Ledecky, Dressel star for US; Japan’s baseball team advances – The San Diego Union-Tribune
TOKYO —
Katie Ledecky made more history for the U.S. in the pool. Same for Caeleb Dressel.
And Japan won again in baseball’s return to the Olympics.
Ledecky won the 800-meter freestyle, finishing her grueling Olympic program with a third straight victory in a race she hasn’t lost since 2010. Dressel captured his third gold medal of the Tokyo Games with a world record in the 100-meter butterfly.
The 24-year-old Ledecky became the first female swimmer to earn six individual gold medals in her career. She won two golds and two silvers in Tokyo.
Dressel still has some work to do.
The world’s greatest swimmer advanced in the men’s freestyle semifinals with the top final time of 21.42 seconds. But Dressel lost out on another medal opportunity when he had to rally the U.S. to a fifth-place finish from the anchor leg of the new 4×100-meter mixed medley.
The Australian women added another gold when Kaylee McKeown completed a sweep of the backstroke events with a victory in the 200. Britain’s team of Kathleen Dawson, Adam Peaty, James Guy and Anna Hopkin claimed the gold in the new mixed relay with a world record of 3:37.58.
Japan’s baseball team beat Mexico 7-4 on Saturday to win Group A in the sport’s first appearance at the Olympics since 2008.
Former Central League MVP Tetsuto Yamada broke it open with a three-run homer in Yokohama, and Hayato Sakamoto went deep off former big league pitcher Manny Bañuelos. Yamada finished with four RBIs.
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.
SCARY SITUATION
BMX rider Connor Fields was transferred from the intensive care unit at a Tokyo hospital to a high-level care wing one day after a horrific crash during the semifinals of the Olympic race left him laying motionless on the asphalt.
The 28-year-old from Las Vegas sustained a brain hemorrhage in the crash, and the Olympic neurosurgeon was on standby in case surgery was needed to relieve pressure on his brain. But the most recent CT scan showed no additional brain injury, USA Cycling said in a statement, and doctors are confident that Fields will not need surgery.
The gold medalist at the Rio de Janeiro Games, Fields also sustained a collapsed lung and broken ribs in the crash.
IN FORM
China had another dominant day at the diving pool, taking the top two spots in the semifinals of the women’s 3-meter springboard.
In a repeat of the preliminaries, defending Olympic champion Shi Tingmao posted the highest score over five dives and teammate Wang Han ranked second. The pair already teamed up to win the 3-meter synchronized event.
Shi led the way with 371.45 points. Wang (346.85) and Canadian Jennifer Abel (341.40) were the only ones even close to the leader, stamping China as a huge favorite to earn its fourth diving gold in five events at these games.
Americans Krysta Palmer and Hailey Hernandez also finished in the top 12 to advance to Sunday’s final, where the scores will be wiped clean and the final standings settled with another five more dives.
MOVING ON
Italy is headed back to the Olympic quarterfinals in men’s basketball.
Nicolo Melli scored 15 points, Nico Mannion had 14 and Italy beat Nigeria 80-71 in the Group B finale for both teams.
Achille Polonara added 13 and Simone Fontecchio had 12 for Italy (2-1). The Italians trailed by eight in the fourth quarter before finding a way to win.
It’s the fifth consecutive Olympic appearance in which Italy has reached the quarterfinals, the most recent of those coming in 2004 when it won the silver medal at the Athens Games.
Chimezie Metu scored 22 points and Jordan Nwora added 20 for Nigeria (0-3). The Nigerians opened the summer with exhibition wins over the U.S. and Argentina in Las Vegas, but went no further in their first Olympic appearance under coach Mike Brown.
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Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap
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More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2020-tokyo-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports
