Olympics live: PM fumes at 'scandal'

A 3rd jock from the Czech Republic has tested affirmative for COVID-19 astatine the Tokyo Games, with the squad investigating if the outbreak is linked to its charter formation to Japan.

Prime Minister Andrej Babis called the concern "a scandal".

"I don't similar this 1 bit. I don't recognize however it could happen," Babis told reporters.

The Czech squad says formation volleyball subordinate Markéta Nausch Sluková has entered a quarantine hotel, wherever 2 different athletes and 2 different coaches successful its nationalist delegation are staying.

"I cognize that galore overmuch worse things are happening astir the satellite close now, but truthfully, successful our ain sporting micro-world, the satellite we person lived successful and are surviving successful now, it is highly bittersweet for Bára and I that our travel to Tokyo, the travel that was meant to beryllium a pinnacle, had to extremity successful this way," Sluková Nausch said successful a connection provided to CNN by a representative.

Another Czech formation volleyball player, Ondřej Perušič, tested affirmative this week. Table tennis subordinate Pavel Sirucek besides tested positive.

Meanwhile a 2nd Dutch jock and a unit subordinate person tested affirmative for COVID-19 astatine the Tokyo Games.

Team NL says taekwondo jock Reshmie Oogink and a rowing squad unit subordinate person tested affirmative and volition quarantine for 10 days.

"I americium speechless" Oogink said. "I person done everything I could and person worked truthful hard to get truthful adjacent to the Games. I adjacent flooded large genu injuries and present it has travel to a abrupt end. This is the extremity of my career."

Chef de Mission of TeamNL Pieter van den Hoogenband says the squad is doing everything to support corruption to a minimum, but the concern is having an impact.

A time earlier, connected Wednesday, Dutch skateboarder Candy Jacobs said connected Instagram that she had tested affirmative and been sent into quarantine.

American formation volleyball subordinate Taylor Crabb is besides retired of the Olympics aft 4 affirmative COVID-19 tests, with Tri Bourne taking his spot arsenic the spouse of four-time Olympian Jake Gibb erstwhile the contention begins this weekend.

Players from 5 women's shot teams kneeled successful enactment of radical justness Wednesday, the archetypal time it was allowed astatine the Olympic Games aft a prohibition lasting decades.

The concession nether Olympic Charter Rule 50, which has agelong prohibited immoderate jock protestation wrong lawsuit venues, was yet allowed this period by the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC has tried to reconcile enforcing the regularisation portion recognising, and sometimes celebrating, the iconic representation of American sprinters Tommie Smith and John Carlos each raising a black-gloved fist connected the medal podium astatine the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

On Wednesday, the British and Chilean teams kneeled earlier the opening games and were followed by the United States, Sweden and New Zealand players successful aboriginal kickoffs. The Australia squad posed with a emblem of Australia's indigenous people.

Naomi Osaka's archetypal lucifer successful astir 2 months volition travel against 52nd-ranked Zheng Saisai of China successful the opening circular of the Olympic tennis tournament, arsenic Wimbledon champion Ash Barty learned her roadworthy to golden too.

Top-seeded Ash Barty — the freshly crowned Wimbledon champion — volition marque her Olympic debut for Australia against Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain.

Barty is besides playing doubles with Storm Sanders.

The second-seeded Osaka, who represents big Japan and is 1 of the apical names astatine the Games, is returning to contention aft she withdrew from the French Open pursuing the archetypal circular to instrumentality a intelligence wellness break.

Osaka holds a 2-1 vocation borderline implicit Zheng. Their lucifer volition beryllium the precise archetypal contention of the Games connected halfway tribunal Saturday.

The archetypal seeded hostile that Osaka could look is No. 16 Kiki Bertens, who is playing the last tourney of her career. Iga Swiatek, the 2020 French Open champion, is simply a imaginable quarterfinal hostile for Osaka.

In the men's draw, top-ranked Novak Djokovic volition unfastened against No. 139 Hugo Dellien of Bolivia connected the hard courts of the Ariake Tennis Park.

Another intriguing first-round lucifer features Kei Nishikori of Japan against fifth-seeded Andrey Rublev of ROC.

Second-seeded Daniil Medvedev opens against Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan and third-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas meets Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany.

Half of the apical 10 men's players are not successful Tokyo, with Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Matteo Berrettini and Denis Shapovalov each missing for assorted reasons.

Serena Williams and Simona Halep are besides not playing.

It was a ace time for Australia yesterday with the Olyroos stunning Argentina successful the men's football, winning 2-0 and the Spirit defeating Italy 1-0 successful the softball.

In its archetypal Olympic crippled since 2008, Australia took the pb done Lachlan Wales' tap-in the 14th infinitesimal astatine the Sapporo Dome.

Teen sensation Marco Tilio past secured the triumph successful the 80th minute, conscionable 60 seconds aft coming disconnected the bench, with a sensational pearler from the borderline of the box.

The triumph rockets Australia to the apical of Group C up of Egypt and Spain, who drew 0-0 successful the different game.

Organising committee president Seiko Hashimoto said a time up of the opening ceremonial that manager Kentaro Kobayashi has been dismissed. He was accused of utilizing a gag astir the Holocaust successful his drama act, including the operation "Let's play Holocaust."

McKeown, 20, was tipped to execute powerfully successful the 200m medley, but volition alternatively enactment her absorption into the 100m backstroke and 200m backstroke races. Her determination comes contempt being ranked No.1 successful the satellite successful each 3 races.

It's understood scheduling issues were a large origin successful her determination to propulsion retired of the 200m medley.

Novak Djokovic knows however adjacent helium is. Not conscionable to creating past and becoming the archetypal antheral to execute a Golden Slam by winning each 4 large tennis tournaments and an Olympic singles golden medal successful the aforesaid year.

Sure, that's connected Djokovic's caput arsenic helium enters the Olympic tourney starting Saturday.

But it's the bigger extremity merchandise that would beryllium the effect of specified an accomplishment that is weighing astir heavy connected him — surpassing Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal to beryllium considered the top tennis subordinate ever.

The extremity is truthful large that Djokovic doesn't adjacent privation to see the consequences.

"I don't privation to beryllium portion of the debate. I don't privation to beryllium compared to anybody," the top-ranked Serb said Thursday. "It's inactive a precise agelong mode to a imaginable historical achievement.

"I cognize that determination is simply a batch of things connected the line. I cognize there's past connected the line. I'm privileged and motivated to beryllium successful this position. I've worked precise hard to beryllium here. … But let's speech astir past if everything goes large here," Djokovic added. "Right present each absorption goes to the adjacent challenge."

In Serbia, the statement is already over. Olympic committee main of ngo Natasa Jankovic introduced Djokovic astatine the team's quality league arsenic "the astir palmy tennis subordinate ever."

By winning Wimbledon this month, Djokovic matched Federer and Nadal with his 20th Grand Slam rubric — having opened the twelvemonth by capturing the Australian and French Opens. He is the lone 1 of them to person won each Slam twice. He is the lone 1 to clasp each 4 large titles simultaneously, thing helium did implicit the extremity of 2015 and commencement of 2016.

The lone tennis subordinate to execute a Golden Slam was Steffi Graf successful 1988.

Making matters much straightforward for Djokovic is that neither Federer nor Nadal are playing successful Tokyo.

Djokovic volition unfastened against No. 139 Hugo Dellien of Bolivia connected the hard courts of the Ariake Tennis Park.

Half of the apical 10 men's players are not successful Tokyo, with Dominic Thiem, Matteo Berrettini and Denis Shapovalov besides missing for assorted reasons.

"But still, immoderate of the champion players successful the satellite are here," Djokovic said. "(Daniil) Medvedev, (Stefanos) Tsitsipas, (Alexander) Zverev, (Andrey) Rublev. Those are the guys are successful the apical 6-7 successful the satellite and they are the biggest candidates for winning a medal."

Djokovic had openly considered sitting retired the Olympics, having won a bronze medal astatine the 2008 Beijing Games.

German women's tract hockey skipper Nike Lorenz has been fixed support to deterioration a rainbow armband and socks astatine the Olympics.

The German Olympic Committee says it got support from the International Olympic Committee for Lorenz to deterioration the colours against Britain connected Sunday.

The German Olympic Committee says it is "a awesome for intersexual diversity."

Lorenz has antecedently worn a rainbow armband for games successful different competitions.

The IOC has precocious relaxed however it implements a regularisation which historically stopped athletes making political, spiritual oregon different statements of content oregon identity.

American formation volleyball subordinate Taylor Crabb is retired of the Olympics aft 4 affirmative COVID-19 tests, and Tri Bourne volition instrumentality his spot arsenic the spouse of four-time Olympian Jake Gibb erstwhile the contention begins this weekend.

Crabb confirmed his withdrawal connected Thursday successful a connection to The Associated Press, noting that helium was vaccinated and tested antagonistic earlier helium near the United States but tested affirmative erstwhile helium arrived successful Japan.

"I'm symptom-free, thankfully, but profoundly disappointed to not beryllium capable to articulation Jake connected the soil and vie arsenic a subordinate of Team USA," Crabb said. "I privation Jake to play successful his 4th Olympic games and I privation him to bring location a medal. Tri Bourne, an unthinkable athlete, idiosyncratic and adjacent person volition beryllium competing alongside Jake and filling my spot connected Team USA."

Despite Crabb's affirmative effect astatine the Tokyo airdrome and follow-up tests that confirmed it, helium remained hopeful that consequent tests would wide him to play. Those results continued to travel backmost affirmative — including 1 connected Thursday, conscionable hours earlier the deadline for the nationalist governing assemblage to regenerate him connected the Olympic roster.

The Olympic formation volleyball tourney begins Saturday astatine Tokyo's Shiokaze Park, with Gibb and Bourne scheduled to play their archetypal lucifer connected Sunday nighttime against Italy.

Bourne, a 32-year-old from Hawaii, was connected the Southern California squad that reached the 2009 NCAA finals successful indoor volleyball and was the 2014 rookie of the twelvemonth connected the planetary formation tour. He was officially added to the US roster connected Thursday, soon aft Crabb texted to fto him cognize that helium would beryllium making his Olympic debut.

"It's genuinely disappointing to perceive that my beloved person volition not beryllium playing successful the Tokyo Games," Bourne said successful a connection released by USA Volleyball. "Taylor is 1 of the world's champion and helium earned this Olympic spot. ... I'm precise honoured to beryllium filling successful for him and what helium represents: his team, household friends and assemblage backmost home.

"That being said, I'm acceptable for this moment. I judge it to my core," helium said. "Jake Gibb, let's ball!"

Gibb, 45, is the oldest volleyball subordinate — formation oregon indoor — successful Olympic history. He played successful Beijing and London with Sean Rosenthal, finishing 5th each time. With Casey Patterson successful Rio de Janeiro, helium failed to scope the knockout circular of 16.

Crabb and Gibb are the No. 4 squad successful the FIVB satellite rankings and finished 11th successful the Olympic qualifying points race. Bourne attempted to suffice for the Tokyo Games with Trevor Crabb, Taylor's brother, but they were the No. 3 US squad successful Olympic qualifying; determination is simply a quota of 2 teams per country.