By Helen Regan and Brad Lendon, CNN
American Anastasija Zolotic won gold in the women's -57kg Taekwondo event after beating Russian Olympic Committee's Tatiana Minina, who claimed silver, 25-17 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Zolotic is the first US woman to win Olympic gold in Taekwondo.
The United States captured its fourth gold medal of the Summer Games and the nation's tenth overall.
Bronze went to Hatice Ilgun of Turkey and Chinese Taipei's Lo Chia-Ling.
Pope Francis blessed the organizers, athletes, and those involved in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics during his Sunday blessing.
“In this time of the pandemic, these Games are a sign of hope, a sign of universal brotherhood in the name of healthy competition,” the Pope said.
Here's some more from the Pope's blessing:
“In recent days, torrential rains have hit the city of Zhengzhou, in the province of Henan in China, causing devastating floods. I pray for the victims and their families, and I express my closeness and solidarity to all those who suffer from this calamity. Last Friday the 32nd Olympics opened in Tokyo. In this time of pandemic, these Games are a sign of hope, a sign of universal brotherhood in the name of healthy competition. God bless the organizers, the athletes and all those who collaborate for this great sports festival.”
American fencer Lee Kiefer is the first US woman to win a medal in individual foil.
Kiefer won gold after defeating Inna Deriglazova of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), who claimed silver, 15-13 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
United States captured its third gold medal of the Summer Games and the nation's ninth overall.
ROC's Larisa Korobeynikova took bronze.
Gymnast Simone Biles commented after she and her teammates faltered in the early rounds of women’s artistic gymnastics qualifications at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on Sunday.
“I feel we did a pretty good job. Obviously, there are little things we need to work on, so we’ll go back and practice and work on that, just so we can do our best performance at team finals (on Tuesday), because that’s what matters. We’re really striving for top three (finish).”
The US team currently stands in second place behind ROC after three of five subdivisions.
US high-performance team coordinator Tom Forster said the team "had great performances today and some not-so-great ones, but the errors we made are mental."
"These girls have been training incredibly well, so it’s things we have some time to work on before finals, and we’ll do it," he said.
On the reasons for the USA team’s errors, which included some extra steps and unsteady landings, Forster said, “If you’ve ever been in competition, it’s just nerves of being in competition.”
Forster said that Biles' errors, including taking three large steps on her balance beam dismount, was a "surprise," adding, "I’ve never seen her do that before."
“That was a surprise. She’s been incredibly consistent and I’m sure she feels bad, but I’m super proud of the way she trained. She’s been a great leader for us. Sometimes, just like in other sports, great athletes drop the ball in the end zone or a quarterback throws an interception. It happens. Those steps are mental errors.”
He said the second-place position in qualifying could be "a great awakening" for the US team.
From CNN's Matias Grez
Greek tennis star Stefanos Tsitsipas is hoping to follow in the footsteps of his grandfather, who won a gold medal the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne.
Sergei Salnikov, Tsitsipas' paternal grandfather, was a footballer and part of the Soviet Union national team that was crowned Olympic champion 65 years ago.
“I never had the opportunity to meet him," Tsitsipas said of Salnikov, who passed away in 1984.
"My mom told me stories of his career and how he got it [gold] ... he kind of inspires me in a way. I know what kind of athlete he was, with all the achievements and all the trophies. I’m proud of him.
“It’s something good, a legacy that is being carried on in the family. I’m happy to be the next in the family to be competing at the Olympics.”
Tsitsipas came through a tough opening round match against Germany's Philipp Kohlschreiber, winning 6-3 3-6 6-3 to become the first Greek man to win a singles match at the Olympics since 1924.
“I’m happy with the way the game evolved," he said. "I got the game back into my hands, especially after having such a poor first set.”
Players are banned from receiving on-court coaching at matches, something Tsitsipas doesn't agree with.
“Many people say it’s an individual sport and we should be finding solutions on our own, but you have Formula One and other individual sports that get not just coaching, but loads of coaching," he argued.
“I see no reason to have a specific time during a match when you can have your coach come and coach you.
“There are so many people watching [tennis matches]. Sometimes I feel anyone can hire anyone and coach you without the umpire knowing. Things like this can happen, trust me.”
From CNN's Matias Grez
Sunday is proving to be a fruitful day for Japan at its home Games, but in particular for the Abe family with siblings Uta and Hifumi crowned Olympic champions within an hour of each other.
Uta took gold in the women's -52kg category while her older brother Hifumi topped the podium in the men's -66kg category.
It takes Japan's gold medal haul to five -- and six medals overall.
In the men's -66kg, Georgia's Vazha Margvelashvili took silver and the bronze medals went to An Baul of South Korea and Brazil's Daniel Cargnin.
France's Amandine Buchard took silver in the women's -52kg category, with Chelsie Giles of Team GB and Italy's Odette Giuffrida taking the bronze medals.
As athletes get used to no fans in attendance at the majority of Tokyo 2020 events, some are also finding it tough without the support of family members at the Olympics.
"Usually I have my whole family there, so when I am scared when I come out it gives me that extra push to go for it, so I got trapped in that fear mode today," two-time Olympic taekwondo champion Jade Jones told the BBC after the Briton suffered a shock defeat to Kimia Alizadeh of the Refugee Olympic team.
“I just think I put too much pressure on myself. Coming out I felt scared and too much pressure and then the whole tournament has been so different to what I’m used to," added an emotional Jones, who was aiming to become the first British woman to win Olympic gold at three consecutive Games.
Fellow Briton Bianca Walkden, who will compete in the +67kg category and is Jones' housemate in Manchester, England, was left in tears by her teammates' defeat as she watched from the sidelines.
From CNN's Arthur Syin in Tokyo
Tokyo reported 1,763 new Covid-19 cases Sunday, the second official day of competition for the Olympic Games, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.
Last Sunday, the Japanese capital reported 1,008 new Covid-19 cases.
There have been 137 Covid-19 cases linked to the Tokyo 2020 Games, according to organizers.
Additionally, below is the list of athletes CNN has reported so far who have dropped out of Tokyo 2020 due to a positive Covid-19 test or were placed in Covid-19 protocol in recent weeks.
(*players tested positive in Japan)
Team USA: 6
Katie Lou Samuelson - Women's 3x3 Basketball
Coco Gauff - Women's Tennis
*Kara Eaker - Women's Gymnastics
*Taylor Crabb - Men's Beach Volleyball
Bradley Beal - Men's Basketball
Bryson DeChambeau - Golf
Rest of the World: 20
*Simon Geschke - German Cyclist
Frederico Morais - Portuguese surfer
*Finn Florijn - Dutch Rower
Amber Hill - Great Britain Shooting
Dan Evans - Great Britain Tennis
Johanna Konta - Great Britain Tennis
Hector Velazquez - Mexico Baseball
Sammy Solis - Mexico Baseball
Alex de Minaur - Australia Men's Tennis
Ilya Borodin - Swimmer on Russian Olympic Committee (ROC)
*Thabiso Monyane - South Africa Men's Football
*Kamohelo Mahlatsi - South Africa Men's Football
*Pavel Sirucek - Czech Republic Men's Table Tennis
*Candy Jacobs - Netherlands Women's Skateboarding
*Fernanda Aguirre - Chile Women's Taekwondo
*Ondrej Perusic - Czech Republic Men's Beach Volleyball
*Reshmie Oogink- Netherlands Taekwondo
*Marketa Nausch- Czech Woman's Volleyball
*Michal Schlegel - Czech Men’s Cyclist
John Rahm - Spain Men’s Golf
Here's a photo animation of the Olympics on day two:
