Tokyo Olympics: Gold medals, shock exits, excessive temperatures and optimistic Covid checks on day one

Yang Qian

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China’s Yang Qian won the first gold medal of the 2020 Olympics

China won the first gold medal of the Games and hosts Japan claimed their first gold on a sweltering opening day of the Tokyo Olympics.

Athletes complained about exhausting conditions given the combination of high temperatures and humidity, with several tennis players asking for matches to be moved to start later in the day.

Cyclists in the men’s road race in particular felt the strain, but Ecuador’s Richard Carapaz managed to defy the conditions, convincingly winning his nation’s second ever gold medal.

China’s traditional early dominance of the medal table endured, with Yang Qian winning the first available gold in the women’s 10m air rifle final.

Shortly afterwards, Hou Zhihui celebrated victory in the women’s -49kg weightlifting, with a combined score of 210, breaking the Olympic record.

Naohisa Takato beat Taiwan’s Yang Yung-wei in the 60kg judo final at the Nippon Budokan to claim Japan’s first gold on what was a…

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