Japan’s capital has announced it will start recognizing same-sex partnerships to ease the burdens faced by residents in their daily lives, but the unions will not be considered legal marriages.

Support for sexual diversity has grown slowly in Japan, but legal protections are still lacking for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.

Japan does not legally recognize same-sex marriages, and LGBTQ people often face discrimination at school, work and at home, causing many to hide their sexual identities.

The Tokyo government said applicants for a partnership certificate will be limited to adult residents of the capital but will include foreign nationals.

Tokyo’s metropolitan government will begin accepting registrations in October.

The Shibuya district in Tokyo became the first Japanese municipality to issue partnership certificates in 2015.

Now, about 12% of the country's municipalities have taken similar steps.

A man dressed in Batman's Joker costume and brandishing a knife on a Tokyo commuter train on Sunday stabbed several passengers before starting a fire, which sent people scrambling to escape and jumping from windows, police and witnesses said.

The Tokyo Fire Department said 17 passengers were injured, including three seriously. Not all of them were stabbed and most of the other injuries were not serious, the agency said.

The attacker, identified as a 24-year-old man, was arrested on the spot and was being investigated on suspicion of attempted murder, NHK said. His motive was not immediately known.

Nippon Television reported that the suspect told police that he wanted to kill and get the death penalty, and that he used an earlier train stabbing case as an example.

Witnesses told police that the attacker was wearing a bright outfit — a green shirt, a blue suit and a purple coat — like the Joker in Batman comics or someone going to a Halloween event, according to media reports.

Tokyo police officials said the attack happened inside the Keio train near the Kokuryo station.

Television footage showed a number of firefighters, police officials and paramedics rescuing the passengers, many of whom escaped through train windows. In one video, passengers were running from another car, where flames were gushing.

NHK said the suspect, after stabbing passengers, poured a liquid resembling oil from a plastic bottle and set fire, which partially burned seats.

Shunsuke Kimura, who filmed the video, told NHK that he saw passengers desperately running and while he was trying to figure out what happened, he heard an explosive noise and saw smoke wafting. He also jumped from a window but fell on the platform and hurt his shoulder.

“Train doors were closed and we had no idea what was happening, and we jumped from the windows,” Kimura said. “It was horrifying.”

The attack was the second involving a knife on a Tokyo train in two months.

In August, the day before the Tokyo Olympics closing ceremony, a 36-year-old man stabbed 10 passengers on a commuter train in Tokyo in a random burst of violence. The suspect later told police that he wanted to attack women who looked happy.

While shooting deaths are rare in Japan, the country has had a series of high-profile knife killings in recent years.

In 2019, a man carrying two knives attacked a group of schoolgirls waiting at a bus stop just outside Tokyo, killing two people and injuring 17 before killing himself. In 2018, a man killed a passenger and injured two others in a knife attack on a bullet train. In 2016, a former employee at a home for the disabled killed 19 people and injured more than 20.

TOKYO —

Related video: Japanese Citizens Say 2021 Summer Olympics Are ‘Impossible’

More than 80% of people in Japan who were surveyed in two polls in the last few days say the Tokyo Olympics should be canceled or postponed, or say they believe the Olympics will not take place.

The polls were conducted by the Japanese news agency Kyodo and TBS — the Tokyo Broadcasting System.

The results are bad news for Tokyo organizers and the International Olympic Committee as they continue to say the postponed Olympics will open on July 23.

Tokyo is battling a surge of COVID-19 cases that prompted the national government last week to call a state of emergency. In declaring the emergency, Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said he was confident the Olympics would be held.

Japan has controlled the virus relatively well but the surge has heightened skepticism about the need for the Olympics and the danger of potentially bringing 15,000 Olympic and Paralympic athletes into the country.

The Olympics could also attract tens of thousands of coaches, judges, officials, VIPs, sponsors, media and broadcasters. It is not clear if fans from abroad will be allowed, or if local fans will attend events.

Japan has attributed about 3,800 deaths to COVID-19 in a country of 126 million.

The TBS poll asked if the Olympics can be held. In the telephone survey with 1,261 responding, 81% replied “no” with only 13% answering “yes." The “no” responses increased 18 percentage points from a similar survey in December.

In Kyodo's poll, 80.1% of respondents in a telephone survey said the Olympics should be canceled or rescheduled. The same question in December found 63% calling for cancellation or postponement.

Kyodo said the survey covered 715 randomly selected households with eligible voters. Neither poll listed a margin of error.

Japan is officially spending $15.4 billion to hold the Olympics, although several government audits show the number is about $25 billion. All but $6.7 billion is public money.

The Switzerland-based IOC earns 91% of its income from selling broadcast rights and sponsorships.

The American network NBC agreed in 2011 to a $4.38 billion contract with the IOC to broadcast four Olympics through the Tokyo. In 2014 it agreed to pay an added $7.75 billion for six more games — Winter and Summer — through 2032.

TOKYO —

Related video above: Sarah Storey: I want to be the best version of me at Paralympics

Cyclist Paige Greco of Australia claimed the first gold medal of the Tokyo Paralympic Games, winning the 3,000-meter pursuit on Wednesday on the velodrome track. Wang Xiaomei of China was second and bronze went to Denise Schindler.

It was the first of 24 gold medals up for grabs on Wednesday as the Paralympics got underway in the middle of a pandemic that has seen new cases in Tokyo soar since the Olympics opened just over a month ago.

Medals were also contested on Wednesday in swimming and wheelchair fencing.

Greco was born with cerebral palsy, which mostly affects the right side of her body. It was her first Paralympic Games medal.

"It feels amazing," Greco said. "I still can't believe it. I keep looking down and seeing (the gold medal). It's not really sunk in yet."

Away from the competition, organizers confirmed Wednesday that two more athletes have tested positive for COVID-19 in the Paralympic Village. That brings the total to three positive tests by athletes in the Village over the last two days.

Over the last three days, organizers have confirmed nine positive tests in the Village. The additional six, who are not atheletes, are described as "Games-related personnel."

Organizing committee spokesman Masa Takaya said the athletes were "from different sports and different countries." But he gave few details and said the athletes have been placed in isolation.

He was asked if there was a COVID-19 cluster in the Village.

"Whether or not there is a cluster should be based on the advice from specialists," he said.

Japan is expanding its coronavirus state of emergency for a second week in a row, adding several more prefectures as a surge in infections fueled by the delta variant that strains the country's health care system.

The Japanese capital has been under the emergency since July 12, but new daily cases have increased more than tenfold since then to about 5,000 in Tokyo and 25,000 nationwide. Hospital beds are quickly filling and many people must now recover at home, including some who require supplemental oxygen.

Japan has weathered the pandemic better than many other countries, with around 15,600 deaths nationwide since the start, but its vaccination efforts lag behind other wealthy nations. About 40% of the population has been fully vaccinated, mainly elderly people.

Dr. Shigeru Omi, top medical advisor for the government, criticized International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach for returning to Tokyo to attend Tuesday's opening of the Paralympics.

"Right now, the government is requesting people to telework and (Bach) is coming back just for that," Omi said, responding to a question from an opposition lawmaker in parliament.

"When the government is making those requests to the people, why is the Olympic leader, President Bach, coming all the way to Tokyo. Anyone with normal, common sense should be able to think that he has already come once and even visited Ginza."

International Paralympic Committee spokesman Craig Spence confirmed the IPC is in contact with two Paralympic athletes from Afghanistan who have left the country. He declined to speculate whether they might eventually reach Tokyo for the Paralympics.

"There's a lot of speculation going on where these Afghan athletes are," Spence said. "I'm not going to tell you where they are because this isn't about sport, this is about human rights and keeping people safe."

He added they were in a "safe place."

Several reports say the two athletes — Hossain Rosouli and Zakia Khudadadi — may have arrived in Australia.

TOKYO —

Video above: Tokyo Olympic opening ceremony

It began with a virus and a yearlong pause. It ended with a typhoon blowing through and, still, a virus. In between: just about everything.

The Tokyo Olympics, christened with "2020" but held in mid-2021 after being interrupted for a year by the coronavirus, glided to their conclusion in a COVID-emptied stadium Sunday night as an often surreal mixed bag for Japan and for the world.

A rollicking closing ceremony with the theme "Worlds We Share" — an optimistic but ironic notion at this human moment — featured everything from stunt bikes to intricate light shows as it tried to convey a "celebratory and liberating atmosphere" for athletes after a tense two weeks. It pivoted to a live feed from Paris, host of the 2024 Summer Games. And with that, the strangest Olympic Games on record closed their books for good.

Held in the middle of a resurging pandemic, rejected by many Japanese and plagued by months of administrative problems, these Games presented logistical and medical obstacles like no other, offered up serious conversations about mental health — and, when it came to sport, delivered both triumphs and a few surprising shortfalls.

From the outset, expectations were middling at best, apocalyptic at worst. Even Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, said he'd worried that these could "become the Olympic Games without a soul." But, he said, "what we have seen here is totally different."

"You were faster, you went higher, you were stronger because we all stood together — in solidarity," Bach told gathered Olympians as he closed the Games. "This was even more remarkable given the many challenges you had to face because of the pandemic. In these difficult times, you give the world the most precious of gifts: hope."

"For the first time since the pandemic began," he said, "the entire world came together."

At these Games, even the word "together" was fraught. Spectators were kept at bay. A patchwork of rules kept athletes masked and apart for much of medal ceremonies.

Athletes' perseverance became a central story. Mental health claimed bandwidth as never before, and athletes revealed their stories and struggles in vulnerable, sometimes excruciating fashion.

Japan's fourth Olympics, held 57 years after the 1964 Games reintroduced the country after its World War II defeat, represented a planet trying to come together at a moment in history when disease and circumstance and politics had splintered it apart.

The closing ceremony Sunday reflected that — and, at times, nudged the proceedings toward a sci-fi flavor. As athletes stood in the arena for the final pomp, digital scoreboards at either end of the stadium featured what organizers called a "fan video matrix," a Zoom call-like screen of videos uploaded by spectators showing themselves cheering at home.

Even the parade of athletes carrying national flags — thousands of Olympians, masked and unmasked, clustering together before fanning out into the world again — was affected. Volunteers carried some flags into the stadium, presumably because of rules requiring athletes to leave the country shortly after their events concluded.

In front of such formidable backdrops, athletic excellence burst through, from the Games' first gold medal (China's Yang Qian in the 10-meter air rifle on July 24) to their last (Serbia defeating Greece in men's water polo on Sunday afternoon).

Among the highlights: Allyson Felix taking a U.S.-record 11th medal in track, then stepping away from the Olympic stage. American quintuple gold medalist Caeleb Dressel's astounding performance in the pool. The emergence of surfing, skateboarding and sport climbing as popular, and viable, Olympic sports. Host country Japan's medal haul — 58, its most ever.

Any Olympics is a microcosm of the world it reflects. These Games' runup, and the two weeks of the Games themselves, featured tens of thousands of spit-in-a-vial COVID tests for athletes, staff, journalists and visitors. That produced barely more than 400 positives, a far cry from the rest of non-Olympic bubble Japan, where surges in positive cases provoked the government to declare increasingly widespread states of emergency.

And, of course, there was that other microcosm of human life that the Games revealed — the reckoning with mental and emotional health, and the pressure put on top-tier athletes to compete hard and succeed at almost any cost. The interruption of that pressurized narrative, led by the struggles of gymnast Simone Biles and tennis player Naomi Osaka in particular, permeated these Games and ignited the spark of an athlete-driven conversation about stress, tolerance and inclusivity that everyone expects to continue.

While Tokyo is handing off the Summer Games baton to Paris for 2024, the delay has effectively crammed two Olympics together. The next Winter Games convenes in just six months in another major Asian metropolis — Beijing, Japan's rival in East Asia and home to a much more authoritarian government that is expected to administer its Games in a more draconian and restrictive way, virus or no virus.

Beyond that, Paris organizers promised Sunday to "take sport out of its traditional spaces" and "connect with new audiences in new ways" in 2024 — presuming, of course, the absence of a protracted pandemic. They went live from the closing to excited groups of fans clustered near the Eiffel Tower, a crowded public scene that Tokyo didn't allow.

In recent weeks, lots of people — officials, athletes, journalists — have been chewing over how these Tokyo Games will be remembered. That's up to history, of course, but there are hints.

The runup was messy and disputed. The days of competition were fraught but, in general, without incident other than sporting milestones. Even a moderate earthquake rumbled through and was quickly forgotten. Scattered protests of the Games — including one outside the stadium Sunday night — reflected a portion of Japan's sentiment, though certainly not all. The expenses — upwards of $15 billion — were colossal and will echo in Tokyo long after athletes are gone.

What are the Olympic Games supposed to be? A politics-free sporting event, as the IOC insists? A bonanza for sponsors and broadcasters? One small step toward world peace? Despite all the yarn-spinning, their identity remains up in the air and that fundamental question remains.

But as the cauldron was snuffed out Sunday night after the Pandemic Olympics concluded, it's easy to argue that Tokyo can take its place as a Games that didn't fail — as one that overcame a lot to even happen at all. And as vaccines roll out, variants emerge and lockdowns re-emerge, another city and government — Beijing, the Chinese capital — must grapple with the very same question.

In the meantime, the program for Tokyo's closing ceremony, outlining its "Worlds We Share" theme, captured the effect of the pandemic and the virtual worlds and separation anxiety to which it has given birth.

"We are in a new normal, and this edition of the Games were a different affair," it said. "Even if we cannot be together, we can share the same moment. And that is something that we will never forget."

TOKYO —

Nothing about the summer was easy for the U.S. men’s basketball team, and neither was the gold-medal game.

The Americans expected nothing less.

And in the end, their Olympic reign lives on.

Kevin Durant scored 29 points and joined Carmelo Anthony as the only three-time men’s gold medalists in Olympic history and the U.S. held off France 87-82 on Saturday to win the title at the Tokyo Games — ending a summer that started with sputters but closed with celebration.

“Every championship is special, and the group you're with is special, but I can be honest and say this is the most responsibility I’ve ever felt," said U.S. coach Gregg Popovich, who adds this gold to five NBA titles he's won as coach in San Antonio. “You're playing for so many people that are watching, and for a country, and other countries involved. The responsibility was awesome. I felt it every day for several years now. I'm feeling pretty light now and looking forward to getting back to the hotel."

Wine was awaiting. Later Saturday night, after Slovenia and Australia play for bronze, Popovich and the team return to the arena one more time for their gold medals.

“Everybody was questioning us," U.S. forward Draymond Green. “This is special."

Durant sealed it with two free throws with 8.8 seconds left, making the outcome academic. The lead was five, France’s final possession was irrelevant, and it was over. The U.S. players gathered for a hug at midcourt, Durant, Green and Bam Adebayo wrapped themselves in American flags, U.S. coach Gregg Popovich had a long hug with his assistants and the journey was complete.

“I'm so happy for Pop, the staff, the players, the country," said a teary-eyed USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo, who was overseeing the men's program for a fourth and final Olympics and won gold in every one. “It's a great way to finish."

Jayson Tatum added 19 points, Damian Lillard and Jrue Holiday each scored 11 for the U.S. — which knew nothing but gold would make this trip a success.

“I think it's more joy than relief, but definitely some relief," Lillard said. “Because of the expectations that get placed on Team USA, obviously it's going to be some relief."

Evan Fournier and Rudy Gobert each scored 16 for France, which now has three silver medals — all coming after gold-medal-game losses to the U.S. Guerschon Yabusele scored 13, Nando de Colo had 12 and Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot scored 11 for France.

“They played better," Fournier conceded, as Popovich stopped to hug him. “They played better."

The mission was accomplished: Gold, again — the 16th time in 19 Olympic tries for the U.S. The Americans had a players-only meeting after the opening loss to France at these games, vowed to figure things out and never lost again.

“Each and every one of us put in that work every single day, from coaches to the trainers to the players," Durant said. “We all came in with that goal of, ‘Let’s finish this thing off. Let’s build a family. Let’s build this team. Let’s grow this team every day.' ... Man, it’s just incredible to be a part of something so special, and I’m bonding with these guys for life, this family for life."

For some, it adds to family legacies. Holiday now is an Olympic gold medalist, just like his wife Lauren was twice with the U.S. women’s national soccer team. JaVale McGee now has Olympic gold, just like his mother Pamela won with the U.S. women in basketball at the 1984 Los Angeles Games.

“It's an amazing feeling, man," said McGee, who adds gold to his three NBA titles. “I've got a gold medal. My mother has a gold medal. We're the first to do it, mother-son duo. It's an amazing feeling. You can't really explain it. Just knowing you're the best in the world, amazing, man."

For Milwaukee Bucks teammates Holiday and Khris Middleton, it’s admission into a rare club: Before now, only Scottie Pippen (who did it twice), Michael Jordan, LeBron James and Kyrie Irving had won an NBA title and Olympic gold in the same year.

“Definitely a great summer," Holiday said.

And for Popovich, it completes an Olympic journey that started a half-century ago. He was playing for the United States Air Force Academy, tried unsuccessfully to make the 1972 U.S. Olympic team — “the powers that be actually selected Doug Collins instead of me, it’s hard to believe,” Popovich joked earlier this summer — then accepted the task of replacing Mike Krzyzewski as the U.S. coach for this Olympic cycle.

“Being part of the Olympics has been a dream,” Popovich said.

Popovich insists this is not about his legacy, but his players and assistants might disagree with him on that one.

“I'm just thrilled for Pop and for Jerry," U.S. assistant coach Steve Kerr said. “Pop has been thinking about this for the last four or five years. Jerry is the one who turned USA Basketball around after the ‘04 Olympic loss. ... We wanted to send Jerry out with the gold medal. Thrilled for him, thrilled for Pop."

The U.S. missed its first eight 3-point tries before Durant got one to drop with 2:04 left in the opening quarter, starting what became a 21-8 run by the Americans on the way to a 39-26 lead midway through the second quarter.

Just as he did when the U.S. was down against Spain and Australia earlier in the knockout round, Durant stepped up at the biggest moments. He had 21 points by halftime, keeping the Americans afloat.

“He's phenomenal," Adebayo said.

France closed the half on a 13-5 spurt and got within 44-39 at the break, then within two early in the third quarter.

And after the U.S. briefly led by 14, Nicolas Batum — who saved his team with a last-second block to close out a win over Slovenia in the semifinals — beat the third-quarter buzzer with a 3-pointer that cut the U.S. lead to 71-63 entering the fourth. But the French never got the lead back.

This U.S. team was one that seemed vulnerable when the summer started with losses in its first two exhibitions, wasn't even complete when the Olympics started because three players were in the NBA Finals, lost Bradley Beal to virus-related issues before the games began, and had lost its last two games against France.

Didn't matter. Olympic champions, again.

“We're thrilled and honored to be able to represent the country the way we did," Popovich said. “The team progressed very rapidly in a very short period of time under some difficult circumstances, which I think made this win all the sweeter. We're glad it's over."

American Molly Seidel, a relative newcomer to the marathon stage, took home the bronze in the women's Olympic marathon.

She won the bronze medal in 2:27:46 of the women’s Olympic Marathon event in Tokyo.

It was Seidel's third marathon run.

Seidel is the third American woman to medal in the Olympic marathon, only after Deena Kastor won bronze in Athens in 2004 and Joan Benoit Samuelson who won gold in Los Angeles in 1984, according to reports.

Peres Jepchirchir led a 1-2 Kenyan finish in the women’s marathon, withstanding the heat and humidity while running through the streets of Sapporo.

Jepchirchir finished in a time of 2 hours, 27 minutes, 20 seconds in a race moved up an hour to avoid the heat. A smattering of fans lining the course applauded as the Tokyo Games moved north for the marathons and race walks. Her teammate Brigid Kosgei was second.

Men's basketball

Nothing about the summer was easy for the U.S. men’s basketball team, and neither was the gold-medal game.

The Americans expected nothing less.

And in the end, their Olympic reign continues.

Kevin Durant scored 29 points and joined Carmelo Anthony as the only three-time men’s gold medalists in Olympic history and the U.S. held off France 87-82 on Saturday to win the title at the Tokyo Games — ending a summer that started with sputters but closed with celebration.

Women's golf

Nelly Korda has given the Americans a sweep of gold medals in golf, holding on for a one-shot victory in a thrill-a-minute finish to the Olympic women’s golf competition.

Korda led by as many as three shots on the back nine. In the end, she needed two putts from just inside 30 feet on the 18th hole for par and a 2-under 69.

Mone Inami of Japan made bogey from a plugged lie in the bunker on the 18th hole and faced a playoff against Lydia Ko of New Zealand for the silver medal.

For the 23-year-old Korda, it was another glittering moment in her dream season. She won her first major championship six weeks ago and rose to No. 1 in the world for the first time. Now she has an Olympic gold medal and leaves no doubt who’s the best in women’s golf.

Xander Schauffele won the gold for the men last Sunday.

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Meanwhile, the U.S. women's basketball team will be playing for a record seventh gold medal Saturday night when the Americans play Japan at the Tokyo Games.

Track and field competition comes to a close on Day 15 of the Olympics and Allyson Felix, fresh off her record-setting 10th medal, will try to pass Carl Lewis as the most decorated American runner if she participates in the 4x400 meter relay. The U.S. men's team will also try to medal in the 4X400 relay, and Vashti Cunningham is expected to contend for a gold medal in the women’s high jump.

The U.S. baseball team featuring Todd Frazier and Edwin Jackson plays Japan in the gold medal game, while the U.S. women's volleyball and water polo teams also play in the finals.

Here are some things to watch:

Women's basketball

Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will try to lead the U.S. women's basketball team to a seventh consecutive gold medal when the Americans play Japan in the Olympic final.

Bird and Taurasi will be going for a record fifth gold — an achievement no other basketball player has ever accomplished.

Japan has already assured itself the first Olympic medal in women’s basketball in the country’s history. Coach Tom Hovasse had said when he was hired a little over four years ago that his team would be playing against the Americans for gold at the Tokyo Games.

His team proved him right.

Track & Field

Allyson Felix became the most decorated female track and field athlete in Olympic history with a bronze medal in the 400 meters and said after her run she expects to be part of the women's 4X400 relay team.

If she is and the Americans medal, it would be the 11th of Felix's career and move her past Carl Lewis as the most decorated track and field athlete in U.S. history.

At 35 years old, Felix knew coming into Tokyo that collecting any hardware would be the biggest challenge of her career.

"I always believe in myself. I trust my training," Felix said. "But of course I’m also a fan of the sport, I hear the chatter. I think people thought that it was a longshot for me to even be on the U.S. team and I knew I wasn’t a pick for the medals. But, you know, just give me a shot."

The relay participants aren't announced ahead of time but the women's squad could consist of Sydney McLaughlin, who set the world record in the 400-meter hurdles, and Dalilah Muhammad, who finished second.

Women's volleyball

The U.S. seeks its first gold medal ever in women’s volleyball when the Americans take on Brazil in the finals.

The United States has won three silver medals and two bronze since 1984, but has never stood at the top of the podium at the Olympics. The Americans lost to Brazil in 2008 and '12 and to China in 1984.

U.S. coach Karch Kiraly is looking to join China’s Lang Ping as the only Olympians to win gold as a player in volleyball and also a coach. His team is led by three-time Olympians Jordan Larson and Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson, who have already won silver and bronze medals.

Women's water polo

The U.S. women's water polo team goes for its third straight gold medal when it faces Spain in the final at the Tatsumi Water Polo Centre.

The U.S. is hoping to join the men’s teams from Britain (1908-1920) and Hungary (2000-2008) as the only countries to win at least three straight water polo titles at the Olympics.

Hungary has earned the country’s first medal in women’s water polo, beating the Russian team 11-9 for bronze at the Tokyo Olympics.

Vanda Valyi scored three times for Hungary, which finished fourth in each of the last three Games. Rita Kesthelyi had two goals.

Men's baseball

Mike Scioscia is one win from matching mentor Tommy Lasorda, the only manager to lead the United States to a baseball gold medal.

But host Japan, which stopped its major league season during the Tokyo Olympics, is the favorite in the gold medal game.

The U.S. is a mixture of prospects mostly from Double-A, career minor leaguers and released veterans. The Americans overcame a blown ninth-inning lead in a 7-6, 10-inning loss to Japan to reach the final by beating the Dominican Republic 3-1 and South Korea 7-2.

Nick Martinez will start for the U.S. The 31-year-old right-hander pitched for Texas from 2014-17, then spent three seasons with the Pacific League’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters before switching this season to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks.

Martinez got the opening-round win over South Korea, allowing one run and four hits in five innings with nine strikeouts. He is familiar with Yokohama Stadium from his time in Japan.

The cauldron will be snuffed Sunday on the exhausting, enlightening, sometimes enraging 2020 Tokyo Olympics — held, actually, in 2021. These are the Games that were to be tolerated, not celebrated.

They will be both.

Imperfect but not impossible, these Olympics — willed into existence despite a pandemic that sparked worldwide skepticism and hard-wired opposition from Japan's own citizens — just might go down as the Games that changed sports for good.

The countries that typically dominate the numbers game have done so again when tallying gold, silver and bronze. But there have been some big surprises along the way, some of them delivered by smaller nations, older athletes and teenage newcomers. Sunday is the last day of competition in Tokyo.

As they did in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, the United States and China rank first and second in total medals. After Saturday, the U.S. led the total medal count with 108, including 36 gold.

China wanted a big medal count ahead of hosting the 2022 Beijing Winter Games in February. China had 87 total medals after Saturday, 38 of them gold, bolstered by strong results in diving, shooting, weightlifting and gymnastics.

Here are some things to watch as things wrap up:

Women's basketball

Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi will try to lead the U.S. women's basketball team to a seventh consecutive gold medal when the Americans play Japan in the Olympic final.

Bird and Taurasi will be going for a record fifth gold — an achievement no other basketball player has ever accomplished.

Japan has already assured itself the first Olympic medal in women’s basketball in the country’s history. Coach Tom Hovasse had said when he was hired a little over four years ago that his team would be playing against the Americans for gold at the Tokyo Games.

His team proved him right.

Women's volleyball

The U.S. seeks its first gold medal ever in women’s volleyball when the Americans take on Brazil in the finals on Sunday.

The United States has won three silver medals and two bronze since 1984, but has never stood at the top of the podium at the Olympics. The Americans lost to Brazil in 2008 and '12 and to China in 1984.

U.S. coach Karch Kiraly is looking to join China’s Lang Ping as the only Olympians to win gold as a player in volleyball and also a coach. His team is led by three-time Olympians Jordan Larson and Foluke Akinradewo Gunderson, who have already won silver and bronze medals.

TOKYO —

Set the alarm for Day 14 of the Tokyo Games and watch Allyson Felix attempt to win a 10th track and field Olympic medal over breakfast. Then stay up late to catch the U.S. men's basketball team play for the gold.

Most of Friday's high-profile events are early, including the jumping team event at Tokyo's Equestrian Park. Jessica Springsteen, daughter of Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Bruce Springsteen and his E Street Band wife, Patti Scialfa, will attempt to win her first Olympic medal.

Medals will be awarded in the women's marathon, women's high jump, women's 10,000-meters, men's javelin, men's 1,500-meters and both 4x400 meter relays.

Women's Volleyball

April Ross now has the complete set of Olympic beach volleyball medals: silver in London, bronze in Rio de Janeiro and a gold she won with Alix Klineman at the Tokyo Games on Friday with a victory over Australia.

The Americans beat Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy of Australia 21-15, 21-16 under a blazing sun in a match that was mercifully quick for the biggest crowd yet at Shiokaze Park — about 60 people in the temporary stadium that seats 9,600.

Playing in 92-degree Fahrenheit (33 Celsius) temperatures under the hot Tokyo sun, the Americans finished off the Aussies in 43 minutes. In the bronze medal match earlier Friday, Joana Heidrich and Anouk Verge-Depre of Switzerland cruised to a straight-set victory over Latvia.

The silver for Australia was its first beach volleyball medal since Natalie Cook and Kerri Pottharst took gold on Bondi Beach in 2000. But they were never really close against the Americans, who tied for the top spot in the Olympic qualification points race and lost just one set in seven matches in Tokyo.

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Here are some things to watch (all times Eastern):

Track & Field

Allyson Felix came to the Tokyo Games chasing history. The track star has nine medals across four Olympics, most of any woman in U.S. track and field history.

One more medal would give her 10 — enough to tie Carl Lewis' overall Olympic record and pass Merlene Ottey of Jamaica for most in women's track and field. Felix will run in the finals of the 400-meters, but at 35 years old, she knows the task will be difficult.

"You get older," said Felix, "and it seems like it’s harder."

Men's Basketball

France made sure the U.S. wouldn't win a medal at the 2019 Basketball World Cup, then beat the Americans again to open the Tokyo Games.

If France beats the U.S. for a third consecutive time, the country will take over as Olympic champions.

The rematch is set: France and the U.S. play for gold, and France has made it this far in the Olympics only twice before, falling to the U.S. in the gold-medal games at Sydney in 2000 and at London in 1948.

The Americans are bidding for a fourth consecutive gold medal, and Kevin Durant can join Carmelo Anthony as the only U.S. men with three basketball golds.

No nation has ever defeated the U.S. men twice in the same Olympics.

Equestrian

Jessica Springsteen failed to qualify for the individual jumping finals at Tokyo’s Equestrian Park in her first Olympic Games, but the daughter of Bruce Springsteen can still medal in the jumping team event.

The 29-year-old will be part of America’s four-rider entry.

The U.S. won the event at the FEI World Equestrian Games in 2018 and will be seeking a record fourth Olympic gold medal in the team jumping event. The Americans have won a record nine Olympic medals in the team jumping event, including silver at the Rio Games.

Water Polo

Greece plays Hungary and Serbia takes on Spain in the semifinals of the men’s water polo tournament.

Each game is a rematch from the first day of group play in Tokyo. Spain beat Serbia 13-12 in their first matchup, and Greece held off Hungary for a 10-9 win.

Greece is one win away from its first men’s water polo medal at the Olympics. Serbia is looking for its second straight title after it won in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Men's Baseball

South Korea plays Dominican Republic in the bronze medal baseball game. The U.S. beat South Korea to send the defending champions into the bronze medal game.

TOKYO —

A giant flag will be flown from the Eiffel Tower on Sunday that Paris Olympic organizers claim will be the biggest in history.

The unfurling is planned during the closing ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics when the formal handover goes to the next Summer Games host in 2024.

The passing of the hosting baton will be split between the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo and a public party in Paris.

Related video: Tokyo opening ceremony

"It will be biggest flag ever flown," Paris organizing committee president Tony Estanguet said, describing it as the size of a soccer field.

Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo is in Tokyo to take part in the closing ceremony and French President Emmanuel Macron will take part by video link from the French capital.

TOKYO —

Related video above: Jessica Springsteen joins USA Equestrian Team at Tokyo Olympics

A sumo wrestler that may have spooked the horses has been knocked out of the Olympic equestrian ring.

The statue and a nearby patch of cherry trees that riders thought might be startling the animals during the individual jumping event were among the obstacles swapped out for the start of the team competition Friday night.

Officials say designer Santiago Varela had planned on removing the sumo wrestler even before riders said the life-sized rikishi might be rankling their animals.

Several pairings in the early stages of Tuesday's individual qualifying stopped short near the sumo wrestler, who was positioned next to the 10th obstacle on the 14-jump course. The hurdle was located right after a sharp turn, and the wrestler's wedgied backside was the first thing in sight for horse and human.

"As you come around, you see a big guy's (butt)," British rider Harry Charles said, adding "I did notice four or five horses really taking a spook to that."

The jumping course is always reconfigured between the individual and team rounds, and several of the Japanese-themed barriers were swapped out. The new fences include a life-size samurai and jumbo-size sushi.

Despite the minor drama, jumpers have been overwhelmingly pleased with Varela's design. Vivid — and potentially distracting — fences are a trademark of Olympic jumping venues, and in the end, it's the riders' jobs to keep their animals calm on the course.

"You know it's going to be colorful coming here," Scott Brash of Britain said Tuesday. "You know it's going to be decorative. And it's beautiful, you know? It's fantastic. That's what makes it a championship. If it was just plain old jumps, it'd be just like any other week."

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. — The Olympics have dominated sports headlines, but another sport is plotting its own rise to the top. Some people are asking when we might see a gold medalist in esports.

If you ask Josh Hafkin, he would tell you video games aren’t his whole life. But, if you look around his office, it’s a bit of a different story.

Hafkin is the CEO of Game Gym.

“Game Gym is an esports training center and broadcast center,” said Hafkin. "We started with an afternoon program and private lessons, and we quickly grew to summer camps, tournaments, events, birthdays, we kind of have done it all in the industry.”

If you haven’t heard of esports, it’s competitive video games. Game Gym is kind of an all-in-one youth training center.

“In the video game world, there’s no one guiding kids, there’s no one helping kids navigate this path and that’s really dangerous,” said Hafkin.

Hafkin has won over the minds of many to show that esports is a viable industry. That includes his partner, Evan Shubin.

“I was definitely an extremely skeptical parent. I had two boys that were teenagers and very, very avid gamers, League of Legends and Overwatch, and I thought it was a big waste of time,” said Shubin.

But Shubin enrolled his kids in Game Gym’s after-school program. When one of his sons received grants to be a part of the esports program at Ohio State, he did a 180 and decided to invest in Game Gym.

“The industry is growing, no questions about it, and so there are jobs in esports and there will be more jobs. If you think about the NBA, only a tiny fraction of basketball players get paid to play basketball. But the coaches, the trainers, the general managers, the business managers, the sponsorship sales folks, all of those people are making money in the basketball industry,” said Shubin.

Game Gym hopes to be a part of the growing industry and so does the Washington Justice, a professional Overwatch League team.

“So, the same way there’s the NBA for basketball, the NHL for hockey, there’s the Overwatch League which is a professional league that has 20 teams in it,” said Grant Paranjape, the vice president of esports business with the Justice. “We are the DMV’s professional Overwatch League team."

The Justice and the Overwatch League are just one section of a growing industry. According to Newzoo, the industry is expected to produce over $1 billion for the first time this year.

While those numbers are still dwarfed by other professional sports leagues, it has some people curious if in the future we might see esports on an even bigger stage.

“I think we absolutely will see esports in the Olympics. It’s something that they’re already kind of teasing,” said Hafkin.

“Viewership is down for the Olympics. They are really struggling,” said Paranjape.

But just because it seems like esports teams could be competing for gold doesn’t mean those in the industry think it’s the best idea to grow the sport.

“We’ve kind of come around to the idea that esports doesn’t really need the Olympics. The Olympics might need esports,” said Paranjape.

“If they can make it and validate it, then it could be huge. If they just use it as a marketing tool to sell more Coca-Cola sponsorships, I’m less cool with that,” said Hafkin.

So, the jury is still out on if and how we might see esports on the international stage, but without a doubt, esports are here to stay.

TOKYO, Tokyo —

A man with a knife stabbed at least 10 passengers on a commuter train in Tokyo on Friday and was captured by police after fleeing, fire department officials and news reports said.

NHK public television said one passenger was seriously injured. It said the suspect left his knife behind as he fled and later gave himself up at a convenience store. The Japanese capital is currently hosting the Olympics, which end Sunday.

The Tokyo Fire Department said nine of the 10 injured passengers were taken to nearby hospitals, while the tenth was able to walk away. All of those injured were conscious, fire department officials said.

A witness at a nearby station where the train stopped said passengers were rushing out of the carriages and shouting that there was a stabbing and asking for first aid. Another witness told NHK that he saw passengers smeared with blood come out of the train, as an announcer asked for doctors and for passengers carrying towels.

Dozens of paramedics and police arrived at the station, one of the witnesses said.

NHK said the suspect later walked into a convenience store and identified himself as the suspect on the news and said he was tired of running away. The store manager called police after seeing blood stains on the man's shirt. Police were questioning the man as they prepared his arrest, NHK said.

The stabbing occurred near Seijogakuen station, according to railway operator Odakyu Electric Railway Co.

Police declined to comment and no other details were immediately available.

While shooting deaths are rare in Japan, the country has had a series of high-profile killings with knives in recent years.

In 2019, a man carrying two knives attacked a group of schoolgirls waiting at a bus stop just outside Tokyo, killing two people and injuring 17 before killing himself. In 2018, a man killed a passenger and injuring two others in a knife attack on a bullet train. In 2016, a former employee at a home for the disabled allegedly killed 19 people and injured more than 20.

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AP journalist Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.

An Australia team that beat Team USA in a pre-Olympics exhibition was no match for the Americans in a tournament elimination game.Breanna Stewart scored 23 points and filled up the box score with crooked numbers as the Americans won their Olympic quarterfinal with Australia by a 79-55 score in Japan.Their 53rd-straight Olympic win sets the Americans up for a semifinal fight with Serbia.Team USA went down 5-2 very early but Stewart took over, scoring 10 points in a 14-1 run leading into a timeout. She'd finish the first half with 20 points.The Americans led 26-12 after one quarter, Stewart well on her way to upping the ante following 9, 15, and 17 points in her first three games of the Olympics.Australia, of course, didn't quit and opened the second quarter with a 13-2 run spurred by a 3-point play from Stephanie Talbot and a straight-up 3-pointer from Leilani Mitchell, who had nine points in the first half.It was a red herring, though, as Team USA dominated at both ends of the floor. The Americans held Australia to 30 percent shooting, blocking five shots while dishing out 24 assists (led by Chelsea Gray's eight). Coach Dawn Staley got everyone in the game, but it was all about Stewart. She shot 8-of-10 from the floor including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, grabbing five rebounds to go with two blocked shots, a steal, and three assists. Stewart also drew six fouls.Brittany Griner had the highlight of the game, one of her two blocks and emphatic standing denial. She ended with 15 points, two steals, two blocks, and eight boards.Related video — Olympic Drill: 3x3 Basketball

Simone Biles is returning to competition in Tokyo.The 2016 Olympic champion will compete in the balance beam finals on Tuesday, a little over a week after stepping away from the meet to focus on her mental health.“We are so excited to confirm that you will see two U.S. athletes in the balance beam final tomorrow — Suni Lee AND Simone Biles!! Can’t wait to watch you both!” USA Gymnastics said in a statement.The 24-year-old Biles won bronze on beam in Rio de Janeiro five years ago and qualified for the eight-woman final at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre on the first weekend of the Games.She removed herself from the team final on July 27 after a shaky performance on vault during the first rotation. She watched from the sidelines as her three American teammates completed the meet without her; the U.S. took silver behind the team known as the Russian Olympic Committee.Biles later said she was dealing with issues surrounding air awareness, referred to as “the twisties” in her sport.Biles qualified for all five individual event finals but took herself out of four of them: the all-around, vault, floor exercise and uneven bars. Lee earned the gold in the all-around, becoming the fifth straight American to claim the sport's marquee title.

Red Sox prospect Triston Casas hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the fourth inning, Nick Allen also went deep and the United States rallied past defending champion South Korea 4-2 Saturday night to finish the group stage of the Olympic baseball tournament with a 2-0 record.

Nick Martinez (1-0), who left the major leagues for Japan after the 2017 season, struck out nine in five innings. Scott McGough, Edwin Jackson, Anthony Gose and David Robertson finished a five-hitter for the Americans, who struck out 14.

The United States, which beat Israel 8-1 in its opener, earned Sunday off as the Group B winner and plays Group A winner Japan (2-0) on Monday night in the start of a double-elimination second stage. South Korea (1-1) faces the Dominican Republic (1-1) on Sunday.

Martinez, a right-hander who turns 31 next Thursday, was 17-30 for Texas from 2014-17 and signed with the Pacific League’s Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters after the Rangers demoted him to Triple-A 13 times. He switched to the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks this season and is 7-2 with a 2.03 ERA.

While Major League Baseball refused to allow 40-man roster players at the Olympics and many teams blocked top prospects from participating, Nippon Professional Baseball stopped its season.

Martinez allowed one run and four hits. South Korea, which started seven left-handed hitters, scored in the first after Park Hae-min led off with a three-hopper to shortstop and beat Allen’s throw for an infield single.

Park took third on a single by Lee Jungh-hoo, a son of former Korean League MVP Lee Jong-beom, and scored when Kim Hyun-soo, who played for Baltimore and Philadelphia in 2016-17, bounced into a forceout.

McGough, a 31-year-old right-hander, had his only big league experience in six games with Miami in 2015. He is in his third season with the Pacific League’s Yakult Swallows. Gose reached 98.9 mph in his 1 1/3 innings; no other pitcher has topped 94.5 mph.

Robertson got the save after allowing a walk, double and Oh Jaeil's sacrifice fly.

Side-arming South Korean right-hander Ko Youngpyo (0-1) gave up three runs and four hits in 4 2/3 innings, struck out six and walked none.

Ko allowed one baserunner in the first three innings, then plunked Eddy Alvarez on the left thigh with a breaking ball leading off the fourth.

Casas, a 21-year-old who was the 26th overall pick by Boston in the 2018 amateur draft, reached down for a 2-2 breaking ball on the inside corner at the knees and drove it about four rows into the right-field seats, Casas is in his first season at Double-A Portland.

Allen, a career minor leaguer playing independent ball in Midland, Texas, jumped on a hanging breaking ball in the fifth, driving it 10 rows into the left-field seats.

Alvarez’s single chased Ko, and singles by Alvarez and Tyler Austin against Go Woosuk made it 4-1.

JAPAN 7, MEXICO 4

Former Central League MVP Tetsuto Yamada had four RBIs and broke open the game with a three-run homer, and Hayato Sakamoto went deep off former big league pitcher Manny Bañuelos.

Masato Morishita (1-0), a 23-year-old right-hander who is reigning Central League Rookie of the Year, allowed two runs and five hits in five innings. Ryoji Kuribayashi got three straight outs for the save.

Joey Meneses, a 29-year-old in Double-A with Boston and the 2018 International League MVP, had three RBIs for Mexico, including a two-run homer in the eighth off Kaima Taira.

Mexico faces an elimination game on Sunday against Israel (both 0-2).

Mexico starter Juan Oramas (0-1) allowed two runs and four hits in three innings.

Morishita, who pauses his windup with his left leg bent at a 90-degree angle and only then finishes his delivery, gave up an RBI single in the first to Meneses.

Takuya Kai, the 2019 Japan Series MVP, hit a tying single in the second, and Hideto Asamura chopped a run-scoring comebacker in the third for a 2-1 lead.

Yamada, the 2015 Central League MVP and a six-time All-Star, turned on a fastball at the letters in the fourth from Arizona minor leaguer Édgar Arredondo for a 5-1 lead.

Mexico had runners at the corners with no outs in the bottom half. Adrián Gonzalez, a five-time All-Star whose last big league season was 2018, brought in a run when he grounded into his second double play to go along with two strikeouts.

Samamoto homered in the seventh off Bañuelos, who had a 6.31 ERA in a big league career than ended in 2019. Yamada added an RBI single in the eighth.

Oliver Pérez, a 40-year-old left-hander released by Cleveland in May, pitched got two outs in the ninth and did his familiar leap over the foul line.

There will be a new fastest man of the Olympics crowned Sunday when the 100-meter dash is run without Usain Bolt in the finals for the first time since 2008.

The favorite to claim the gold is American sprinter Trayvon Bromell, a 26-year-old from St. Petersburg, Florida. The race is the marquee event of the Olympics and closes out a busy night at Olympic Stadium.

Newly minted Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee will be looking to add to her medal haul in the uneven bars final, while Americans Jade Carey and MyKayla Skinner are medal threats in the vault finals.

Here are some things to watch (all times Eastern):

Track & Field

There will be a new gold medalist in the marquee race of the Olympics and it just might be an American who takes over the spot left open by Usain Bolt's retirement.

Bolt won three consecutive golds in the men's 100-meter dash but he's now moved on in his life and there's an opening for a new star. Trayvon Bromell doesn't have the same swagger as Bolt, but he does have speed.

The 26-year-old from Florida is an unassuming sprinter in a showman's event. Bromell is the favorite in Sunday's gold medal race. He'll be challenged by teammate Ronnie Baker, Andre De Grasse of Canada and Akani Simbine of South Africa.

Bromell won the U.S. Olympic trials and also has the top time of 2021, at 9.77 seconds. The sportsbooks believe Bromell will win and he's the even-money favorite for the gold.

Olympic Stadium will be the centerpiece of Sunday night's Tokyo Games coverage, with medals also set to be handed out in the women's 100-meter hurdles and the men's long jump. NBC's primetime coverage begins at 7 p.m. and will also feature the women’s springboard final in diving and an elimination match in women's beach volleyball.

Gymnastics

Simone Biles is taking another night off in Tokyo, where she's found herself unable to compete because of mental health issues. She pulled out of the women's team final, the women's all-around and won't participate Sunday in the uneven bars or vault.

So it will be newly minted Olympic all-around champion Sunisa Lee looking to add to her haul in the uneven bars final. Lee and Belgium’s Nina Derwael are the heavy favorites to top the podium.

Americans Jade Carey and MyKayla Skinner posted two of the top four scores in vault during qualifying and will both be medal threats in the finals. Skinner made it into the final when defending Olympic champion Biles opted out.

Medals will also be handed out in men’s floor exercise, pommel horse and still rings, with coverage beginning at 4 a.m.

Basketball

The U.S. women's basketball team will continue the quest for a seventh consecutive gold medal as Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi lead the Americans against France in the final game of group play.

The women are 2-0 in group play. The game against France will be aired at 12:40 a.m.

In men's competition, Slovenia against reigning World Cup champion Spain is the game of note.

Luka Doncic has had a spectacular Olympics for Slovenia and is the leading scorer in Tokyo; Slovenia’s men’s national team is 15-0 all-time when he’s in the lineup.

The game will decide the winner of Group C and be assured of a top-four seed in the quarterfinals — but both Slovenia and Spain will be in the quarterfinals, win or lose. The game is at 4:20 a.m.

Beach volleyball

Elimination rounds in women's beach volleyball will be live in primetime beginning at 8 p.m.

Tennis

Novak Djokovic’s quest for the Golden Slam ended and the men's top-ranked tennis player in the world left Tokyo without a single medal. Alexander Zverev of Germany knocked off Djokovic and will play Karen Khachanov of the Russian Olympic Committee in the gold medal match live for the late crowd.

Water polo

The U.S. men's water polo team will play Greece live in primetime.

Field hockey

The field hockey women's quarterfinal will also air live, as well as the bronze medal and gold medal matches of women's doubles badminton.

TOKYO —

Caeleb Dressel is expected to be the star of Day 7 at the Tokyo Games as he seeks his third gold medal in Friday night coverage of the Olympics.

The U.S. women's soccer team plays the Netherlands in a rematch of the World Cup final, and Allyson Felix can become the most decorated female Olympian in track and field.

Both the U.S. men's and women's water polo teams play and Hannah Roberts in BMX freestyle will try to become the youngest U.S. medalist in cycling since 1912. She’d also be the first female teenager to win an Olympic cycling gold medal.

Swimming

Lilly King took silver and Anne Lazor won the bronze in the women's 200 meter breaststroke at the Tokyo Aquatics Center. Shortly after, Ryan Murphy captured the silver medal in the men's 200 meter backstroke event.

Caeleb Dressel is the favorite in the men’s 100-meter butterfly, an event he won at the past two world championships and is the world record holder. He's already won two golds in Tokyo.

Katie Ledecky will be attempting to earn her 10th career medal as a big favorite in the women’s 800-meter freestyle. A victory would give Ledecky six individual golds over her career, which would be the most of any female swimmer. Ledecky is currently tied with Hungarian great Krisztina Egerszegi after winning gold in the 1,500 free.

The mixed 4x100 medley relay makes its Olympic debut. The chaotic event features teams comprised of two men and two women, but there are no restrictions on which swimmers take each of the four strokes.

That sets up some odd-looking but thrilling races where big leads can quickly evaporate.

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Here are some other events to watch (all times Eastern):

Track & Field

Activity has hardly started at Olympic Stadium but Friday gives a preview of what could be the race of the Olympics.

The women's 400-meter hurdles opening round puts Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad in action. The two have lowered the world record each of the past three times they’ve raced in a major competition. McLaughlin currently holds it at 51.90.

In the mixed 4X400 relay, a medal for the Americans would push Allyson Felix past Merlene Ottey of Jamaica as the female Olympian with the most track and field medals. She currently has 10 medals.

Water Polo

The U.S. women’s water polo team faces the Russian Olympic Committee in its first game since its first loss at the Olympics since 2008. Trying for its third consecutive gold medal, the U.S. lost 10-9 to Hungary in group play on Wednesday. It was the United States’ first loss since Jan. 16, 2020, at Australia. It dropped to 130-4 since it won gold at the 2016 Games.

Alex Obert and the U.S. men’s water polo team take on Krisztian Manhercz and Hungary. Obert scored twice during a tough 12-11 loss to Italy on Thursday, and Manhercz had five goals on five shots in a 23-1 victory against South Africa.

The U.S. is looking to strengthen its position for a likely berth in the quarterfinals.

Early Morning Soccer

The U.S. women’s national soccer team has advanced to the quarterfinals in Japan.

The Americans face the Netherlands — the team’s opponent in the 2019 World Cup final in France — on Friday in Yokohama. If they lose, they will go home.

Freestyle BMX

Hannah Roberts, a three-time BMX freestyle world champion at the age of 19 and the first woman to land a 360 tailwhip in competition, will try to become the youngest U.S. medalist in cycling since 1912. She'd also be the first female teenager to win an Olympic cycling gold medal.

Roberts since 2019 has won three world cup titles, three world championships and has a Pan American Games gold medal.

For the late crowd

Olympic first-timers Sarah Sponcil and Kelly Claes, the youngest U.S. beach volleyball team ever to qualify for the Summer Games, have a chance to finish with a perfect 3-0 record when they play Brazil in the round-robin finale.

The U.S. women’s volleyball team will play the Russian Olympic Committee live, and the men's trampoline final will also be held.

Tennis begins to wind down. The women's singles final is the headliner, along with the bronze medal matches for men's singles, women's singles, women's doubles and mixed doubles.

The third round of the men's golf tournament will also be played.

The United States handily won their men's basketball match against Iran, showcasing the country's strength in both offense in defense.Team USA dominated the court, defeating Iran with a final score of 120-66. Team USA is the most successful nation in men's Olympic basketball, having won all but four Olympic gold medals since basketball was introduced as a sport at the Games in 1936.This is a breaking story and will be updated.

In a way, the massive upheaval that upended the U.S. Olympic world over the past five years was designed for the sort of moment Simone Biles faced.

Not long after Biles withdrew from the gymnastics team final Tuesday night, the leader of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said she was convinced as ever that changes geared toward a sharper focus on the overall health of athletes — not just the medals they win — have been worth it.

Sarah Hirshland, the CEO of the USOPC, told The Associated Press if a new atmosphere the federation has tried to create played any small part in offering comfort to Biles as she wrestled with what to do, “then I’m thrilled that it was a safe enough space for her to make that decision."

“Whether it's our organization, the changes at (USA Gymnastics) or whether it's because it's a conversation that’s been happening in society and in the athlete community overall, it’s positive,” Hirshland said.

Biles said she pulled out of Tuesday's meet because “I have to do what’s right for me and focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and my well-being."

Hirshland came aboard at the USOPC in 2018, shortly after details emerged about former gymnastics coach Larry Nassar's abuse of dozens of athletes over the span of decades. USA Gymnastics underwent a thorough housecleaning, starting with its top executives and including national team coordinator Marta Karolyi.

Related video: 2020 Olympics -- opening ceremony

The USOPC also underwent massive change: The positions of board chair, CEO and sports performance director all changed hands. The federation has been overhauling everything from its mission statement to the way it allocates resources. The COVID-19 pandemic that postponed the Tokyo Games by a year only served to heighten the focus on athlete well-being. One key part of the USOPC overhaul included its increased emphasis on mental health counseling.

“We're deploying every resource that’s available to her, and we want to give her space to make choices that are going to be right for her,” Hirshland said of Biles. “We can't know the answer because none of us live in her shoes.”

On Wednesday afternoon in Tokyo, Biles withdrew from the women's all-around, giving up the chance to defend the coveted title. She has not decided if she will compete in the event finals scheduled later in the week.

Her decision to pull out of the team final almost certainly turned a gold medal into a silver for the U.S. team. What she does next will impact the U.S. medal haul. She had been expected to win as many four golds in the individual events.

None of that matters, Hirshland insists.

“These are not the USOPC's medals, these are the athletes' medals," she said. "We can't lose site of that. They make these choices. They do the work. They perform, and we are simply here to create an environment in which they can be successful.”

TOKYO —

For decades, they were told to shake it off or toughen up — to set aside the doubt, or the demons, and focus on the task at hand: winning. Dominating. Getting it done.

For years, Simone Biles was one of the very best at that. Suddenly — to some, shockingly — she decided she wasn't in the right headspace.

By pulling on her white sweatsuit in the middle of Tuesday night's Olympic gymnastics meet, and by doing it with a gold medal hanging in the balance, Biles might very well have redefined the mental health discussion that's been coursing through sports for the past year.

Michael Phelps, winner of a record 23 gold medals and now retired, has long been open about his own mental health struggles. Phelps has said he contemplated suicide after the 2012 Olympics while wracked with depression. Now an analyst for NBC's swimming coverage, he said watching Biles struggle "broke my heart."

"Mental health over the last 18 months is something people are talking about," Phelps said. "We're human beings. Nobody is perfect. So yes, it is OK not to be OK."

Biles joins some other high-profile athletes in the Olympic space — overwhelmingly females — who have been talking openly about a topic that had been taboo in sports for seemingly forever.

— Tennis player Naomi Osaka withdrew from the French Open, never went to Wimbledon and, after her early exit in Tokyo this week, conceded that the Olympic cauldron was a bit too much to handle.

— American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson made no secret of the issues she faced as she prepared for an Olympic journey that never happened. She said she used marijuana to help mask the pain of her birth mother's death, to say nothing of the pressure of the 100 meters.

— Dutch cyclist Tom Dumoulin left training camp in January to clear his head, saying he was finding it "very difficult for me to know how to find my way as Tom Dumoulin the cyclist." He resumed training in May; on Wednesday, he won a silver medal in the men's individual time trials.

— Liz Cambage, a WNBA player who competes for Australia, pulled out of the Olympics a week before they opened because of anxiety over entering a controlled COVID bubble in Tokyo that would have kept her friends and family away.

"Relying on daily medication to control my anxiety is not the place I want to be right now. Especially walking into competition on the world's biggest sporting stage," she wrote on social media.

Biles, though, took things to a new level — one that now makes it thinkable to do what had been almost unthinkable only 24 hours before. She stepped back, assessed the situation and realized it would not be healthy to keep going.

On Wednesday, she pulled out of the all-around competition to focus on her mental well-being.

"I have to do what's right for me and focus on my mental health, and not jeopardize my health and well-being," a tearful Biles said after the Americans won the silver medal in team competition. She said she recognized she was not in the right headspace hours before the competition began.

"It was like fighting all those demons," she said.

The International Olympic Committee, aware of the struggles young athletes face, increased its mental health resources ahead of the Tokyo Games. Psychologists and psychiatrists are onsite in the Olympic village and established a "Mentally Fit Helpline" as a confidential health support service available before, during and for three months after the Games.

The 24-hour hotline is a free service that offers in more than 70 languages clinical support, structured short-term counseling, practical support and, if needed, guidance to the appropriate IOC reporting mechanisms in the case of harassment and/or abuse.

The IOC-developed Athlete365 website surveyed more than 4,000 athletes in early 2020, and the results led the IOC to shift its tone from sports performance and results to mental health and uplifting the athlete's voices.

Content was created for various social media platforms to feature current Olympians championing mental heath causes. And the Olympic State of Mind series on Olympics.com shares compilations of mental health stories and podcasts.

"Are we doing enough? I hope so. I think so," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Wednesday. "But like everyone in the world, we are doing more on this issue."

Naoko Imoto, a swimmer at the 1996 Atlanta Games, is a consultant on gender equity for the Tokyo Olympic Committee. She said Osaka's admission in early June about mental-health struggles represented an opening for a discussion largely avoided.

"In Japan, we still don't talk about mental health," Imoto said. "I don't think there's enough of an understanding on mental health, but I think there are a lot of athletes coming out right now and saying it is common."

Australian swimmer Jack McLoughlin choked back tears after winning the silver medal in the 400-meter freestyle Sunday, describing how the pressures of training during a pandemic while also pursuing an engineering degree nearly caused him to quit the sport.

"That's all to my family and friends. They really helped me out, I was really struggling," McLoughlin said. "I train up to 10, 11 times a week, so to do that when you are not 100% sure you're actually going to get where you want to be is pretty hard."

Particularly with the world watching. John Speraw, coach of the U.S. men's volleyball team and the son of a psychologist, hired a specialist to assist his athletes when he coached at UC Irvine. He was an assistant on two Olympic teams before advancing to be the head coach for the Rio Games. There, he noticed his players were posting on Facebook — during the actual opening ceremony.

"To me, it was the most striking," he said. "I think we are very conscious of the increased scrutiny and external pressure and expectations that it places on our athletes."

Thriveworks, a counseling, psychology, and psychiatry services with more than 300 locations, found that one in three elite athletes suffer from anxiety and depression. In an analysis of more than 18,000 data points from print, online, broadcast and social media sources covering track and field, swimming, tennis, gymnastics and soccer, 69% of negative mentions were about female athletes compared to 31% about male athletes.

It showed that when the focus is on an individual athlete, coverage becomes less enthusiastic with a 29% negative tone that exemplifies the public pressure and criticism athletes face, said Kim Plourde, a licensed clinical social worker at Thriveworks who works with elite athletes through the Alliance of Social Workers in Sport.

"Female athletes have to manage a different level of expectations from themselves, coaches, other athletes, media, and fans ranging from their physical appearance to their performance," Plourde said.

Jenny Rissveds of Sweden was the youngest women's cross-country mountain biking champion when she won gold in Rio at 22. A year later, two deaths in her family triggered depression she still deals with. Rissveds failed to win a second consecutive gold, finishing 14th in Tokyo, but she was elated to be done with competition.

"I'm just so f—-ing happy that it's over," she said. "Not just the race. But all these years, to not have to carry that title any more. I have a name and I hope that I can be Jenny now and not the Olympic champion, because that is a heavy burden.

"I hope that I will be left alone now."

CINCINNATI —

Greater Cincinnati gymnasts are stunned after learning Simone Biles pulled out of the team competition.

But, they are still waiting to see what's next for "The GOAT."

Just like the rest of world, gymnast Kylie Himmler was shocked to hear Olympic great Simone Biles pulled out of the team competition Tuesday in Tokyo.

“I can’t even imagine the pressure that she has on herself," Himmler said.

Himmler knows about pressure.

The 15-year-old has spent eight years perfecting her craft at The Gymnastics Center in Green Township.

She can see herself on an Olympic stage one day.

“That’s like the big, big goal," Himmler said. "But, there’s a lot of little ones. That’s what’s nice about gymnastics is there’s so many little goals. Like, getting new skills and doing it at a meet. So, I feel like there’s little accomplishments and you can find the positive in anything in gymnastics.”

Regardless, Himmler said she has nothing but respect for Biles.

“She is doing skills no one else will ever do," Himmler said. "No one ever in the world.”

Biles taking a step back shows gymnasts like Himmler, sometimes it's needed in order to push forward.

“It was really sad but at the same time, I’m really glad to see someone as great as Simone has challenges and struggles just like me. It makes me feel better about how I do my gymnastics," Himmler said.

The Gymnastics Center owner Michelle Booth said the pressure is unbelievable.

“It’s an incredible amount of pressure, but I do think it shows that she’s human," Booth said. "I think in that aspect it’s great for all of the gymnasts to realize that no one is perfect at all times."

Booth said mental strength is crucial when it comes to gymnastics.

Her gymnasts go through mental training to help keep them in a positive place.

Himmler said gold medal or not, Biles will always be "The GOAT."

Alaska, of all places, has an Olympic champion at the pool.

Seventeen-year-old Lydia Jacoby gave the United States a victory in the women's 100-meter breaststroke, knocking off teammate and defending champion Lilly King on Tuesday.

Jacoby was the first swimmer from the Arctic state ever to make the U.S. Olympic swimming team.

Now, she's heading back to giddy Anchorage with a gold medal, rallying to win in 1 minute, 4.95 seconds..

South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker claimed the silver in 1:05.22, while King gave the Americans another medal by taking the bronze in 1:05.54.

Jacoby's stunning win salvaged what had been a disappointing morning for the American team. The U.S. had only managed a pair of bronze medals before the high schooler came through.

Jacoby was only third at the turn, trailing Schoenmaker and King. But, with her head bobbing furiously out of the water, the teenager surged past King and glided past the South African on the final two strokes to touch first.

Looking at the scoreboard with a bit of disbelief, the enormity of her accomplishment finally hit when Schoenmaker reached across the lane rope for a hug. Then it was King bounding over from two lanes away to congratulate America's new breaststroke queen.

On the men's side, the U.S. team lost a backstroke race at the Olympics for the first time since 1992.

Russia swept the top two spots in the 100-meter back Tuesday, with Evgeny Rylov claiming the gold medal in 51.98 and teammate Kliment Kolesnikov taking the silver in 52.00.

Defending Olympic champion Ryan Murphy settled for the bronze in 52.19.

It was the first backstroke defeat for the U.S. men at the Olympics since the Barcelona Games. They won 12 straight golds at the last six Olympics, including Murphy's sweep of the 100 and 200 back at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

It was a good morning for Australia and Britain.

World record-holder Kaylee McKeown gave the Aussie women another gold medal with a victory in the women's 100 backstroke, setting an Olympic record.

Her winning time of 57.47 was just off the world mark she set this year of 57.45. The silver went to Canada's Kylie Masse in 57.72, while former world record-holder Regan Smith of the United States grabbed the bronze at 58.05.

Coming into the Olympics, Australia had not won an individual women's title since 2008. Now they have two, with McKeown's gold coming after Ariarne Titmus' victory Monday in the 400 freestyle.

Britain went 1-2 in the men's 200 freestyle. Tom Dean captured the gold in 1 minute, 44.22 seconds, while teammate Duncan Scott picked up the silver in 1:44.26. The bronze went to Brazil's Fernando Scheffer at 1:44.66.

American Kieran Smith settled for a sixth-place showing after capturing a bronze in the 400 free.

Defending 200 free champion Sun Yang was banned from the Tokyo Olympics for a doping violation. He is serving a more than four-year ban, though he could be eligible to return for the 2024 Paris Games.

Titmus and Katie Ledecky both advanced to Wednesday's final of the 200-meter freestyle, setting up another showdown after their thrilling race in the 400 free.

Titmus was the top qualifier in the 200 semis at 1:54.82, while Ledecky -- the defending Olympic champion -- cruised to the third-best time in 1:55.34. The Aussie Terminator will be looking for her second straight gold after rallying to beat Ledecky in the 400 free.

TOKYO —

On the Olympic podium, three teenage girls — 13, 13 and 16 — with weighty gold, silver and bronze medals around their young necks, rewards for having landed tricks on their skateboards that most kids their age only get to see on Instagram.

After decades in the shadows of men's skateboarding, the future for the sport's daring, trailblazing women suddenly looked brighter than ever at the Tokyo Games on Monday.

It's anyone's guess how many young girls tuned in to watch Momiji Nishiya of Japan win the debut Olympic skateboarding event for women, giving the host nation a sweep of golds in the street event after Yuto Horigome won the men's event.

But around the world, girls trying to convince their parents that they, too, should be allowed to skate can now point to the 13-year-old from Osaka as an Olympic-sized example of skateboarding's possibilities.

The silver went to Rayssa Leal, also 13 — Brazil's second silver in skateboarding after Kelvin Hoefler finished second on Sunday in the men's event.

The women's bronze went to Funa Nakayama of Japan.

The event was celebrated as a win for women by many of the 20 competitors.

The field included Leticia Bufoni of Brazil, whose board was snapped in two by her dad when she was a kid to try to stop her from skating. There was a Canadian, Annie Guglia, who didn't see any other girls skate during her first two years on her board.

And there were plenty of others for whom the Olympic competition felt like a light at the end of a long tunnel.

"It's going to change the whole game," U.S. skater Mariah Duran said. "This is like opening at least one door to, you know, many skaters who are having the conversations with their parents, who want to start skating.

"I'm not surprised if there's probably already like 500 girls getting a board today."