Tokyo Olympics: Czech golds in heavyweight judo, canoe slalom; China tops women's trampoline

Lukas Krpalek of Czech Republic clinched his second Olympic gold medal in judo with an ippon victory over Georgia's Guram Tushishvili as China took gold and silver in women's trampoline.

Published : Jul 30, 2021 21:29 IST

Gold medallist Lukas Krpalek of the Czech Republic poses during the medal ceremony for men's +100kg judo competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Friday.
Gold medallist Lukas Krpalek of the Czech Republic poses during the medal ceremony for men's +100kg judo competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Friday.
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Gold medallist Lukas Krpalek of the Czech Republic poses during the medal ceremony for men's +100kg judo competition at the 2020 Summer Olympics on Friday.

Lukas Krpalek claimed his second Olympic gold medal in judo for the Czech Republic, winning the talent-stacked men’s heavyweight division with an ippon victory over Georgia’s Guram Tushishvili in the final at the Budokan.

Krpalek won at half-heavyweight in Rio de Janeiro, and he capped an impressive run through the heaviest division in Tokyo by pinning Tushishvili to the mat until he got the finish with 13 seconds left.

French star Teddy Riner’s quest for a record-tying third consecutive Olympic gold medal ended in the quarterfinals with a narrow loss to Russian athlete Tamerlan Bashaev, who then lost a spectacularly well-fought semifinal to Krpálek.

READ : Tokyo Olympics Fencing: Japan beats ROC, wins gold in men’s epee team

Riner still won his fourth Olympic medal. He claimed bronze with a victory over Hisayoshi Hasagawa, who became only the third of host Japan’s 14 Olympic judokas not to win a medal.

Japan claimed its ninth gold when women’s heavyweight Akira Sone won moments before Hasagawa’s loss on penalties in golden score. Japan also claimed one silver and one bronze in its homegrown martial art.

Bashaev went on to win the other bronze with a win over Ukraine’s Yakiv Khammo.

The judo tournament concludes with the Olympics’ first mixed team event on Saturday.

China takes gold in women's trampoline

China took the top of the podium in women’s trampoline.

Zhu Xueying edged teammate Liu Lingling for gold in the finals. Xueying’s score of 56.635 was just enough to top Lingling’s total of 56.350. Bryony Page of Great Britain earned the bronze after taking silver in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Two-time defending Olympic champion Rosie MacLennan of Canada just missed the podium, finishing fourth.

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Lingling topped qualifying with a two-round total of 105.470, just ahead of Xueying, giving her the chance to go last in the finals. Xueying drilled her set, which requires gymnasts to string together 10 consecutive aerial maneuvers while jumping 25 feet into the air.

Lingling followed but couldn’t quite catch her teammate.

The two medals for the Chinese pushed their total to 13 since the sport was introduced at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, far and away the most in the discipline.

Nicole Ahsinger, who finished 10th in Brazil, advanced to her first Olympic final and finished sixth. The 23-year-old American said she plans to aim for the 2024 Games in Paris.

Czech Prskavec wins in men's kayak slalom

The Czech Republic’s Jiri Prskavec won the gold medal in the men’s kayak slalom on the final run of the event.

READ : Lovlina Borgohain: Olympic success a result of fearless approach

Prskavec’s flawless ride through the rapids at the Kasai Canoe Slalom Center beat silver-medalist Jakub Grigar of Slovakia by 3.22 seconds. Germany’s Hannes Aigner won bronze.

Prskavec is the top-ranked paddler in the world in the event, and his top runs in the semifinal allowed him to start the final in last position so that he would know what time to beat.

Prskavec was the bronze medalist in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

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