Costa Rican gymnast Luciana Alvarado paid tribute to the Black Lives Matter movement in her floor routine on Sunday.
Why it matters: Alvarado is the first gymnast to compete for Costa Rica at the Olympics. Her historic demonstration is the "first of its kind on an international stage in elite gymnastics," per NBC Olympics.
Singer Pink this week offered to pay the "sexist" €1,500 ($1,700) fine the European Handball Federation hit the Norwegian women's team with after they wore shorts instead of bikini bottoms at the Euro 2021 tournament.
Driving the news: Pink tweeted that she's "VERY proud" of the beach handball team's stance "FOR PROTESTING THE VERY SEXIST RULES ABOUT THEIR 'uniform.'" She added, "The European handball federation SHOULD BE FINED FOR SEXISM. Good on ya, ladies. I’ll be happy to pay your fines for you. Keep it up."
Oksana Chusovitina, a record-setting gymnast representing Uzbekistan, took her final Olympic bow before a standing ovation in Tokyo this week.
Driving the news: Chusovitina made history when she became the first gymnast to compete at seven Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. Tokyo marks her eighth and last Olympics, closing the door on a career that has spanned three decades.
Olympian Hidilyn Diaz on Monday became the first athlete to ever win a gold medal for the Philippines after besting the competition in her women's weightlifting weight class, the New York Times reports.
Why it matters: In the 97 years since the Philippines first entered the Olympics in 1924, the country had not won a gold medal at the Games until Diaz's multi-record breaking lift, per ESPN.
There was plenty of Olympics action on day three of the Tokyo Games Monday.
The big picture: Highlights for the U.S. included Caeleb Dressel leading Team USA to Olympic gold in the 4x100-meter freestyle relay and Regan Smith setting a new swimming record. Outside U.S. success, Japan's Momiji Nishiya, 13, won the inaugural Olympic women's skateboarding gold — one of the Games' youngest ever winners.
Gymnastics is one of the most popular Olympic sports. But unlike swimming (finish first!) or basketball (score more points!), it can be complex and difficult to follow.
How it works: There are seven individual events for men and five for women.
Americans are deeply divided over how transgender athletes should compete in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, with no option even coming close to a consensus view, according to a new Axios/Momentive poll.
By the numbers: While 39% of people say transgender athletes should compete against others of the gender they were assigned at birth, 20% say they should compete against others of the gender with which they identify.
TOKYO – The men's gymnastics team final kicks off shortly, so here's a quick guide to help get you started, whether you are watching live or waiting for NBC to show it later tonight.
Why it matters: The U.S. is among eight countries going for the gold today. Other competitors are China, Japan, Ukraine, Switzerland, Great Britain, Germany and athletes from Russia.
Japan's Momiji Nishiya, 13, won the inaugural Olympic skateboard competition for women, at the Tokyo Games on Monday.
Of note: She's one of the Olympics' youngest ever gold medalists — just months older than American diver Marjorie Gestring, who at 13 years 267 days set the record for the youngest winner at the 1936 Berlin Games.
The skateboarding women's street final saw silver go to another 13-year-old, Brazil's Rayssa Leal. Japanese 16-year-old Funa Nakayama won bronze.
Editor's note: This article has been updated to include details of the Olympics' youngest gold medalist.
Despite failing to get a hit for the first five innings, the U.S. women's Olympic softball team managed to tie Japan in the sixth inning and win 2-1 in the seventh, thanks to a walk-off home run from Kelsey Stewart.
Why it matters: The same two teams, which were undefeated headed into Monday's game, will meet in the gold medal match scheduled for Tuesday evening Tokyo time.
Ratings for the Olympic Games opening ceremony were down 36% compared to 2016, according to preliminary numbers from NBC Universal.
Why it matters: The figures for the Tokyo Games event mark the lowest audience for an Olympics opening ceremony event in over three decades, per Reuters.
