By Matias Grez, Ben Church, Helen Regan, Aditi Sangal, Adam Renton, Melissa Macaya, Melissa Mahtani and Meg Wagner, CNN
South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker swam to victory in the women's 200-meter breaststroke, breaking the world record with a time of 2:18.95.
Schoenmaker is the first woman ever to go under a time of 2:19.
Team USA swept the rest of the podium with Lily King winning silver in 2:19.92 and Annie Lazor taking the bronze in 2:20.84.
From CNN's Jill Martin
The rowing competition in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is complete, and it finishes with New Zealand winning gold in men’s eight.
Germany, which has won the men’s eight at each of the past three world championships (2017, 2018 and 2019), edged Great Britain for silver.
Great Britain settled for bronze in Japan, but their Olympic medal streak stays alive, having collected a medal in this event at each of the previous three Olympic Games: silver in 2008, bronze in 2012 and gold in 2016.
From CNN’s Taylor Barnes
South Africa's Paula Reto will miss the Olympics after she tested positive for Covid-19 before she was set to travel to Tokyo to compete, the International Golf Federation said on Thursday.
Following the federation’s late athlete replacement policy, Reto's slot in the competition will be taken by India's Diksha Dagar.
The women’s golf competition begins Aug. 4.
From CNN's Jill Martin
Stefanos Ntouskos of Greece has won gold in the men’s single sculls final, posting a time of 6:40.45, an Olympic best.
Ntouskos is also Greece’s first Olympic rowing champion.
Taking the silver medal is Norway’s Kjetil Borch, the 2018 world champion. He is the second athlete representing Norway to earn an Olympic medal in this event; Olaf Karl Tufte won gold in 2004 and 2008. Borch won bronze in Rio in 2016 in the men’s double sculls with Tufte.
Bronze went to Damir Martin of Croatia. He won silver in this event at the Rio Games in 2016 and silver in men’s quadruple sculls in London in 2012.
From CNN's Jill Martin
Emma Twigg of New Zealand has won gold in the women’s single sculls final, posting a time of 7:13.97, an Olympic best.
She is the first athlete from New Zealand to finish on the podium in this event at the Olympic Games.
Twigg has five world championship medals in women’s single sculls, including gold in 2014 and silver in 2019. Tokyo 2020, Twigg's fourth Games, marks her breakthrough Olympic performance after she previously finished fourth at Rio 2016 and London 2012.
The silver medal went to Hanna Prakatsen, representing the Russian Olympic Committee. Magdalena Lobnig earned Austria’s first Olympic medal in rowing since 1992, winning bronze. This is also Austria’s first Olympic medal in women’s rowing.
From CNN's Jason Kurtz
Former Olympic champion Carly Patterson feels that the United States can do more to help its gymnasts cope with the stresses of international competition and the rigors of the sport.
"I think USA gymnastics is really in transition still right now trying to change a lot of things," said Patterson, who won gold in the gymnastics all-around at the 2004 games in Athens, Greece.
Patterson's comments come as a newly intensified light has been shone on the topic of mental health amid Simone Biles' withdrawal from multiple events. When Biles pulled out of the event she took gold in five years ago, the decision was met with scrutiny and criticism from those doubting her competitiveness and mettle. It's a critique Patterson takes issue with.
"She is doing the hardest skills that you can do," said Patterson of Biles. "Gymnastics is a dangerous sport to begin with. When you're doing dangerous skills like she's doing of that crazy caliber, it can be life-threatening if you're not mentally there and prepared."
Biles' withdrawal opened the door for USA teammate Sunisa Lee, who followed in the powerful footsteps left by the American women who came before here, including Patterson.
"It is definitely one of the most incredible and surreal moments of your life winning the gold medal in the all-around," said Patterson, whose gold in Athens started a streak of excellence that now stands at five.
"Thinking about having all of your hard work and all of the hours and dedication and years in the gym culminating at just the perfect time," said Patterson's of Lee's win. "Now you have this Olympic gold medal to show for it. It's probably going to take her a few days for it to sink in."
Patterson notes that Lee's life is about to "get flipped upside down for sure and in the coolest way," encouraging the freshly minted champion to "stay grounded" and lean on her support system amid what is certain to be an uptick in demands and attention.
"Keep the community around you that's been around you, your family, your friends. Keep all of those people close that have helped you on the rise on the way to that gold medal."
From CNN's Alyssa Kraus
Day six of the Olympic Games have officially come to a close in Tokyo. Despite rising Covid-19 cases and extreme heat, several athletes flourished in their events, earning gold medals for their countries.
Here's everything you need to know about today's Olympic events:
From CNN's Maureen Chowdhury and Elle Reeve
Dominique Moceanu, a 1996 Olympic Gymnastics Team gold medalist, offered her support and encouragement to Simone Biles, after Biles withdrew from the team competition and individual all-around event due to mental health concerns.
"We have to remember that athletes and Olympic-level athletes are human, too, and give them the support they need and also the time they need to heal when things are not going the way they feel they need to be. It's also for their safety, for their mental health," she told CNN's Ana Cabrera.
Moceanu tweeted about her own experience pushing through an injury during the 1996 Olympics after she fell on the balance beam on her head and commended Biles for standing up for herself.
"I was 14 y/o w/ a tibial stress fracture, left alone w/ no cervical spine exam after this fall. I competed in the Olympic floor final minutes later. @Simone_Biles decision demonstrates that we have a say in our own health—“a say” I NEVER felt I had as an Olympian," she wrote.
Moceanu said the conversation around mental health and sports has changed since she competed.
"I think we're seeing that taking place right now with Simone being able to step up and acknowledge that something is not right, and that helps her make a decision for herself that you know, 'What's best right now is for me to take care of my health," she said.
Biles said that morning of the team competition, she had a "bit of the twisties," a mysterious phenomenon — suddenly a gymnast is no longer able to do a twisting skill she's done thousands of times before. Your body just won't cooperate, your brain loses track of where you are in the air. You find out where the ground is when you slam into it.
"Well, the twisties are something that you can't get rid of in a day. And especially not on the hard competition equipment. You have to go back into pits and you to make sure that you are going back to the drills safely again," Moceanu explained.
Whether or not Biles can compete in other individual events depends on the severity of the "twisties."
"If she can get ahold of it and she feels like she can feel that air awareness back and she feels her mental game is sharp again, then absolutely she can go back out there for event finals and be the Simone weall know and can perform at the highest levels. It depends on the severity. This is not the first time the twisties have happened to her. It's happened in her training before. So this is something she's dealt with in the past. Now it's just coming out on the grand scale of the Olympic games," Moceanu told Cabrera.
From CNN's Homero De La Fuente
Seventeen gold medals were won at the Games on Thursday.
Here's a breakdown of who's taking home the gold:
Artistic gymnastics
Judo
Rowing
Fencing
Swimming
Shooting
Canoe
Table Tennis
