CNN – Sports

By Coy Wire and Sana Noor Haq, CNN Nobody was speaking about Anna Kiesenhofer ahead of the Tokyo 2020 women’s road race, but they certainly are now. The Austrian rider was considered a novice compared to her competitors, notably defending champion Anna van der Breggen, former Olympic bronze medalist Elisa Longo Borghini, Britain’s Lizzie Deignan,

By Toyin Owoseje, CNN Argentinian fencer Maria Belen Perez Maurice may have lost the chance of a medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, but she is definitely still winning at life. The 36-year-old will leave the Games with a ring, after accepting a surprise marriage proposal from her coach and partner. Perez Maurice was

By Toyin Owoseje, CNN Singer-songwriter Pink has offered to pay fines handed out to the Norwegian women’s beach handball team after they refused to wear bikini bottoms while competing. Last week, the European Handball Federation (EHF) fined the team a total of €1,500 (around $1,765), asserting that the women competed in “improper clothing” by wearing

By Rebecca Wright and Mitchell McCluskey, CNN The German women’s gymnastics team has forgone bikini-cut unitards in favor of full-body versions at the Tokyo Olympics, in what the German Gymnastics Federation has branded a statement against “sexualization.” The suits, which the team wore in their qualifications at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Sunday, cover the

By Claire Colbert and Homero De la Fuente, CNN France beat the US men’s basketball team 83-76 at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday, ending Team USA’s 25-game Olympic winning streak that dates back to 2004. Team USA had an eight-point lead with four minutes left in the game, but the French team mounted a 16-2

By Wayne Sterling, CNN Eighteen athletes won gold medals at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Sunday. Here’s a breakdown of who clinched gold: Archery Women’s Team: Republic of Korea Cycling Women’s Road Race: Anna Kiesenhofer, Austria Diving Women’s Synchronised 3m Springboard: China Fencing Women’s Foil Individual: Lee Kiefer, USA Men’s Epee Individual: Romain Cannone, France

By Jacob Lev, CNN An Iranian taekwondo athlete competing for the Refugee Olympic Team made her mark at Tokyo 2020 after she defeated two-time Olympic gold medalist Jade Jones. Kimia Alizadeh beat Team Great Britain’s Jones 16-12 on Sunday in the women’s -57kg taekwondo round of 16. She then overcame China’s Lijun Zhou in the

By Sana Noor Haq and Matias Grez, CNN Dutch cyclist Annemiek van Vleuten threw her arms up in the air, her face a picture of ecstasy and joy. That’s what you do when you think you’ve won Olympic gold — except she hadn’t. That honor went to Austria’s Anna Kiesenhofer, who capitalized on her rival’s

By George Ramsay, CNN These are early days for the Tokyo Olympics, but Naomi Osaka is quickly emerging as the headline act. Two days after lighting the cauldron at the Opening Ceremony — a moment she called “the greatest athletic achievement and honor” of her life — Osaka took to the tennis court for her

By Seamus Fagan and Kevin Dotson, CNN The United States has won its first medals of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics as Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland finished first and second in the Men’s 400-meter Individual Medley. Chase Kalisz won gold with a time of 4:09.42, while Litherland finished just behind him with a time of

By Wayne Sterling, CNN All 11 gold medals have been awarded at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for Saturday. Here’s a breakdown of who clinched gold: Archery Mixed Team: Republic of Korea Cycling Men’s Road Race: Richard Carapaz, Ecuador Fencing Women’s Epee Individual: Yiwen Sun, China Men’s Sabre Individual: Aron Szilagyi, Hungary Judo Women’s -48kg: Distria

By John Sinnott and Matias Grez, CNN Day one of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and things are hotting up — not least the weather. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic described the humidity as “brutal” after beating Bolivian Hugo Dellien 6-2 6-2 in the men’s singles first round, while Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev resorted to

By Don Riddell, CNN More than 10,000 athletes compete in the summer Olympics. There are gold medalists and athletes who’ll never get anywhere near the podium. There are global superstars and athletes who soon will be, all rubbing shoulders with competitors from countries that they’ve never heard of. There will be veterans of the greatest

By David Close, Taylor Barnes and Aqeel Najim, CNN Algerian judo athlete Fethi Nourine says he has chosen to withdraw from the 2020 Tokyo Olympics rather than face an Israeli competitor. Nourine told Algeria’s Echourouk TV that he “decided to withdraw out of conviction, because this is the very least we can offer the Palestinian

By Leah Asmelash, CNN The Tokyo Olympics — after a long delay — are finally happening. The opening ceremony formally kicked off the Games Friday and sporting events are underway. There’s nothing but excitement in the air, according to IOC Athletes’ Commission Chair Kirsty Coventry. In her statement Tuesday, Coventry painted a rosy picture, saying

By Teele Rebane, CNN Covid-19 has thrown more than a few curve balls at Tokyo Olympic organizers — but this isn’t the first Games to battle a pandemic. A century ago, the 1920 Antwerp Olympics were held only a few months after the Spanish flu ravaged the world, killing at least 50 million people. In

By Homero De la Fuente and David Close, CNN Players from the United States women’s national soccer team filed an appeal Friday to overturn a 2020 decision against their equal pay lawsuit, saying last year’s decision “defies reality.” In May 2020, Judge Gary Klausner ruled there was no basis to prove the players’ claims that

By George Ramsay, CNN With no fans in attendance and a reduced number of athletes joining the parade, the Tokyo Olympics‘ Opening Ceremony officially kicked off the Summer Games on Friday as tennis star Naomi Osaka lit the cauldron. Earlier on Friday, a request from Tokyo 2020 organizers to push back Osaka’s opening match of