26 July 2021 11:48 pm Views - 521
Japan topped the medals table at the Tokyo Olympics after the host nation won three golds today and British diver Tom Daley was finally crowned an Olympic champion at his fourth Games in an emotional triumph.
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 medallist) 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 synchronised 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 on Monday, Daley and Lee capitalised after a rare blunder by China's Chen Aisen and Cao Yuan to snatch gold. AFP