TOKYO (AP) — Katie Nageotte won an unexpected gold for the United States in the pole vault at the Tokyo Olympics ahead of world champion Anzhelika Sidorova of Russia today.
Nageotte failed on her first two attempts of the competition at 4.50 meters but improved from there to clinch her first major medal with a winning height of 4.90.
Sidorova took the silver at 4.85. Britain’s Holly Bradshaw won the bronze medal.
Nageotte cleared 4.90 at her third attempt in the medal-clinching round. Sidorova passed on her last chance at 4.90 and moved the bar to 4.95 but didn’t come close to clearing that.
Sidorova’s silver was the first medal in track and field at the Tokyo Games for the Russian team, which is competing under the Russian Olympic Committee name as a result of the country’s long-running doping scandal.
ELSEWHERE, Ryan Crouser has broken his own Olympic record on his way to defending his shot put title.
On his last attempt, Crouser went 23.30 meters to earn the first track and field gold for the American men at the Tokyo Games. U.S. teammate Joe Kovacs finished second and Tomas Walsh of New Zealand was third.
The 28-year-old Crouser went 22.52 meters when he won at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.
Crouser is already the world-record holder after breaking a 31-year-old mark on June 18 at the U.S. Olympic trials. His throw that evening went 23.37 meters.
In the heat at Olympic Stadium, Crouser took the lead on his first attempt and saved his best for his final one.
MEGAN Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd each scored a pair of goals and the United States won the bronze medal in women’s soccer at the Tokyo Olympics with a 4-3 victory over Australia.
It was arguably the best the Americans had looked during the course of a rocky tournament that opened with an uncharacteristic 3-0 loss to Sweden. Rapinoe set the tone early with a goal scored directly from a corner kick.
The loss spoiled the Australians’ first-ever trip to the medal round at the Olympics. No Australian soccer team, men or women, has ever won a medal.
The Matildas were the underdogs against the United States, the top-ranked team in the world and the defending World Cup champions who came to Japan hoping for a fifth gold medal. But the Americans struggled at times during the tournament, including a 1-0 loss to Canada in the semifinals.
HANSLE Parchment of Jamaica has won gold in the 110-meter hurdles at the Olympics by overtaking American Grant Holloway near the end.
Holloway, the world champion, was in front through nine out of the 10 hurdles, but suddenly faded on the last. Parchment flew past him to add an Olympic gold to the bronze medal he won at the 2012 London Games.
