TOKYO: USA's gold medalist Vincent Hancock (center), Denmark's silver medalist Jesper Hansen (left), and Kuwait's bronze medalist Abdullah Al-Rashidi pose on the podium after the men's skeet final during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Asaka Shooting Range in the Nerima district of Tokyo yesterday. - AFP

TOKYO: Japan topped the medals table at the Tokyo Olympics after the host nation won three golds yesterday and British diver Tom Daley was finally crowned an Olympic champion at his fourth Games in an emotional triumph. Meanwhile, Kuwaiti shooter Abdullah Al-Rashidi won a bronze medal with a score of 46 in the Olympic men's skeet shooting competition. The US Vincent Hancock took the gold with an Olympic record score of 59 and Denmark's Jesper Hansen won silver with 55.

Heading the Japanese charge was 13-year-old skateboarder Momiji Nishiya who took gold a day after the host nation also won the men's title. "I'm so glad to become the youngest (Japanese gold medalist) at my first Olympics... tears came to my eyes," Nishiya said. Shohei Ono, one of Japan's biggest judo stars, won his second straight Olympic title with a tense victory over Georgian world champion Lasha Shavdatuashvili at the Nippon Budokan, the spiritual home of the sport.

Japan's third gold, and eighth of the Games so far, came in a table tennis shock as mixed doubles pair Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito claimed their country's first ever Olympic title in the sport. China had won every Olympic table tennis gold medal since the 2004 Athens Games, but Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen blew a two-game lead in a thrilling final.

Tears flowed at the diving venue as Britain's Daley claimed a surprise first Olympic gold in the synchronized 10m platform event with Matty Lee. The 27-year-old Daley is hugely popular in Britain, where he has spent half of his life in the public eye and become an LGBT figurehead.

His Olympic journey began as a 14-year-old at the 2008 Beijing Games and he won bronzes at the 2012 and 2016 Rio Olympics, but a gold medal had remained frustratingly elusive. However yesterday, Daley and Lee capitalized after a rare blunder by China's Chen Aisen and Cao Yuan to snatch gold.

Tribute to dad

A tearful Daley paid tribute to late father Rob, who died of cancer in 2011 at the age of 40. "He never saw me win an Olympic medal, get married, have a child, teach me to drive, have a pint down the pub," said Daley. "He took me to every training session, every competition, he was always there." Elsewhere yesterday, the battle for supremacy between swimming superpowers Australia and the United States heated up. Ariarne Titmus landed the biggest blow for Australia with a pulsating victory over American great Katie Ledecky in the 400m freestyle.

Ledecky came to Japan on the back of winning four gold medals and a silver at Rio in 2016, but Titmus ousted her as world champion in 2019 and topped the timesheets this season. The Australian reeled in Ledecky over the final 50m and said afterwards: "To pull it off in the backend against someone who has an amazing second half of her race, I'm really proud of that."

The United States bounced back to claim an emphatic victory in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay. Zach Apple brought them home after Caeleb Dressel led off, ensuring they touched in 3:08.97, ahead of Italy and Australia. Despite her setback, Ledecky was back in the pool in the evening to post the quickest time in the 200m heats and qualify fastest for the 1500m final.

False start farce

Britain's unstoppable Adam Peaty extended his dominance of the 100m breaststroke, powering to gold in 57.37sec ahead of Dutchman Arno Kamminga to retain his 2016 Olympic crown. Tom Pidcock won the mountain bike cross-country title for Britain's third gold of the day. Day three's action got under way with chaotic scenes at the men's triathlon, eventually won by Norway's Kristian Blummenfelt. In a farcical false start, around two-thirds of the 56 competitors dived into the water and set off on the swimming leg only to be hauled back. The bungled start was caused by a media boat filming the competitors before they dived in for the swimming leg.

Japan's tennis favorite Naomi Osaka eased into the third round of the women's singles with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Switzerland's Viktorija Golubic. In the men's event, world number one Novak Djokovic beat Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany 6-4, 6-3 to stay on course for a first Olympic title. COVID-19 continued to stalk the Games however, with Dutch tennis players Jean-Julien Rojer and Wesley Koolhof pulling out of the men's doubles after Rojer tested positive for coronavirus. - AFP