August 4 Tokyo 2020 Olympics news and results

It's happened again.

For the second day in a row, an Olympic 400 meters hurdles final was a tightly contested race — with two athletes breaking what was the previous world record in the event and the third-place finisher running the fourth-fastest time ever. 

This time it came in the women’s race.

Americans Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad entered the final as favorites to win gold. McLaughlin had set the previous world record in June with a time of 51.90 seconds. On Wednesday morning in Tokyo's Olympic Stadium, she and Muhammed both topped it.

McLaughlin finished nearly a half-second faster, taking gold with a run of 51.46 seconds. Muhammad, who won this event at Rio 2016, took silver in a time of 51.58.

Femke Bol of the Netherlands finished in 52.03 seconds to win bronze. Bol's time was the fourth-fastest run in this event ever.

Surprising similarities: The men's 400 meters hurdles played out almost identically on Tuesday. Norway's Karsten Warholm held the world record heading into the race. Both he and second-place finisher Rai Benjamin beat Warholm's previous record to win gold and silver, respectively, just like McLaughlin and Muhammad.

"I can't really (get) it straight in my head yet. I'm sure I'll process it and celebrate later," McLaughlin said after the women's race.

Bronze medalist Alison dos Santos of Brazil ran the fourth-fastest time in history in the men's event to win bronze — just like Bol.

Belarusian Olympic sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya, who refused to fly home fearing she would be arrested, was seen boarding a Vienna-bound flight out of Tokyo on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old athlete was set to compete in the women's 200 meters at the Tokyo Games on Monday, but instead said team officials tried to forcibly send her back to Belarus against her wishes after she criticized sporting authorities.

Her drama-filled plight has dominated global headlines around the Games and while her comments were not overtly political, her case has heightened fears of the safety of those who speak out against Belarusian officials.

Timanovskaya was seen arriving at Narita airport on Wednesday morning with luggage and wearing blue jeans and a blue sweatshirt. She later boarded Austrian Airlines flight OS52.

The athlete had been expected to travel to Warsaw, Poland, where she was offered safe refuge and a humanitarian visa by the country's Prime Minister. It is not clear if she will make a connection in Vienna on her way to Poland, or if she intends to stay in Austria, or travel elsewhere.

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Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya boards flight out of Tokyo | CNN

Following her bronze medal win on balance beam Tuesday, Simone Biles revealed that her aunt had died during the Olympics.

Biles didn’t compete in four individual finals at the Tokyo Olympics — the all-around individual competition, vault, uneven bars and floor exercise — after withdrawing during the women’s team final, citing mental health concerns.

South Korea plans to pursue a formal complaint in response to a Chinese Olympian who was heard repeatedly swearing during a badminton match between the two nations.

Chen Qingchen, 24, could be heard shouting a popular Chinese slang term, translated loosely as "f**k"​ in Mandarin, throughout the live televised broadcast of her women's doubles match against South Korea on Tuesday, July 27.

Chen was heard first yelling the common, but impolite phrase after she and her partner, Jia Yifan, lost the first set to their South Korean opponents.

Both Chinese players then repeated the phrase for every winning point during the remainder of the match, eventually winning 2-1 against South Korea's Kim Soyeong and Kong Heeyong. The Chinese duo went on to advance to the finals of the competition, claiming silver after losing to Indonesia's Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu in the finals on Monday.

Chen's outburst has been covered extensively by South Korean media, prompting widespread and often critical commentary accusing the Chinese Olympian of unsporting behavior.

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US hammer thrower Gwen Berry says she is "ready to change some stuff for real" after raising her fist before the women's hammer throw final at Tokyo 2020 on Tuesday.

As she was introduced into the stadium, Berry raised a clenched fist, later explaining she was protesting social and racial injustice.

Berry has been outspoken on social issues in the past and has a history of protesting at major track and field events.

After qualifying for her second Games in June, the 32-year-old turned away from the flag while the national anthem played during the medal ceremony and draped a T-shirt reading the words "activist athlete" over her head.

Berry later said she was "set up" on the podium having been told that the anthem would be played before the athletes stepped on.

In 2019, she also lost some of her sponsorships after raising her fist in protest on the podium at the Pan American Games in Peru.

She received a 12-month probation from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee for the act, which she says was meant to highlight social injustice in America.

IOC rules: The International Olympic Committee's Rule 50 ban prohibits athletes from protesting at Olympic sites.

Following a 10-month review of the rule that concluded in April, the body decided to uphold it, but in July added an amendment allowing athletes to express their views in mixed zones, press conferences and during interviews, as well as prior to the start of competition.

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'I'm just here to represent,' says US athlete Gwen Berry after raising her fist at Tokyo 2020

The Tokyo Olympics will soon be coming to a close. But in the meantime, there are still several medals to be handed out in key events.

Here's a shortlist of the finals happening on Wednesday:

Weightlifting:

Skateboarding:

Equestrian:

Athletics:

Sailing:

Cycling

Boxing:

Swimming:

Wrestling:

China's Guan Chenchen won gold in the women's balance beam final at the Tokyo Olympics as US gymnastics star Simone Biles overcame mental health challenges to claim a bronze.

Biles' psychological well-being has been the focus of attention since she withdrew from the women's team final last week.

The 24-year-old then didn't compete in four individual finals at the Tokyo Olympics — the all-around individual competition, the vault, the uneven bars and floor — but returned to great applause from her US teammates seated in one corner of the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

Following her withdrawal from the team event, Biles said that she was medically evaluated each day and also had two sessions with a Team USA psychologist.

The dismount of her beam routine was also switched at the last minute so she wouldn't have to perform a twist.

Tuesday's beam final was Biles' last chance to claim a medal at Tokyo 2020 and she scored 14.000 for a clean and confident routine.

That score initially placed her second behind China's Tang Xijing on 14.233, but the 16-year-old Guan, the top qualifier in the event and the last to perform her routine, moved into the gold medal position with a score of 14.633.

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Guan Chenchen wins balance beam gold at the Tokyo Olympics as Simone Biles claims bronze

h Izu Velodrome witnessed a heated confrontation on Tuesday as Denmark and Great Britain track cyclists collided during the final lap of the men's team pursuit at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Frederik Madsen, front rider with the Danish team, collided with Team GB's Charlie Tanfield, who had replaced Ed Clancy for the race.

Three-time Olympic champion Clancy withdrew from the race earlier in the day, announcing his retirement from track cycling following a back injury.

Madsen was leading the Danish team and looking down at the black tape on the track, instead of up, and didn't realize Tanfield had dropped off the back of the British group.

Madsen was then pictured standing over Tanfield and heard swearing at him, despite being the one responsible for the crash, before storming off the track.

It was the second crash of the day that Team GB were involved in, with Katie Archibald and Neah Evans colliding after they came together to celebrate their world record ride to reach the women's team pursuit final.

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Danish cyclist crashes into GB rider during team pursuit