GYMNASTICS
Biles out for vault, bars
Simone Biles has withdrawn from the Olympic event finals Sunday in the vault and uneven bars, according to USA Gymnastics. She continues to be evaluated daily to determine whether she’ll compete in the finals for floor exercise on Monday or balance beam a day later. Biles said she was putting her mental health first when she withdrew from the gymnastics team event after one rotation. The U.S. women won silver there. She also chose not to compete in the all-around. American Sunisa Lee won gold in that event. MyKayla Skinner, who had the fourth highest score in vault during qualifications, will compete in vault finals for the U.S. alongside Jade Carey, who finished with the second highest score. Biles was the defending Olympic champion in the vault.
BASEBALL
U.S. rolls in opener
Speedskating silver medalist Eddy Alvarez put the U.S. ahead with the first of his two RBI doubles, and the United States beat Israel 8-1 in the Americans’ Olympic opener on Friday night. Tyler Austin hit a two-run home run, doubled twice and drove in three runs in his home ballpark. Denied players on 40-man major league rosters, the U.S. started a mix of prospects unneeded by major league teams this summer and released players. Nine of the 10 starters totaled a career WAR of -1.0; the exception was Todd Frazier at 25.1. Winning pitcher Joe Ryan, a 25-year-old Class AAA right-hander acquired by Minnesota last week in the trade that sent Nelson Cruz to Tampa Bay, relied on a 92 mph fastball. He allowed 1 run and 5 hits in 6 innings with 3 strikeouts.
BEACH VOLLEYBALL
Americans remain perfect
It’s a perfect record in beach volleyball pool play for the American women. Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes rallied from a first-set loss to beat Brazil’s Rebecca and Ana Patricia in the preliminary round finale. The U.S. women went 3-0 in the round-robin, as did the other American team of April Ross and Alix Klineman. After losing the first set 21-17, Sponcil and Claes opened a 19-14 in the second before losing four consecutive points. Then Rebecca served one long, and on their first set point, Sponcil angled one into the corner to tie the match one set apiece. The Americans scored six of the first seven points in the tiebreaking set to pull away and win 15-11.
TRACK & FIELD
Mowatt advances in hurdles
Kemar Mowatt, a former University of Arkansas All-American competing at the Olympics for Jamaica, advanced to Sunday night’s semifinals of the 400-meter hurdles after running 49.06 in the first round. His time ranked 12th among the 24 hurdlers who advanced. Two former Razorbacks — Dominique Scott and Shafiqua Maloney — competed in the 5,000 and 800, respectively, but failed to advance beyond the first round. Scott, a four-time NCAA champion competing for South Africa, ran 15:13.94 to finish 26th in the 5,000. Maloney, who carried the flag for St. Vincent and the Grenadines during the opening ceremonies, ran 2:07.89 to place 41st in the 800.
TRIATHLON
Britain takes relay gold
Great Britain has won gold in the triathlon mixed relay, making it the winningest national team in the history of the sport. The U.S. took silver and France claimed bronze in the mixed relay at Odaiba Marine Park. Georgia Taylor-Brown, Jessica Learmonth, Alex Yee and Jonathan Brownlee made up the team that gave Great Britain its third triathlon gold and eighth overall medal, besting Switzerland’s record. Taylor-Brown and Yee both also medaled in the individual contests earlier in the week, bringing home silver in the women’s and men’s events, respectively.
MEN’S GOLF
Schauffele on top
Coping with high expectations at home and low energy from his covid-19 recovery, Hideki Matsuyama stayed on pace in his bid to add a gold medal in golf to his Masters green jacket. Matsuyama holed a 5-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole Saturday morning and saved par from just off the 18th green to complete a 7-under 64 in the rain-delayed second round of the men’s golf competition. That left him two shots behind Xander Schauffele, the 27-year-old American whose grandparents still live in Japan. Between them is Carlos Ortiz of Mexico. They are in the final group.
MEN’S BASKETBALL
France 3-0 in pool play
Thomas Heurtel scored 16 points and France completed an unbeaten run through men’s basketball group play with a 79-62 victory over Iran. Timothe Luwawu Cabarrot added 12 points and Nando de Colo had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists for the French, who opened Group A by beating the U.S. 83-76 and then breezed from there. The French routed the Czech Republic 97-77 and then led comfortably throughout the second half against Iran. They will get one of the top seeds when the draw is conducted to determine the quarterfinal pairings. The quarterfinals will be played Tuesday. Former NBA center Hamed Haddadi had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Iran.
WOMEN’S BASKETBALL
U.S. knocks off Japan
After a slow start against host Japan, the U.S. women’s team found its form and won 86-69. Reigning WNBA MVP A’Ja Wilson finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, Brittney Griner and Breanna Stewart had 15 points each, Jewell Loyd added 12 points and Diana Taurasi had 11. Japan led early, scoring 30 points in a very offensive-minded first quarter. But the U.S. slowed down and locked in, holding Japan to 39 points over the next three quarters.