Tokyo Olympics Day Five: GB women’s hockey begin title defence with defeat

It’s the first Sunday of this year’s Olympic Games and the competition has already thrown up some huge stories.From tennis upsets to taekwondo surprises, GiveMeSport Women recaps the biggest news from the past 24 hours.We also look ahead to today’s schedule and which British stars to keep an eye on:

What happened overnight at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics?

GB women’s hockey begin title defence with defeat

Great Britain’s women’s hockey team have started their Olympic title defence with a disappointing 2-1 defeat to Germany in Pool A.

Sarah Jones opened the scoring for GB, but Germany hit back with goals from Viktoria Huse and Charlotte Stapenhorst to claim all three points.

Team GB face South Africa in their next game on Monday at 10:30 BST.

Ashleigh Barty loses as Naomi Osaka powers through to Olympic second-round

Tennis world number one Ashleigh Barty suffered a shock defeat to Sara Sorribes Tormo in the opening round of the women’s Olympics singles in Tokyo.

The Australian won her second Grand Slam at Wimbledon last month but lost in straight sets to the 48th ranked Spaniard.

Meanwhile, Japanese second seed Naomi Osaka eased past China’s Saisai Zheng 6-1 6-4 to reach the second round.

Jade Jones defeated in taekwondo first round

Two-time Olympic taekwondo gold medallist Jade Jones had her dreams of a third consecutive title ended after a shock first-round defeat to Kimia Alizadeh of the Refugee Olympic Team.

Jones was hoping to become the first Brit to win Olympic gold at three straight Games but lost 16-12 –– the third time she’s lost to Alizadeh in her career.
Batsarashkina becomes Russian Olympic Committee’s first gold medallist

Vitalina Batsarashkina won the women’s 10-metre air pistol event to become the Russian Olympic Committee’s first gold medallist of the Tokyo 2020 Games.

Bulgaria’s Antoaneta Kostadinova had led every stage of the competition before Batsarashkina stole victory in the final round to better her silver medal from Rio in 2016.

Britain’s Lizzie Deignan finishes 11th in cycling road race

Team GB medal hopeful Lizzie Deignan finished 11th in the cycling road race as Austria’s Anna Kiesenhofer won gold.

Kiesenhofer became the first Austrian for 125 years to win an Olympic medal in any cycling discipline.

Speaking after the race, Deignan said: "It was a weird race, although there are small teams there are agendas within the team. Because the race is so hot and so humid all of the moves were a bit blunted, there wasn't that kind of spark. It was a defensive race but still really hard.

"I'm obviously really disappointed but I have the perspective that I put myself in the position to be here, I have had a great team behind me. We have had a pandemic and we have still had an Olympics and there is so much to be thankful for."

What’s coming up at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics today?

Artistic Gymnastics

US artistic gymnastics star Simone Biles is on course to qualify for each of the five individual finals in Tokyo.

The 24-year-old won four gold medals at Rio 2016 and is aiming to be the first gymnast to claim five golds in a single Games.

There are two groups of athletes still to come, with the competition set to continue at 12:20 BST.

3x3 Basketball

This year 3x3 basketball is one of four new sports at the Olympics. It is a variation of basketball, played on a half-court, with both teams shooting at the same basket.

So far the Russian Olympic Committee and the United States have both won three games from three and meet each other at 13:25 today.

Handball

Another fast-paced, entertaining sport to watch is handball, with fixtures taking place throughout the day.

France won silver in this event at Rio 2016 and face Hungary today at 13:30 in their first match of this year’s competition.

Taekwondo

Jade Jones may be out, but there is plenty of reason to still watch the Taekwondo.

Kimia Alizadeh, who beat Jones in the first round, is aiming to become the first-ever refugee medallist after fleeing Iran in January 2020.

Alizadeh had previously won bronze while competing for Iran at Rio five years ago but felt the Iranian authorities were using her as a propaganda tool.

The 23-year-old lost her semi-final against Tatiana Kudashova but will compete in the bronze medal match at 13:00 today.