TOP STORIES

Olympics: Hamada, Wolf add 2 more judo gold for Japan at Tokyo Games

Japan swept Thursday's judo events at the Tokyo Olympics, with Shori Hamada winning a gold medal in the women's under 78-kilogram event and Aaron Wolf claiming the men's under 100-kg title at Nippon Budokan.

Olympics: Japan's Murakami 5th in women's gymnastics all-around

Mai Murakami posted the best finish by a Japanese woman in the Olympic individual all-around gymnastics when she finished fifth on Thursday behind Tokyo Games gold medalist Sunisa Lee of the United States.

Olympics: Nishikori loses men's singles tennis quarterfinal to Djokovic

Local hope Kei Nishikori bowed out of the Tokyo Olympic tennis tournament Thursday with a 6-2, 6-0 loss to world No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the men's singles quarterfinals.

Olympics: Japan's Daiya Seto into 200 IM final, keeps medal hopes alive

Japanese swimmer Daiya Seto kept alive his hopes of winning a Tokyo Games medal Thursday, advancing to the final of the men's 200-meter individual medley, his final event, along with countryman Kosuke Hagino.

Japan's daily COVID-19 cases top 10,000 for 1st time

Japan's daily total of COVID-19 cases topped 10,000 for the first time on Thursday, with Tokyo experiencing surging infections, casting a pall over the Olympics.

MORE HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPICS

• The Japanese women's rugby sevens team lost the first two games of their Olympic tournament on Thursday, continuing the host nation's poor Tokyo Games in the sport.
  
  
• Fresh off her victory at the U.S. Women's Open last month, Yuka Saso, the first Filipino major golf tournament winner, has no time to rest on her laurels.

• The Tokyo Olympic organizing committee on Thursday reported 24 more COVID-19 cases associated with the games, the highest daily count since infections began being compiled from the start of this month.

• Recently crowned table tennis mixed doubles Olympic champion Mima Ito added a women's singles bronze to her Tokyo Games medal haul with a 4-1 win over Singapore's Yu Mengyu on Thursday.
  
  
• Rui Hachimura outscored Slovenia's generational talent Luka Doncic on Thursday, but Japan's effort was largely a one-man show as the hosts were demolished 116-81 in their second straight Tokyo Games basketball loss.
  
  
• Sepp Straka, the 161st ranked player in the world, tied an Olympic record with an 8-under-par 63 and was sitting with a two-shot lead when the Olympic men's golf tournament was interrupted by weather on Thursday.
  
  
• Maya Yoshida is gunning for men's soccer gold at the Tokyo Games, but the Japan captain is also helping the host nation develop an emerging generation of players during the Olympic tournament.
  
  
• Japan's reigning world champions Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara crashed out of the badminton women's doubles at the Tokyo Games on Thursday in a 21-14, 14-21, 28-26 quarterfinal defeat to South Korean pair Kim So Yeong and Kong Hee Yong.
  
  
• Japanese golden girl Yui Ohashi won the women's 200-meter individual medley final on Wednesday in a time of 2 minutes, 8.52 seconds, her second IM title of the Tokyo Olympics.
  
  
• Japan's Daiki Hashimoto claimed the men's gymnastics individual all-around gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday, staging a dramatic comeback to finish ahead of China's Xiao Ruoteng and Russian Nikita Nagornyy.
  
  
• Men's badminton singles top seed and world No. 1 Kento Momota was knocked out of the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday night, meaning another of Japan's biggest stars and gold medal hopes has fallen to the wayside at these games.
  
  
• Fresh off her victory at the U.S. Women's Open last month, Yuka Saso, the first Filipino major golf tournament winner, has no time to rest on her laurels. Representing the Philippines in her Summer Games debut, the 20-year-old has her eyes set on giving it her best shot in what she feels is going to be a "memorable" Olympics for her.
  
  
• Latvia and the United States won the right to call themselves the inaugural Olympic 3x3 basketball champions as the discipline's experiment at the Tokyo Games ended with two thrilling finals Wednesday.
  
  
• The International Tennis Federation said Wednesday it will move the daily start time of all Tokyo Olympic matches back to 3 p.m. to avoid the worst of the heat.
  
  
• Four-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles of the United States has withdrawn from the Tokyo Olympics women's all-around gymnastics final, USA Gymnastics announced on social media Wednesday.
  
  
• Japanese actor Naoto Takenaka pulled out of his scheduled performance in the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics at the last minute over concerns his comedic depiction of a blind man more than three decades ago could draw a backlash, his management agency said Thursday.
  
  
• People who volunteered for the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics but whose stints have been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic have joined a project to sing the anthems of 204 countries and regions taking part in the Summer Games.
  
  
• Tokyo Games organizers on Wednesday admitted to throwing away approximately 4,000 bento boxes full of food that was to be fed to volunteers on the day of the opening ceremony.

GAMES IN PHOTOS

U.S. fencer Lee Kiefer (R) is pictured with her coach after winning the women's foil individual gold medal bout of the Tokyo Olympics on July 25, 2021, at Makuhari Messe Hall in Chiba, near Tokyo. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Daiya Seto of Japan dives off the starting block in his 200-meter individual medley semifinal race at the Tokyo Olympics on July 29, 2021, at Tokyo Aquatics Centre. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Novak Djokovic of Serbia plays against Kei Nishikori of Japan in the Tokyo Olympic men's singles quarterfinals at Ariake Tennis Park in Tokyo on July 29, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

U.S. swimmer Caeleb Dressel (top) competes in the Tokyo Olympic men's 100-meter freestyle final en route to winning gold on July 29, 2021, at Tokyo Aquatics Centre. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

China's Sun Yingsha (L) and Japan's Mima Ito bump rackets after Sun won the women's table tennis singles semifinal match at the Tokyo Olympics amid the coronavirus pandemic on July 29, 2021, at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Yoshitaku Nagasako (993) of Japan and Alex Limberg of South Africa compete in the quarterfinals of the men's cycling BMX racing at Ariake Urban Sports Park on July 29, 2021. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Yuta Watanabe (bottom L) and Arisa Higashino (C) of Japan look dejected after losing to Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping of China in the semifinals of the Tokyo Olympic badminton mixed doubles on July 29, 2021, at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza. (Kyodo)

 

Fintan McCarthy (L) and Paul O'Donovan of Ireland celebrate after winning the men's lightweight double sculls final at the Tokyo Olympics on July 29, 2021, at Sea Forest Waterway. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Primoz Roglic of Slovenia competes in the men's cycling individual time trial en route to winning gold at the Tokyo Olympics on July 28, 2021, at Fuji International Speedway in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Daiki Hashimoto of Japan holds the national flag after ending his exercises in the men's artistic gymnastics individual all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics on July 28, 2021, at Ariake Gymnastics Centre in the capital. He won gold. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Japan's Takefusa Kubo (L) opens the scoring during the first half of a Tokyo Olympic men's football Group A match against France on July 28, 2021, at International Stadium Yokohama near the capital. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Kento Momota of Japan plays against South Korea's Heo Kwang Hee during his badminton singles group-stage match at the Tokyo Olympics on July 28, 2021, at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in the capital. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Italy's Paola Ogechi Egonu spikes during a women's volleyball preliminary-round match against Turkey at the Tokyo Olympics on July 27, 2021, at Ariake Arena. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo

 

Ai Kondo-Yoshida (L) and Miho Yoshioka of Japan compete in the women's two-person dinghy 470 class at the Tokyo Olympics on July 28, 2021, off Enoshima Yacht Harbour in Kanagawa Prefecture, eastern Japan. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo