Olympic champion Simone Biles.
Japan’s Naomi Osaka, star of the Tokyo
Olympics’ opening ceremony, returns
from her self-imposed tennis exile on
Sunday as US legend Simone Biles sets
about equalling the all-time record for
gymnastics gold medals.
Australian Open champion Osaka has
not played since May, when she walked
out of Roland Garros saying that media
commitments were harming her mental
health.
But she appeared buoyant after lighting
the Olympic cauldron on Friday, and
will expect a warm welcome in Tokyo
even if fans are barred because of
coronavirus restrictions.
Firing up the cauldron was
“undoubtedly the greatest athletic
achievement and honor I will ever have
in my life”, tweeted Osaka, who plays
China’s Zheng Saisai in the first round.
Other highlights on day two, with 18
gold medals in play, include the men’s
400m individual medley swimming final,
after Japanese world champion Daiya
Seto’s shock exit in the heats, and the
women’s final featuring Hungarian
medal machine Katinka Hosszu.
The first Olympic skateboarding
champion will be crowned, with
America’s Nyjah Huston and Japan’s
Yuto Horigome fierce rivals in the
men’s street competition, while surfing
also makes its Games debut.
A formidable USA team led by Kevin
Durant take on France in basketball,
and Dutch two-time world champion
Anna van der Breggen will target back-
to-back golds in the women’s cycling
road race.
The Ariake Gymnastics Centre will be
the setting as Biles, 24, starts her bid to
become the first woman in more than
half-a-century to retain the all-around
title.
In acknowledgement of her domination,
Biles has become the first athlete to be
awarded their own emoji on Twitter: a
goat in a leotard symbolising her status
as the G.O.A.T., or greatest of all time.
“I just hope that kids growing up
watching this don’t or aren’t ashamed
of being good at whatever they do,” she
said in a recent interview.
The inaugural men’s surfing could be
spectacular with a tropical cyclone set
to whip up big waves at Tsurigasaki
Beach, 100 kilometres (60 miles) west of
Tokyo.
Brazil’s Italo Ferreira, who learned to
surf standing on the foam boxes his
father sold fish from, will start as one
of the favourites.
“Each victory gives you a lot of grit, a
lot of perseverance, that makes you
more professional and gives you more
desire to win,” the 2019 world champion
told AFP.
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