The United States women's football team failed to clinch the opportunity to challenge for gold after their heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Canada.
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As an eventful day at the Tokyo Olympics came to a close on Monday, several medals were handed out especially in the athletics section. There was the final of the women’s discus throw event and the gruelling women’s 5000m. Football also saw a few elimination round encounters, as a few shocks unfolded on the pitch. History was also created in the equestrian event and badminton saw the men’s individual and women’s doubles see their respective conclusions. Some of the day’s action set up interesting matches across all sports that would be played in the latter days and for some athletes, it was a day that they would never forget.
The women’s discus throw final was an event that was marred by unrelenting rainfall. The athletes had an extremely difficult time getting their grips right. As a result, none of the participants got into their right rhythm. The event had to be suspended due to the rainfall. It was then restarted some time later and the medal-winners were finally rewarded. US athlete Valerie Allman won the gold medal in the event as Kristin Pudenz of Germany came second. Cuban athlete Yaime Perez managed to bag the bronze medal.
One of the most grueling events of the Olympics is the 5000m race. The final of that race for the women athletes was on the schedule on Monday. The event was won by Dutch athlete Sifan Hassan. She clocked a time of 14:36.79 minutes as she won the gold medal. Kenya’s Obiri Hellen bagged the silver medal as Gudaf Tsegay of Ethiopia won the bronze.
There was a shock on the cards in football as the semi-finals of the women’s event got underway. The United States failed to clinch the opportunity to challenge for gold after their heartbreaking 1-0 loss to Canada. The Canadian side got the winning goal through Jessie Fleming. In the other semi-final, Sweden emerged victorious over Australia with a 1-0 win. The Swedish goal was scored by Fridolina Rolfo. Sweden and Canada will play for the gold while the US and Australia will play for the bronze.
History was made in equestrian as German athlete Julia Krajewski became the first woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal in the event. She was followed by British equestrian Tom McEwen in second place and Andrew Hoy of Australia in third. It was an emotional victory for the German as she received the respect and adulation of the other countries in the event after she completed a perfect run with her horse Amande De B’Neville.
The Polish pair of Polii Greysia and Apriyani Rahayu won the gold medal in badminton in the women’s doubles event. The duo beat the formidable team of Chen Qing Chen and Yi Fan Jia of China. The match ended with an impressive 2-0 win for the Poles. The men’s individual final was also one of the events of badminton on the day. The contest was won by Danish shuttler Viktor Axelsen, who beat Long Chen of China. The match ended 2-0 in favour of the Dane and he bagged the gold medal.
