Refugee team on verge of 1st Olympic medal

An Iranian defector who competes in taekwondo is one victory away from winning the Refugee Olympic Team’s first-ever medal.

Kimia Alizadeh rallied in the final minute for a 9-8 quarterfinal victory over Zhou Lijun of China in the 57-kilogram women’s division, putting her into her first Olympic semifinal.

Alizadeh, who won her bronze at the Rio Games through the repechage, was the first woman to win an Olympic medal for Iran. She subsequently left Iran for Germany last year, citing institutional sexism and frustration with being used for propaganda purposes.

Alizadeh reached the quarterfinals by pulling off the biggest upset of the Tokyo tournament, beating two-time Olympic champion Jade Jones of Britain 16-12. In her opening bout, Alizadeh comfortably beat Nahid Kiyani Chandeh, her friend and fellow Iranian.

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Olympic rowing faces more delays and schedule changes as weather forecasts predict high winds and strong gusts at the Sea Forest Waterway.

Officials say the expected weather could create unallowable conditions and have rescheduled several events to Wednesday or later. A similar forecast for Monday had forced the Games to move that day’s events to Sunday.

Delayed events include the finals for the men’s and women’s four. They will now race on Wednesday. The semifinals for men’s and women’s single sculls have been moved from Wednesday to Thursday.

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Naomi Osaka made quick work of her first match in nearly two months.

The Japanese superstar who lit the Olympic cauldron eased past 52nd-ranked Zheng Saisai of China 6-1, 6-4 in the first round of the tennis tournament at the Tokyo Games.

It was Osaka’s first match since she withdrew from the French Open and sat out Wimbledon to take a mental health break while revealing she has dealt with depression.

Osaka’s match was originally scheduled to open the tournament on Saturday but then was moved to Sunday before her starring role in Friday’s opening ceremony.

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MEDAL ALERT

Japan’s Yuto Horigome has won the first-ever skateboarding competition at the Olympic Games, taking gold in men’s street in the city where he learned to skate as a kid and where his sport is often frowned upon.

The first-ever skateboarding silver went to Brazilian Kelvin Hoefler, who used to sleep with his board when he fell in love with skating as a kid.

American skater Jagger Eaton took bronze, the Arizonan adapting best among the Americans to the heat at the Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo.

One of skateboarding’s biggest stars, Nyjah Huston from the U.S., fell repeatedly trying to land tricks and placed 7th in the eight-man final.