By Joshua Berlinger, Aditi Sangal and Adam Renton, CNN
Updated 12:05 a.m. ET, August 3, 2021
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9:52 a.m. ET, July 28, 2021
US wins the first ever gold medal in women's 3x3 basketball
From CNN's Wayne Sterling
The United States won the first ever gold medal in women's 3x3 basketball after defeating the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 18-15 at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The Americans lost just one game en route to the Olympic title.
Team USA claimed their 11th gold medal of the Summer Games and the nation's 31st medal overall.
The ROC took silver and China won bronze.
9:47 a.m. ET, July 28, 2021
Daiki Hashimoto takes Japan’s gold medal tally to 13 with all-around gymnastics win
From CNN’s Aleks Klosok
Daiki Hashimoto ensured Japan held onto its Olympic men's gymnastics all-around crown with a nail-biting victory on Wednesday.
The 19-year-old clinched gold with a strong high bar routine to narrowly edge him past China’s 2017 world all-around champion Xiao Ruoteng.
Hashimoto ended with a total score of 88.465 compared with Ruoteng’s 88.065 -- a difference of just 0.400.
Hashimoto had big boots to fill after Kohei Uchimura, Olympics all-around champion at London 2012 and Rio 2016, opted not to defend his title in Tokyo.
Russian Olympic Committee’s Nikita Nagornyy, the reigning world all-around champion, took bronze finishing on 88.031 points.
9:31 a.m. ET, July 28, 2021
China's Shi breaks own world record on the way to weightlifting gold
From CNN’s Aleks Klosok in London
China's Shi Zhiyong put in a scintillating performance to break his own world record on the way to winning gold in the men's 73kg weightlifting event on Wednesday.
Shi lifted 166kg in the snatch and 198kg in the clean and jerk, respectively, which combined for a new world and Olympic record total of 364kg.
The total of 364kg surpasses the world record of 363kg which Shi set at the 2019 World Championships.
Shi’s lifts in the snatch and clean and jerk are also new Olympic records.
Venezuela's Julio Ruben Mayora Pernia sealed the silver medal with Rahmat Erwin Abdullah of Indonesia securing the bronze.
9:16 a.m. ET, July 28, 2021
What it's like navigating the sometimes confusing maze of Olympic venues
From CNN's Will Ripley
CNN's Will Ripley is on the ground at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Today, he gives us a first-hand look at what it's like trying to navigate the sometimes confusing maze of venues:
With no fans in the stands for the first time in Olympic history, you’d think finding your way around Tokyo 2020 would be relatively simple. You’d be wrong.
Navigating the confusing labyrinth of cavernous venues -- and actually getting into the right event -- can feel like an Olympic sport in itself.
CNN’s Scott Reeves and I had a pair of coveted tickets to the men’s artistic all-around gymnastics final. Our car dropped us off about 30 minutes early.
We followed the only other people we saw and went through a multi-layered security check. We scanned our credentials, showed our tickets, walked up three flights of stairs and ended up -- at a volleyball court.
The first two volunteers we asked had no idea where the gymnastics were being held. We eventually realized we were in the wrong building: the Ariake Arena. We needed to find the Ariake Gymnastics Centre (not to be confused with the Ariake Sports Center, Ariake Tennis Park or Ariake Urban Sports Park).
After crossing the street, walking around nearly the entire perimeter of the venue and going through another security and ticket check, we followed the signs down a series of eerily empty hallways.
Entire areas were blocked off with little or no explanation of where to go -- and only a handful of other people to follow, who were often just as confused as we were. Eventually, we entered what we thought was the press seating area, and almost walked directly out onto the main gymnastics floor -- 15 minutes into the competition.
A polite volunteer finally pointed us in the direction of our seats, saying with a chuckle:
“Sorry. It’s confusing. You’re not the first.”
8:27 a.m. ET, July 28, 2021
Tokyo's high temperatures force tennis organizers to push back match start times
From CNN’s Dan Moriarty in Tokyo and Aleks Klosok in London
Matches at the Tokyo Olympics will now begin later in the day due to hot and humid conditions in the Japanese capital, tennis organizers announced on Wednesday.
Matches at the Ariake Tennis Park, which had started at 11 a.m. local time until Wednesday will now begin at 3 p.m. local time from Thursday.
The decision had been made “in the interests of player health and welfare,” and following “extensive consultation” with athletes, referees, medical experts and other key stakeholders, among others, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) said in a statement.
The ITF reiterated that male and female players could request ten-minute breaks during play should temperatures exceed 30.1 degrees Celsius (86.2 degrees Fahrenheit).
Wednesday’s announcement comes after some players said they were feeling the effects of the weather conditions.
Earlier on Wednesday, Russian Olympic Committee player Daniil Medvedev told chair umpire Carlos Ramos that he could finish his men’s singles third-round match against Fabio Fognini -- but wanted to know whether the ITF would take responsibility if he died.
Meanwhile, Spain’s Paula Badosa was forced to retire from her women’s singles quarterfinal match against Czech Marketa Vondrousova due to heatstroke.
7:51 a.m. ET, July 28, 2021
"A particularly challenging time": President of World Athletics Seb Coe on mental health at Tokyo 2020
From CNN's Ben Church
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe says Tokyo 2020 has shone a spotlight on the pressure elite athletes are under when competing at the Olympic Games.
His comments come after superstar athletes Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka both said they experienced mental health issues when struggling to perform at their best this week.
“It has its challenges at the best of times, but we also accept the challenges are now more profound, given the year-and-a-half of the restrictions and some of the challenges they had to confront around training and lockdown," Coe told reporters. "This is a particularly challenging time for all competitors."
Coe, a four-time Olympic medalist, said the fact families weren't able to travel to Tokyo has contributed to athletes' struggles and says federations must step up and provide that missing support structure.
“The advice I would give any athlete is reach out," he said. "Reach out to your colleagues, reach out to your friends. Don’t be afraid to show vulnerability. It’s a badge of honor in a way to want that help.”
7:33 a.m. ET, July 28, 2021
US gymnast Sunisa Lee has overcome her father's accident to compete in the Olympics
From CNN's Aditi Sangal
18-year-old gymnast Sunisa Lee is one of the athletes competing for the US in the Olympics. Despite the intense spotlight of the Games, her parents are confident she can handle the pressure, especially since she has persevered through a big family tragedy at home.
In 2019, Lee's father John suffered an accident that left him paralyzed, and he says that put her under a lot of stress.
"Sunisa's been competing under pressure all the way, I think, ever since I got injured in 2019 up to now, up to the point where she made the Olympics," he said.
Lee admitted that the team panicked when Simone Biles dropped out of the women's all-around team final. But the US went on to win the silver.
"She handled it pretty well, you know, up until now. Going forward, she'll be OK," Lee's father said.
The Minnesota native did acknowledge the pressure she was under in conversation with her parents, her father said.
"She said there's a lot of pressure on her. But I told her that, you know, she went through a lot, she's experienced pressure all the time," he said, "I think she worries, but I think she can do OK."
Lee's parents also expressed their concern for Biles, and said that while the news of her withdrawal is shocking, they hope she is OK and gets the help she needs. They also wished Biles' replacement, Jade Carey, the best.
7:27 a.m. ET, July 28, 2021
Spanish tennis player Paula Badosa retires with heatstroke and leaves court in wheelchair
From CNN's Aleks Klosok
Spain’s Paula Badosa was forced to retire from her women’s singles quarterfinal match against Czech Marketa Vondrousova due to heatstroke on Wednesday.
Badosa lost the first set 6-3 before requiring a medical timeout on Court 4 ahead of the start of the second set.
After lengthy treatment, the Spaniard was unable to continue and announced her retirement from the match, before leaving the court in a wheelchair.
"I have suffered a heat stroke as you all have seen, and I did not feel fit to continue competing in the match," Badosa said, in comments posted by Tokyo 2020.
"Along with the pressure of the competition, how special these days are, these are things that happen in sport -- and today, I had to go through that terrain.
“It was a shame to end my participation this way. The conditions have been demanding from day one, we tried to adapt as best as possible, but today the body has not resisted as needed,” Badosa added.
Marketa Vondrousova, Naomi Osaka’s conqueror, advances to the women’s semifinals where she’ll face Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina.
The 23-year-old Badosa subsequently withdrew from her mixed doubles match with compatriot Pablo Carreño Busta.
The Spaniards had been due to face Polish pair Iga Swiatek and Lukasz Kubot in the first round on Wednesday.
Badosa and Carreño Busta were replaced in the draw by France's Fiona Ferro and Pierre-Hugues Herbert.
The French pair ended up losing 6-3 7-6 to the Polish duo.
“I leave with a feeling of pride for having given absolutely everything for my country, for having represented it in the most professional way that I could," Badosa said. "I am going to focus on recovering, working to be well and giving myself the opportunity to return to an event like this,” said Badosa.
Her retirement comes after both Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev publicly criticized the scheduling of matches at Tokyo 2020.
Both players have said it would be preferable to start the matches later in the evening when conditions have cooled down.
During his singles match against Fabio Fognini, Medvedev told the umpire: "I'm a fighter, I will finish the match, but I can die.
"If I die, is the ITF going to take (sic) responsible?"
7:04 a.m. ET, July 28, 2021
Refugee Team cyclist Masomah Ali Zada says she represents "the rights of women in Afghanistan"
From CNN's Matias Grez
Masomah Ali Zada competed in the first time trial of her career on Wednesday -- and it came on the biggest stage of all.
The 25-year-old finished almost 14 minutes behind gold medal winner Annemiek van Vleuten, but Ali Zada knows her participation at Tokyo 2020 is bigger than medals.
Born in Afghanistan, Ali Zada and her family eventually found asylum in France in 2017 after she began receiving threats for cycling competitively.
“It was so, so good," she said. "My first time trial, my first Olympic Games. As a first experience, I’m so happy with it because I worked for it, and I tried to use all the sacrifice from several months. I don’t have any regrets.”
According to her profile on the Olympics website, Ali Zada was pushed off her bike, taunted and abused while out cycling in Afghanistan.
Her struggles were revealed in the documentary 'Les Petit Reines de Kaboul' -- 'The Little Queens of Kabul' -- and prompted French lawyer Patrick Communal to help move Ali Zada out of Afghanistan.
“I’m so happy to represent the Refugee Olympic Team because I will send a message of hope and peace for 82 million people who are obliged to leave their country because of different reasons," she said after the race.
And also I’m here to represent the rights of women in Afghanistan and for all countries like Afghanistan, where people think that women don’t have rights. So I’m here for two objectives -- the rights of women and also for the refugees.
Ali Zada says representing women's rights in Afghanistan and the Refugee Olympic team are both "important to me in my heart and my head."
“It’s my responsibility to try to work for the rights of women in Afghanistan and also for all the countries where people think that women don’t have rights, and also to send a message of hope and peace for all the refugees around the world," she adds.
When I started cycling, some people in Afghanistan did not agree with it because it’s a new thing for the people to see a girl who rides a bike.
“Even here, in the hotel with the other cyclists, they look at me strangely. I think they’ve never seen a girl with a scarf on a bicycle. But in Afghanistan, I’m sure if they see regularly a woman on a bike, they will accept it.”
Ali Zada says her father is one of her main sources of inspiration and says he sent her a message on the morning of the race.
"When I was in Afghanistan, he was the only one who always supported me," she recalls.
“Even when I wanted to stop, he pushed me: ‘No, you have to continue, you cannot stop it, you have to continue until the end.’
So he sent me a message this morning and said: ‘Do your best.’ I hope that he will be happy.”