Tokyo Olympics: Penny Oleksiak joins Clara Hughes, Cindy Klassen as winners of six Olympic medals

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Latest Olympic highlights

• Tonight: Penny Oleksiak of Toronto finished third Tuesday behind Ariarne Titmus of Australia and Siobhan Haughey of Hong Kong in the women’s 200 metre freestyle final at the Tokyo Olympics . It is the second medal of these Games for Oleksiak, 21, who anchored Canada’s silver-winning 4x100m relay last weekend, and her sixth Olympic medal - the most ever won by a Canadian athlete at the Summer Olympics. Speed skater Cindy Klassen and cyclist and speed skater Clara Hughes also have six Olympic medals. As The Globe’s Cathal Kelly writes, Oleksiak’s place in Canadian Olympic history is now assured.
• COVID-19 surge: Governors of three prefectures near Tokyo are likely to ask the government to declare states of emergency for their regions, media said on Wednesday, after COVID-19 infections spiked to a record high in the Japanese capital. Tokyo recorded 2,848 new cases of coronavirus on Tuesday, the highest since the pandemic began, and media reported authorities had asked hospitals to prepare more beds for patients amid a surge driven by the Delta variant. Tokyo Olympics organisers on Wednesday reported 16 new Games-related COVID-19 cases, for a total of 169 since July 1. Olympic athletes, staff and media must follow strict rules to prevent the virus’s spread, including frequent testing.
• Canada’s second gold: Canadian weightlifter Maude Charron has won gold in the women’s 64-kilogram competition at the Tokyo Olympics. This is Canada’s second gold medal at the games. She had a successful lift of 131 kilograms on her third and final clean and jerk attempt. Charron also had the highest score in the snatch phase, lifting 105 kilograms. Her total of 236 points over the two phases was four better than silver medallist Giorgia Bordignon of Italy.
• Shocks: Decorated gymnast Simone Biles’ Tokyo Olympics future was in doubt on Tuesday after she dropped out of the women’s team final after one vault as the United States surrendered the gold to Russia. After a disappointing performance that saw her exit the evening’s competition, Biles said she was unsure whether she would compete on Thursday in the women’s all-around event. “I do not trust myself anymore,” Biles said. “I have to focus on my mental health.” Meanwhile, in another shock, Japanese tennis star and torchbearer Naomi Osaka was defeated by Czech Marketa Vondrousova in straight sets, 6-1 6-4 in the third round of the women’s singles tournament. The Japanese player notched 18 unforced errors throughout the match, triple that of her opponent.
• Three more Canadian medals: In addition to Charron’s gold, Canada won three other medals today. This includes two bronze medals: one went to Catherine Beauchemin-Pinard in the women’s under-63-kilogram judo competition, and the other to the women’s softball team. Earlier, Kylie Masse won a silver medal in the 100m backstroke.

OFF THE FIELD

• Politics: Chinese athletes had a golden first weekend at the Tokyo Olympics, winning in diving, weightlifting and shooting, and grabbing a clutch of other medals to top the table as Monday’s events got under way. But despite the surfeit of success, James Griffiths reports, not everyone watching was happy. Online, Chinese state media and the country’s ever-active diplomats were on close watch for any perceived slights, no matter how inconsequential.
• COVID-19: Tokyo’s 2,848 COVID-19 infections on Tuesday were the Olympic host city’s highest since the pandemic began, as media reported that authorities had asked hospitals to prepare more beds for patients as the Delta variant drives the surge. This spells trouble for the Olympics, as many Japanese fear the influx of athletes and officials for the event could add to the surge. Despite tight quarantine rules for the Games, 155 cases have emerged involving athletes and others.
• Inclusion: A record number of openly LGBTQ competitors are present in Tokyo. Whereas LGBTQ invisibility used to make Olympic sports seem out of step with the times, Tokyo is shaping up as a watershed for the community and for the Games — now, finally, starting to better reflect human diversity. Meanwhile, refugee athletes need to be given more chances to compete and earn money in international sports, the International Olympic Committee said Tuesday following criticism from runners who left the Olympic program.

Get the Olympic highlights in your inbox every day with our newsletter, or follow @globeandmail on Twitter for breaking news. Here are yesterday’s Olympic highlights in case you missed them.

More Olympic updates for July 27

• Boxing: Canadian Tammara Thibeault advanced in women’s middleweight; Caroline Veyre defeated
• 10-m synchronized diving: A disappointing but gutsy 4th-place end for Caeli McKay and Meaghan Benfeito, finishing just 0.54 points behind bronze.
• Swimming: Canadian Sydney Pickrem finished sixth in the women’s 200m individual medley.
• Soccer: Canada and Britain played to a 1-1 draw in the Group E women’s soccer finale for both teams Tuesday at the Tokyo Olympics.
• Mountain biking: Canadian cycling legend Catharine Pendrel closed her Olympic career with an 18th place finish in the women’s mountain bike. Competing in her fourth Olympics, the 40-year-old — and new mom — from Fredericton, N.B., finished eight minutes and one second behind gold medalist Jolanda Neff of Switzerland.
• Men’s Rugby sevens: New Zealand defeated Canada in the quarterfinal match 21-10, scoring all 21 points in the first half and knocking Canada out of the tournament.

The Olympic experience

Globe sports reporter Rachel Brady watched a different kind of competition at the famous Budokan arena – a Games team changing out the competition mats between the day-time and night-time sessions Read more behind-the-scenes perspectives from Globe staff at the Olympics.

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From The Globe’s Olympic team

Are the Tokyo Games already a failure? The dudness cannot be mitigated, writes Cathal Kelly

Cathal Kelly: “We’re five days in and while sports have done their job obscuring Tokyo’s organizational problems, they have not been able to change the main storyline. That this Olympics is a dud. Its dudness cannot be mitigated. ... It was always going to be a dud on the streets because the only people in this city who are excited for it draw either a paycheque or volunteer course credit from the Tokyo Organizing Committee. Thirty-four million people live in Tokyo. But sometimes you’ll be looking out the window of one of our official plague buses and you’ll think it doesn’t look all that different from downtown Cleveland.”

Stuck at Tokyo Olympics, Canadian rugby players who responded to 2019 typhoon won’t see the place they tried to help

Two years ago, Typhoon Hagibis slammed into the Japanese coast and flooded the city of Kamaishi. With their match scuttled, Canadian rugby players got busy cleaning out houses and helping the elderly. Now, COVID-19 protocols prevent them from seeing how Kamaishi has fared. Nathan VanderKlippe writes that the team’s missed opportunity is one of a thousand examples of the human connections forfeited in an Olympics that has, more than any in recent memory, been created almost exclusively as a product for television viewers, even as it has stripped joy from those actually participating.

Reminder: Before and after the Olympics, women’s sports coverage is lacking

John Doyle: “I’m here to offer you a periodic reminder – before and after the Olympics, women’s sports get less attention than they merit. We will cheer on, or even worship, our women athletes now. Their accomplishments will lift the spirits of a nation and inspire young women to devote themselves to a sport. Then, afterwards, the achievement will become a memory and the activities will barely feature in media coverage, especially on television. This has to stop.”

Tokyo Olympic events to watch tomorrow, July 28

• Boxing: Caroline Veyre takes on Italian Irma Testa in the quarterfinals of the 57 kg category (12:00 am ET), after an impressive performance in her last match.
• Road cycling: Canada’s Hugo Houle competes in the Men’s Individual Time Trial (1:00 am)
• Women’s Rugby sevens: Canada takes on Brazil (8:30 pm ET).
• Basketball: Canada meets on Korea (9:00 pm ET).

Check the full Olympic schedule for the latest event times and competitors.

The Tokyo Olympics: Essential reads

What athletes and teams should Canadians look out for? Consult our guide.

How did Canada’s swimmers use data to get stronger? Grant Robertson and Timothy Moore explain.