Before leaving for the Olympics, one of the fastest women in the world said she was looking forward to winning a gold medal in Tokyo. Nineteen-year-old Athing Mu of New Jersey, is well on her way to reaching her goal, if her preliminary 800-meter heat on Friday is any indication. Mu, who was born in the U.S., but whose parents are from South Sudan, coasted to a win in 2:01.10 minutes.
The American women competing in the 100-meter race also breezed to victory in their preliminary heat. Notably absent from the race was the vivacious Sha’Carri Richardson, who was eliminated after a recent drug test in the U.S. was positive for marijuana. Richardson took full responsibility, admitting to using the drug after the death of her biological mother.
Ivory Coast sprinter Marie-Josee Ta Lou won the 100-meter heat in 10.78 seconds, a personal best. The reigning world champion of the event, Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, finished with a time of 10.84 seconds, while defending Olympic champion Elaine Thompson-Herah clocked in at 10.82.
Tennis champ Novak Djokovic’s Olympic gold dream came to a crushing end Friday in the men’s semi-finals against Germany’s Alexander Zverev. Earlier this year, Djokovic won the Australian Open, the French Open and Wimbledon, and he was looking to add an Olympic gold medal to his bounty, but Zverev stopped him.
Not even Djokovic’s standby strategy of taking a long bathroom break worked for him this time.
Gymnast Simone Biles continues to make news at the Olympics after her withdrawal from the all-around gymnastic event. She said in an Instagram post Friday that she “Literally can not tell up from down” and that she is suffering from what is known as “the twisties,” a condition that gymansts describe as being unable to know where they are in the air.
The condition can be dangerous for gymnasts. Biles posted video of herself working out at a Tokyo gym equipped with soft landing material, but it was obvious that she was having trouble. She still has time to decide if she will participate in the gymnastics apparatus finals.
