August 5 Tokyo 2020 Olympics news and results

By Joshua Berlinger, Aditi Sangal and Adam Renton, CNN

Updated 12:00 a.m. ET, August 6, 2021
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11:31 p.m. ET, August 5, 2021

Team USA's April Ross and Alix Klineman win gold in women's beach volleyball

From CNN's Jill Martin

American's Alix Klineman and April Ross celebrate after defeating Team Australia on Friday.
American's Alix Klineman and April Ross celebrate after defeating Team Australia on Friday. (Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)

Americans April Ross and Alix Klineman have won the gold medal in women's beach volleyball.

The duo beat Australians Taliqua Clancy and Mariafe Artacho del Solar in two sets, 21-15 and 21-16.

The win gives the US a record-extending fourth Olympic gold medal in the event. Famed duo Kerri Walsh Jennings and Misty May-Treanor won gold three times in a row for the US from 2004 to 2012.

After previously winning silver at the 2012 London Games and bronze at Rio 2016, Ross, 39, has now secured her first Olympic gold medal. This was the 31-year-old Klineman's Olympic debut.

Earlier Friday, Switzerland’s Anouk Verge-Depre and Joana Heidrich defeated Latvia’s Tina Graudina and Anastasija Kravcenoka in straight sets to win bronze.

11:02 p.m. ET, August 5, 2021

At least 387 Covid-19 cases are now linked to the Olympics

From CNN's Chandler Thornton

Tokyo 2020 organizers reported 29 new Covid-19 cases linked to the Olympics on Friday, bringing the total number of recorded infections from the Games to 387.

The new cases are not among athletes or residents of Tokyo's Olympic Village.

They were identified as contractors, Games-related personnel, volunteers, and one member of the media.

There have been 33 total cases reported from the village as of Friday.  

On Thursday, Tokyo reported more than 5,000 new cases in a record single-day high. Tokyo 2020 organizers maintain the Games are not related to the rise in cases in Japan's capital.

10:54 p.m. ET, August 5, 2021

Belarusian Olympic officials who allegedly tried to force sprinter onto plane stripped of accreditation

From CNN's Helen Regan and Jennifer Hauser

The International Olympic Committee has revoked the accreditation of two Belarusian coaches allegedly involved in trying to force sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya to return home against her will.

Belarus head coach Yuri Moisevich and team official Artur Shumak were removed from the Olympic Village in Tokyo and their Games accreditation canceled, the IOC said in a tweet Friday.

The Olympic body said it decided to remove the two coaches to safeguard "the wellbeing of the athletes of the NOC of Belarus who are still in Tokyo and as a provisional measure."

On Sunday, Timanovskaya, 24, said Belarus team officials threatened her, removed her from the Olympic team and forced her to the airport in Tokyo, where she would board a flight back to Belarus after she criticized sporting authorities.

Fearing she would be arrested in Belarus, Timanovskaya refused to get on the flight and on Wednesday fled to Warsaw, Poland, where she has been granted a visa on humanitarian grounds.

Read more:

9:48 p.m. ET, August 5, 2021

Summer is spooky season in Japan

From CNN's Rebecca Saunders

High temperatures during the Tokyo Olympics have been making headlines around the world.

In fact, the event may go down as one of the hottest and most humid in the history of the Games.

Last week, current world No. 2 tennis player Daniil Medvedev said the heat and humidity were "some of the worst" conditions he had played in, even asking who would be responsible if he died.

Elsewhere, athletes have been seen donning ice vests, wet towels and downing water after competing.

But the temperatures and high humidity currently cooking the capital are not unusual. Japanese summers are notoriously sticky and sweaty, and for many Japanese people, spooky.

Friends flock to haunted houses, head to the movies for horror flicks or visit graveyards after dark, all in an attempt to scare themselves into literally getting the chills — in effect forgetting all about the sweltering heat.

Read more:

9:37 p.m. ET, August 5, 2021

Poland's Dawid Tomala wins Olympic gold in men's 50 kilometers race walk

From CNN's Jill Martin

Poland's Dawid Tomala celebrates after winning gold in the 50 kilometers race walk on Friday.
Poland's Dawid Tomala celebrates after winning gold in the 50 kilometers race walk on Friday. (Eugene Hoshiko/AP)

Dawid Tomala of Poland has won gold in the men’s 50 kilometers race walk at the Tokyo 2020 Games — potentially the last time this event will ever be held in an Olympics.

"It was an amazing day for me. I can’t believe it," Tomala said after his win. "I work for it my whole life since I was 15 when I thought for the first time during training I would like to be a (Olympic) gold medallist. ... This was only the second 50 kilometer in my life (he did not finish in a 50 kilometer race walk in Dudince in 2017) and I win it (the Olympic title). It is crazy, right?"

Germany’s Jonathan Hilbert took silver, while Evan Dunfee of Canada earned bronze.

This race started with 59 participants. At the time of this post, nine have dropped out, while two have been disqualified.

This event will not be held at the Paris 2024 Games.

7:19 p.m. ET, August 5, 2021

Catch up: Here's what happened at the Olympics on Thursday

China's Quan Hongchan competes in the 10-meter platform diving final on August 5. Quan, 14, becomes the second-youngest female ever to win gold in the event.
China's Quan Hongchan competes in the 10-meter platform diving final on August 5. Quan, 14, becomes the second-youngest female ever to win gold in the event. Attila KisbenedekAFP/Getty Images

Another day full of athletic feats and achievements has been etched into history at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

If you're just reading in now, here are some of the highlights and key storylines from Thursday's Games:

  • India pays tribute: India's men's hockey team, the most successful in the history of the Olympics with eight gold medals, dedicated its bronze medal to the doctors and frontline workers of the coronavirus pandemic, team captain Manpreet Singh said. Several players in the team acknowledged the tough times they have been through as they trained in the southern city of Bangalore away from their families.
  • China makes history: China’s Quan Hongchan, who at age 14 is the country’s youngest athlete at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, secured a stunning gold in women’s 10 meter platform diving. The diving sensation produced two perfect-10 dives in a dominant display. Quan becomes the second-youngest female ever to win gold in the event after her compatriot Fu Mingxia took the title at the 1992 Barcelona Games at the age of just 13.
  • Burkina Faso collects some hardware: Hugues Fabrice Zango made history by clinching Burkina Faso's first-ever Olympic medal and his success came on the same day the country celebrates its independence day, no less. His distance of 17.47 meters was enough to secure bronze in the men's triple jump, behind Portgual's Pedro Pichardo in gold and China's Zhu Yaming in silver.
  • Infections increase: Tokyo reported 5,042 new Covid-19 cases on Thursday, its highest-ever daily increase since the pandemic began. This is the capital's second consecutive day of a record increase, topping Wednesday's figure of 4,058 new cases.
  • Cycling to victory: Team Great Britain's Matt Walls won a gripping gold medal in the omnium cycling event. The 23-year-old put in a dominant display in his Olympic debut to claim Britain's first track cycling gold at Tokyo 2020.
  • Taking home the bronze: The United States Women’s National Team looked more like the squad that won the World Cup in 2019, as it defeated Australia 4-3 to win the bronze medal in the women’s football. Megan Rapinoe scored a spectacular Olimpico goal — a goal straight from a corner kick — in the eighth minute to open the scoring for the US.
  • New Olympic record: Kenya’s Abel Kipsang posted a new Olympic record time in the men’s 1,500 meters semifinals. The 24-year-old ran 3:31.65 in the second semifinal, surpassing the previous record set by compatriot Noah Ngeny in the men’s 1,500 meter final at the 2000 Games in Sydney.
  • Spanish champion: Spain’s Sandra Sánchez won gold in the inaugural women’s karate “kata” competition with victory over Japan’s Kiyou Shimizu. Sánchez, ranked No.1 in the latest women’s kata world rankings, also becomes Spain’s oldest-ever Olympic champion at 39 years and 323 days old.
  • Bahamas takes home the gold: Steven Gardiner of the Bahamas ran a season’s best time of 43.85 seconds to win Olympic gold in the men’s 400 meters. A dominant performance sees the 25-year-old add to his 2019 400-meter World Championship crown.
  • Leaping to victory: American Katie Nageotte overcame her early struggles at the opening height to win gold in the women’s pole vault. Nageotte missed her first two attempts at her opening height of 4.50 meters but cleared it on her third.
  • Big day for Belgium: Belgium won the Olympic men’s hockey gold medal with a dramatic penalty shootout victory over Australia. A tense final finished 1-1 in regulation time before Belgian goalkeeper Vincent Vanasch earned hero-status, saving three Australian penalties as the Red Lions prevailed 3-2 in the penalty shootout. Belgium’s Nafissatou Thiam also became just the second athlete ever to win back-to-back women's heptathlon titles after securing the gold medal.
11:16 a.m. ET, August 5, 2021

Belarusian sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya hopes to compete at the Olympics in the future

Belarusian Olympic athlete Kristina Timanovskaya, right, and Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushko address a press conference on August 5 in Warsaw, Poland.
Belarusian Olympic athlete Kristina Timanovskaya, right, and Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushko address a press conference on August 5 in Warsaw, Poland. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images)

Kristina Timanovskaya, the Olympic sprinter from Belarus who defected to Poland, said she hopes to compete in "at least two more" Olympics in the future.

During a joint press conference with Belarusian opposition politician Pavel Latushko in Warsaw, Poland today, the 24-year old said she is "very saddened by the fact that I was deprived of my chance to participate in the Olympic Games."

Timanovskaya could not compete due to Belarusian team officials pulling her from the women's 200 meter sprint after she criticized the country's sport authorities on social media. 

"We tried to overrule this decision so that I could still participate," Timanovskaya said. "Those were five long years of preparation. I had to go through a lot — traumas, Covid ... but still I hope that these were not my last Olympic Games, I hope for at least two more."

Timanovskaya refused to return to Belarus over safety concerns and instead is seeking asylum for herself and her husband in Poland, where she awaits a hearing from the International Olympic Committee.

Regarding the hearing, Latushko said the sprinter's interests are being represented by a lawyer from Japan and the Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation. 

"We do not know if the national Belarus Olympics Committee has presented the necessary material, which also complicates the consideration of this issue," Latushko said. "We expect that the decision will be made in favor of Kristina in relation to the illegitimacy of the decision made by the Belarus delegation."

The sprinter received offers of asylum from multiple European countries, but Timanovskaya chose Poland because it is close enough for her parents to visit and she also wishes to continue her athletic career there.

CNN's Alyssa Kraus, Hannah Ritchie, Jaide Garcia and Katya Krebs contributed to this post.

10:26 a.m. ET, August 5, 2021

Women's football gold medal match has been rescheduled due to heat concerns

From CNN’s Alyssa Kraus and Aleks Klosok

The International Stadium Yokohama, where the women's gold medal match will now take place, is seen on August 2.
The International Stadium Yokohama, where the women's gold medal match will now take place, is seen on August 2. (Koki Nagahama/Getty Images)

The women's football final has been moved to a later kick-off time and switched to a different venue due to heat concerns.

The gold medal match between Sweden and Canada had originally been scheduled for 11 a.m. local time on Friday in Tokyo. However, both teams expressed concerns over heat and humidity.

Olympic organizers confirmed today that the match will now take place at 9 p.m. local time in Yokohama, Japan. For US viewers, the match will be broadcast at 8 a.m. ET on Friday.

This change also impacts the men's bronze medal match between Mexico and Japan, which will now kick off at 6 p.m. local at the Saitama Stadium or 5 a.m. ET.

“In order to continue to provide the best possible conditions for the players, and having taken into consideration the impact of weather conditions at the Olympic Stadium over the last few days, it has been confirmed that this match (Olympic women’s football final) will now take place at 21:00 at the International Stadium Yokohama,” a Tokyo 2020 statement read.

Sweden hopes to go one step further than the 2016 Olympic Games, where the team lost 2-1 in the final.

Meanwhile, Canadian midfielder Quinn, the first openly trans and non-binary athlete at a Games, will be guaranteed to win a medal at the Tokyo Games.

9:47 a.m. ET, August 5, 2021

Defected Belarusian Olympic sprinter hopes to stay in Poland

From Katya Krebs and Hannah Ritchie

Belarusian Olympic athlete Kristina Timanovskaya addresses a press conference on August 5 in Warsaw, Poland.
Belarusian Olympic athlete Kristina Timanovskaya addresses a press conference on August 5 in Warsaw, Poland. (Wojtek Radwanski/AFP/Getty Images)

Belarusian Olympic sprinter Kristina Timanovskaya, who defected to Poland, told reporters Thursday that she hopes she and her husband will be able to stay.

“Once my husband arrives here today, we should make this decision together. I cannot answer anything without him, but I definitely hope we can stay here, and I can continue my sports career and my husband can find some work,” she said during a press conference in Warsaw.

Timanovskaya was set to compete in the women's 200m at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday. Instead, she says representatives of the Belarus national team tried to forcibly send her home for criticizing sporting authorities on her social media. 

After receiving several offers of asylum from European countries, Timanovskaya said she had chosen Poland because her parents thought it was the easiest place for them to try and visit. 

"We chose Poland because I spoke to my parents who said that perhaps Poland will be the best choice for me because they probably would be able to come to visit me sometimes," she said Thursday. 

When asked about her last-minute decision not to return to Belarus, Timanovskaya said she was “not thinking about political asylum” and that the decision was motivated by her wish to remain in sport. 

“I was not thinking about political asylum. All I want is to remain in sports and continue my sports career here,” she told reporters. 

Speaking to CNN on Tuesday, Timanovskaya accused representative of the Belarus national team of taking away her dream by denying her the chance to compete in the women's 200 meters at the Olympics. 

Timanovskaya said the Belarusian media have already started to slander her in recent days over the incident. 

“My parents have told me that they are already talking about me on TV and saying very bad things. That I did not take the chance to run the Olympics ... that I am not a good enough sportswoman and all that. I have been sent photos from Telegram channels where people posted links to my Instagram with requests to write bad things to me,” she explained. 

“Yes, I have received many awful messages. But at that moment, I have been receiving a lot of messages of support from people. I was reading more positive comments than negative,” she added.