by the gold medal match 🥇
