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Olympics: Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz wins first-ever gold for Philippines

 
Olympics: Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz wins first-ever gold for Philippines

Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz of Team Philippines competes during the Women's 55kg Group A on day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo International Forum on July 26, 2021. (Photo: Getty Images)   

Hidilyn Diaz became the first Olympic gold medalist from the Philippines after winning the women’s 55kg weightlifting category at the Tokyo 2020 Games on July 26.


Diaz overtook Liao Qiuyun of China on her last lift in the clean and jerk to win with a total 224kg, one more than Liao.

Zulfiya Chinshanlo of Kazakhstan took bronze with 213kg. Chinshanlo won what was then the 53kg class at the 2012 London Olympics but was stripped of her gold medal after a positive test for two banned steroids.

Taekwondo: ROC's Khramtcov bests Elsharabaty for men’s -80kg taekwondo title


Maksim Khramtcov (L) of Team ROC competes against Saleh El-Sharabaty of Team Jordan during the Men's -80kg Taekwondo Gold Medal contest at Makuhari Messe Hall on July 26, 2021 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo: Getty Images)

ROC athlete and heavy favourite in the -80kg men’s Olympic Taekwondo Competition, Maksim Khramtcov, pulled off an impressive win the final against Jordan’s Elsharabaty Saleh (20-9). It was a first Olympic gold and silver for each athlete.

The evening’s bronzes went to Croatia’s Toni Kanaet and Seif Eissa, who won Egypt’s second medal of the day in taekwondo.

The first battle for bronze ended with 2018 European champion in the -74kg weight, Kanaet of Croatia, edging Rio 2016 veteran Nikita Rafalovich of Uzbekistan (24-18) for his share of third place on the podium. For the other bronze slot on the podium, Seif Eissa pulled off a clear victory (12-4) over Norwegian veteran Richard Andre Ordemann.

Taekwondo: Croatia’s Matea Jelic beats Britain’s Lauren Williams in -67kg takewondo final


Matea Jelic (R) of Team Croatia competes against Lauren Williams of Team Great Britain Women's -67kg Taekwondo Gold Medal contest at Makuhari Messe Hall on July 26, 2021 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo: Getty Images)

The gold medal contest between Croatia’s Matea Jelic and Britain’s Lauren Williams at the Makuhari Messe Hall went toe-to-toe, but it was the Croatian who came out on top, winning Olympic gold, 24-21.

Milena Titoneli from Brazil came through the repechage against Haiti’s Lauren Lee by 26 points to five to take her place against Cote d’Ivoire’s Ruth Gbagbi in the first bronze medal match. But it was the experienced Ivorian who added another Olympic bronze medal to her collection.

Fencing: Sofia Pozdniakova wins women’s sabre individual gold in Olympic debut


Sofya Velikaya of Team ROC (L) congratulates Sofia Pozdniakova of Team ROC after she won the Women's Sabre Individual Fencing Gold Medal Bout at Makuhari Messe on July 26, 2021 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo: Getty Images)

Two-time world champion Sofia Pozdniakova embraced her Russian Olympic Committee fencing teammate Sofya Velikaya after beating her 15-11 in the final of the women’s sabre individual contest at Tokyo 2020 on 26 July.

It was the third Olympic silver medal for Velikaya, 36, who was also runner-up in London 2012 and Rio 2016.

The bronze medal was won by France’s Manon Brunet who fought off a challenge from Hungary’s Anna Marton in 15-6.

Fencing: Cheung Ka Long beats defending champion to win men's individual foil gold


Cheung Ka Long of Team Hong Kong (China) celebrates after winning the Men's Foil Individual Fencing Gold Medal Bout against Daniele Garozzo of Team Italy at Makuhari Messe on July 26, 2021 in Chiba, Japan. (Photo: Getty Images)

Cheung Ka Long became the first Olympic fencing gold medallist of Hong Kong (China) beating the pre-match favourite and defending champion Daniele Garozzo 15-10 in the men's individual foil final on Monday, 26 July.

The victory earned Hong Kong (China)’s second-ever Olympic gold medal with Cheung following in the footsteps of Lee Lai Shan, who won the women's windsurfing competition in Atlanta 1996.

Earlier, the Czech Republic's Alexander Choupenitch won the bronze medal with a 15-8 defeat of Japan's Shikine Takahiro.

Artistic gymnastics: Artur Dalaloyan, Nikita Nagornyy lift ROC to team gold


Team ROC celebrates after winning gold the Men's Team Final on day three of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Ariake Gymnastics Centre on July 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo: Getty Images)

ROC won its first Olympic men's team gold medal Monday (26 July) since the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games on the backs of the duo that has dominated the sport for three years. They totaled 262.500 to hold of hosts Japan. China was third at 261.894.

The gold medal in the men's team final came down to what they could on the floor exercise. Artur Dalaloyan, who wasn't even sure he would compete on floor exercise three days ago, delivered a solid routine only months after his major injury. Nikita Nagornyy for his part saved his second tumbling pass, then completely improvised two more.

Judo: Ono Shohei retains men’s 73kg crown


Tokyo 2020 Olympics - Judo - Men's 73kg - Gold medal match - Nippon Budokan - Tokyo, Japan - July 26, 2021 Shohei Ono of Japan reacts after winning gold. (Photo: Reuters)

Japan’s Ono Shohei showed the world why he is king of the men’s judo 73kg class after adding another title to his belt at Tokyo 2020 at the Nippon Budokan on 26 July. He also goes into the history books as the first judoka to retain his title in the class.

The three-time world champion and reigning Olympic champion, who has not been beaten in international competition since 2015, took down Georgia’s Lasha Shavdatuashvili in a tough bout, which lasted 9.25 minutes.

The contest went to a golden score before the judoka showed his dominance with a waza-ari ­- the second highest score a fighter can achieve in a Japanese martial arts behind an ippon. His victory was the fourth gold medal in judo at the Games for Japan, which is the birthplace of the sport.

Judo: Kosovo's Nora Gjakova wins judo women’s -57kg gold


Nora Gjakova of Team Kosovo defeats Tsukasa Yoshida of Team Japan during the Women’s Judo 57kg Semifinal of Table B at Nippon Budokan on July 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo: Getty Images)

Nora Gjakova of Kosovo was crowned Olympic champion after the women’s -57kg judo final against France's Sarah Leonie Cysique was ended for safety reasons due to a head-dive by the French judoka.

The Kosovan athlete, who won bronze at the 2021 world championships in Budapest, can now add Olympic gold to her resume after a swift end to the title-deciding bout.

In the two other medal-deciding matches, Yoshida Tsukasa of Japan beat Eteri Liparteliani by ippon for the first bronze and Jessica Klimkait took the second with a win over Kaja Kajzer of Slovenia.

Table tennis: Japan upsets China for mixed doubles gold


Ito Mima (L) and Jun Mizutani (R) of Team Japan celebrate after winning their Mixed Doubles Gold Medal match at Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on July 26, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo: Getty Images)

Japanese pair Mizutani Jun and Ito Mima ended China’s recent dominance in the sport by beating Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen 4-3 for the mixed doubles title on July 26.

The upset comes five years after China swept all four table tennis tournaments at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games. It's also the first time China has not won gold in singles, doubles or team table tennis since 2004.

The world number one pairing, Lin Yun-Ju and Cheng I-Ching, walked away with the bronze after beating the French duo, Emmanuel Lebesson and Jia Nan Yuan, 4-0.


The Tokyo 2020 Olympic medal count as of 11pm on July 26.

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