The Latest: Jessica Springsteen puts US in medal contention

Updated Aug. 7, 2021 7:19 a.m. ET

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TOKYO (AP) — The Latest on the Tokyo Olympics, which are taking place under heavy restrictions after a year’s delay because of the coronavirus pandemic:

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Jessica Springsteen’s final ride at her first Olympics has put the American team in medal contention at the Equestrian Park.

Springsteen’s horse, Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, front-hoofed a rail for a four-point penalty but was otherwise lightning quick and clean around the course.

Springsteen’s ride followed a perfect circuit from Olympic veteran Laura Kraut for the Americans, and the U.S. entered the final round tied with Sweden and Belgium for second with four points. France leads with two.

The 29-year-old Springsteen -- daughter of rockers Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa -- failed to qualify for the finals in the individual event earlier this week. She’s picked up four penalty points in each of her three runs spanning the individual and team competitions.

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German world champion Jonathan Horne has left the Budokan tatami on a stretcher after getting hurt in his elimination-round kumite bout in men’s 75-kilogram Olympic karate.

Horne withdrew from the Olympic tournament about 30 minutes later.

Horne appeared to injure his arm during a sparring exchange with Georgia’s Gogita Arkania. The 32-year-old karateka collapsed to the mat in pain and was eventually taken away for medical attention.

Horne was the world champion at 84 kilograms in 2018, and he won the European title at the same weight earlier this year. He was among the favorites in this lower division in the Olympic debut of karate, which concludes its three-day run Saturday night.

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MEDAL ALERT

Israel’s Linoy Ashram won the gold medal in the rhythmic gymnastics individual competition, ending Russia’s decades-long dominance in the sport.

Ashram, 22, edged out a pair of Russian identical twin sisters who were the favorites heading into Tokyo. Dina Averina, 22, placed second and her sister, Arina, fell to fourth place. Alina Harnasko of Belarus won the bronze medal.

Russia has swept the rhythmic gymnastics gold medals in every Olympics since 2000.

But Ashram’s victory Saturday, her country’s first ever in rhythmic gymnastics, breaks their streak. Her nearly flawless performance included a club routine set to Beyonce’s “Crazy in Love” and dancing with a ribbon to a techno remix of the Jewish folk song “Hava Nagila” while dressed in a blue and white feathered leotard.

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MEDAL ALERT

The Danish team of Lasse Norman Hansen and Michael Morkov won the return of the men’s Madison to the Olympics for the first time since 2008.

Hansen and Morkov won just three of the 20 sprints but were consistent enough through the 200-lap race to finish with 43 points. That was three more than Britain, which earned silver on a tiebreaker, and France, which took the bronze.

The much-loved Madison, once a staple of track cycling, returned to the Olympics for the first time since the 2008 Beijing Games. In fact, three riders who took part in the last Madison were still around 13 years later for its return: Morkov of Denmark, Kenny de Ketele of Belgium and Germany’s Roger Kluge.

The race involves teams of two whipping each other around in a relay. One rider is considered in the race at a time, though they can switch at any juncture, and points are awarded to the top four finishers in each 10-lap segment.

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MEDAL ALERT

The U.S. has won its third consecutive gold medal in women’s water polo, pounding Spain 14-5 in the final at the Tokyo Olympics.

Maddie Musselman scored three times and Ashleigh Johnson made 11 saves as the U.S. improved to 134-4 since it won gold at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. After falling 10-9 to Hungary in group play in its first loss at the Olympics since the 2008 final, the U.S. ripped off four straight wins by a combined score of 63-26.

The U.S. joins the men’s teams from Britain (1908-1920) and Hungary (2000-2008) as the only countries to win at least three straight water polo titles at the Olympics. The U.S. is the only team to medal in each of the six editions of the women’s tournament at the Games.

Maica Garcia had two goals for Spain, which also lost to the U.S. in the 2012 final. The silver medal matches the country’s best finish in the women’s competition.

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MEDAL ALERT

Cao Yuan became the first diver to win gold medals in three different Olympic events with a thrilling duel off the 10-meter platform at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.

Cao completed another dominating performance by the mighty Chinese team, which was nearly perfect at these games. Yang Jian took the silver, just 1.95 points behind his teammate in a scintillating capper.

Yang nailed his final dive, receiving a string of 9.0s and 9.5s for a forward 4 1/2 somersaults with a 4.1-degree of difficulty -- the hardest dive that anyone attempted.

Yang came up out of the water, pumping his fists.

But Cao was the final diver to go off the tower. While his dive wasn’t as difficult, his marks were even better -- two perfect 10s, every other score a 9.5. That was enough to give him the gold with 582.35 points, with Yang taking the silver with 580.40.

Britain’s Tom Daley was the only diver who gave the Chinese a real challenge before finishing with 548.25 for the bronze. He now had four Olympics medals in his career -- one gold and three bronze.

China’s only slip-up in Tokyo came in the 10-meter synchronized, where Cao and Chen Aisen settled for silver behind Daley and Matty Lee by a mere 1.23 points. That miniscule margin was the only thing stopping a perfect run at the Tokyo pool by the world’s greatest diving nation..

The Chinese were 1-2 in all four individual events, to go along with three golds and a silver in synchronized.

The 26-year-old Cao added to the golds he won on the 3-meter springboard at the 2016 Rio Games and in 10-meter synchro at the 2012 London Olympics. He also became only the second man to win medals in all four Olympic diving events after Russia’s Dmitry Sautin.

Americans Jordan Windle and Brandon Loschiavo finished ninth and 11th, respectively.

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A German coach has been suspended after she was filmed hitting an uncooperative horse during the Olympic women’s modern pentathlon competition.

TV footage showed Kim Raisner leaning over a fence to strike the horse Saint Boy, which refused to jump the fences in the showjumping round. That cost German athlete Annika Schleu a chance at winning the gold medal.

The International Modern Pentathlon Union says it reviewed footage showing Raisner “appearing to strike the horse ... with her fist” and that “her actions were deemed to be in violation of (the rules).”

Raisner’s suspension only applies for the rest of the Tokyo Olympics, which end Sunday. It wasn’t immediately clear if she had been supposed to have any role in Saturday’s men’s competition in modern pentathlon.

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Argentina won its second Olympic medal ever in men’s volleyball, rallying to beat in five sets in the bronze medal game on Saturday.

The only other medal the Argentinians won in the sport came in Seoul in 1988 when they also beat Brazil for the bronze.

The Russians play France for the gold medal.

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MEDAL ALERT

Busenaz Sürmeneli of Turkey has won the women’s welterweight gold medal in Tokyo, persevering through a difficult final against China’s Gu Hong to win Turkey’s first-ever boxing gold.

Sürmeneli won the final 3:0 with two even scorecards after a bout filled with holding and awkward exchanges. They were caused almost completely by Gu, whose awkward, hold-heavy style confounded opponents on her way to silver. Gu was docked a point early in the second round for holding, but would have won the fight on two judges’ scorecards without the deduction.

Sürmeneli battered Gu late in the second round with the power and athleticism that made her arguably the most impressive fighter in the 100-woman Tokyo field. Turkey had won only two silvers and two bronzes in gold in its Olympic history before Sürmeneli’s run to the first Olympic title at women’s welterweight, one of two women’s divisions added to the Olympics in Tokyo.

Oshae Jones of the United States and Lovlina Borgohain of India won bronze. Jones is one of four medalists for the most successful U.S. boxing team since 2000, while Borgohain is the third boxing medalist in India’s Olympic history.

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MEDAL ALERT

Brazil’s Hebert Sousa won the men’s middleweight boxing gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics in shocking fashion when his bout with Ukraine’s Oleksandr Khyzhniak was stopped by a third-round knockdown.

The top-seeded Khyzhniak thoroughly dominated Sousa for the first two rounds and appeared to be cruising to Ukraine’s fifth-ever boxing gold. But Sousa caught Khyzhniak with a counter left hook during an exchange in the third, and Khyzhniak went to the canvas hard.

The referee waved off the bout while Khyzhniak got up begged to continue, adding another instance to a series of Tokyo stoppages that would be considered far too early in professional bouts.

Sousa, who beat second-seeded Gleb Bakshi of Russia in the semifinal, joins lightweight Robson Conceição as the only boxing gold medalists in Brazil’s Olympic history. Conceição won his historic gold at home in Rio de Janeiro.

Bakshi and Eumir Marcial of the Philippines won bronze medals in likely the most talent-stacked division in Tokyo.

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Hungary has earned the country’s first medal in women’s water polo, beating the Russian team 11-9 for bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

Vanda Valyi scored three times for Hungary, which finished fourth in each of the last three Games. Rita Kesthelyi had two goals.

Hungary was clinging to a 10-9 lead in the final seconds when Alda Magyari stopped a long shot by the Russian Olympic Committee’s Nadezhda Glyzina. Magyari then threw the ball into the open net for the clinching goal.

Hungary beat the U.S. in group play, handing the Americans their first loss at the Olympics since the 2008 final. It outlasted the Netherlands in the quarterfinals before losing to Spain.

Spain plays the U.S. for gold later Saturday.

Hungary’s men’s team — the winningest country in the the Olympics’ oldest team sport with nine gold medals — also plays for bronze Sunday against Spain.

Glyzina, Anastasia Simanovich and Ekaterina Prokofyeva each scored two goals for the Russian team, which won bronze in 2016. Anna Karnaukh made six saves.

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MEDAL ALERT

The International Olympic Committee has closed a potential disciplinary case against two Chinese gold medalists who

International Olympic Committee spokesman Christian Klaue says Chinese team officials gave assurances the athletes were warned and the incident will not be repeated.

At the medal ceremony Monday for the women’s track cycling sprint, Bao Shanju and Zhong Tianshi wore pin badges of Mao, the founding leader of communist China.

The gesture tested the limits of Olympic Charter Rule 50, which prohibits political statements on the podium at the Tokyo Games. The rule will also apply at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games.

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MEDAL ALERT

Stoyka Krasteva of Bulgaria has capped her impressive run through the Tokyo Olympics with the women’s flyweight boxing gold medal. She beat top-seeded Buse Naz Cakiroglu of Turkey 5:0.

The 36-year-old Krasteva, a 2012 Olympian who returned to boxing in 2019 after a break, dominated her final four opponents to win Bulgaria’s fifth-ever boxing gold and its first since Daniel Petrov in 1996. Bulgaria had won just one bronze in boxing since 2004.

Cakiroglu lost the final decisively, but still won Turkey’s third-ever silver medal in boxing and sixth medal overall. Teammate Busenaz Surmeneli has another shot at Turkey’s first boxing gold in the welterweight final later Saturday.

Huang Hsiao-wen of Taiwan, the 2019 world champion, and Tsukimi Namiki of Japan won bronze in the lightest women’s weight class.

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MEDAL ALERT

Galal Yafai has won Britain’s first boxing gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, beating Carlo Paalam of the Philippines 4:1 in the flyweight final.

Yafai, the 28-year-old younger brother of two professional boxers from Birmingham, is a two-time Olympian who had an impressive run in Tokyo. He finished by knocking down Paalam in the first round of the gold medal bout and going on for a comfortable win.

Britain’s powerhouse team has won two silvers and two bronzes to go with Yafai’s gold in Tokyo. Middleweight Lauren Price fights Sunday for another gold.

Paalam fell just short of winning the first Olympic boxing gold medal in the history of the Philippines after knocking off defending gold medalist Shakhoibidin Zoirov on his way to the final. The Filipino team is still heading home from Tokyo with two silver medals and a bronze after winning just five boxing medals in their entire previous Olympic history.

Ryomei Tanaka of Japan and Saken Bibossinov of Kazakhstan won bronze medals. Yafai beat Bibossinov in a thrilling semifinal.

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MEDAL ALERT

Nelly Korda has given the Americans a sweep of gold medals in golf, holding on for a one-shot victory in a thrill-a-minute finish to the

Korda led by as many as three shots on the back nine. In the end, she needed two putts from just inside 30 feet on the 18th hole for par and a 2-under 69.

Mone Inami of Japan made bogey from a plugged lie in the bunker on the 18th hole and faced a playoff against Lydia Ko of New Zealand for the silver medal.

For the 23-year-old Korda, it was another glittering moment in her dream season. She won her first major championship six weeks ago and rose to No. 1 in the world for the first time. Now she has an Olympic gold medal and leaves no doubt who’s the best in women’s golf.

Xander Schauffele won the gold for the men last Sunday.

Aditi Ashok of India delivered one of the great putting performances to stay in reach. She had a 25-foot birdie putt on the 18th that slid by the hole and kept her off the podium by one shot.

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MEDAL ALERT

The U.S. has won its fourth straight

Kevin Durant scored 29 points for the Americans and joined Carmelo Anthony as the only three-time gold medalists in men’s basketball.

Durant already became the leading scorer in U.S. men’s history in this tournament. He scored 30 points in the gold-medal games in 2012 and 2016, and nearly got there again this time.

France defeated the U.S in the teams’ opening game in this tournament, snapping the Americans’ 25-game winning streak in the Olympics.

The French almost beat them again Saturday while attempting to win their first gold in men’s basketball. They had to settle for a third silver, having also finished second to the U.S. in 1948 and 2000.

Slovenia and Australia will play later Saturday for the bronze medal.

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MEDAL ALERT

Germany has won the men’s kayak four 500 meters to make

The 39-year-old Rauhe is also the second-oldest gold medal winner in men’s canoe sprint. Only Sweden’s Gert Fredriksson was older at 40 in 1960.

The German kayak was trailing Spain at the 250-meter mark before rallying to win by 0.226 seconds. Spain won silver and Slovakia won bronze.

The men’s kayak four 500 at the Tokyo Games replaced the kayak four 1,000, which was held from 1964 to 2016.

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MEDAL ALERT

Hungary has won the

Hungary finished 0.61 seconds clear of silver medalists Belarus and Poland won the bronze. The New Zealand kayak was in medal position halfway through the race before fading late.

Carrington had already won three gold medals, in the single 200 and 500 and 500 pairs. She has five gold medals in her Olympic career and six overall.

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MEDAL ALERT

Christian Sorum and Anders Mol beat Russia in the

The top-seeded Norwegians beat the reigning world champions 21-17, 21-18 in an intermittent rain at the Shiokaze Park venue overlooking Tokyo Bay. With Qatar’s victory over Latvia for the bronze earlier Saturday, all three countries on the podium -- and all six players -- are first-time medalists.

In fact, the only repeat medalist in either the men’s or women’s divisions was American April Ross, who won gold with Alix Klineman on Friday. Ross had also won silver in London and bronze in Brazil.

Viacheslav Krasilnikov and Oleg Stoyanovskiy led 8-4 before giving up six straight points, including one when Mol landed on Krasilnikov’s foot. The Russians called timeout and limped to their bench for treatment, but the match resumed and Norway extended the lead to 15-11.

The second set was tied 12-12 before Norway scored four points in a row and never trailed again.

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MEDAL ALERT

Brazil’s Isaquias Queiroz dos Santos

China’s Liu Hao, the 2019 world champion, won the silver medal.

Queiroz dos Santos was the Olympic silver medalist in 2016.

Tarnovschi was suspended for four years after his doping violation. He was able to return to the Olympics in Tokyo because of the one-year delay caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

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China’s Cao Yuan is on track to become the second man to win Olympic medals in all four diving events.

Cao and his teammate, Yang Jian, led 12 men into the final of men’s 10-meter platform diving on Saturday.

Cao totaled 513.70 points for six dives. Yang was second at 480.85. The Chinese had some of the highest degree of difficulty in the semifinals.

Cao already owns Olympic medals in 10-meter platform synchro, individual 3-meter springboard, and 3-meter springboard synchro.

Russia’s Dimitriy Sautin was the first man to win medals in all four Olympic diving events.

Britain’s Tom Daley, the 2012 bronze medalist, advanced to the final later Saturday in fourth.

American Jordan Windle finished ninth and his teammate, Brandon Loschiavo, was 10th to reach the 12-man final.

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MEDAL ALERT

China’s Mengya Sun and Shixiao Xu have won the country’s first medal in women’s canoe sprint by

The 2019 world champions finished 2 seconds clear of Ukraine’s Anastasiia Chetverikova and Liudmyla Luzan. It was the second medal for Luzan, who took bronze in the single 200.

Canada’s Laurence Vincente Lapointe and Katie Vincent took the bronze medal in third. Vincent won the silver medal in the 200.

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MEDAL ALERT

Qatar has won the bronze medal in men’s beach volleyball, the first medal in the sport for the country — or any country in the Middle East.

Cherif Younousse Samba and Ahmed Tijan beat Latvia 21-12, 21-18 in the third-place match on Saturday morning at the Shiokaze Park venue. Younousse knuckled the winning point over Edgar Tocs’ block attempt, then ran toward the stands pointing at the few fans who were there to cheer him on.

Then he dropped to his knees and planted his forehead in the sand.

Martins Plavins was trying to earn his second bronze medal, to go with the one he won in London. Instead, he and Tocs finish fourth -- just as the Latvian women did a day earlier.

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MEDAL ALERT

Peres Jepchirchir

Jepchirchir finished in a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 20 seconds in a race moved up an hour to avoid the heat. A smattering of fans lining the course applauded as the Tokyo Games moved north for the marathons and race walks. Her teammate Brigid Kosgei was second and

A race that was moved to Sapporo to avoid the extreme heat in Tokyo found little relief on a winding course through the city. The starter’s gun went off a minute after 6 a.m. local time under sunny skies and with a temperature reading of 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 Celsius). It climbed to nearly 86 degrees (30) near the finish, with a humidity of around 65%.

There were 88 runners entered in the field, with more than a dozen recording a did not finish. That included world champion Ruth Chepngetich of Kenya.

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More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics

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