Olympics overnight: Simone Biles, Ellie Black make impressive returns on beam, women’s team cycling pursuit miss bronze

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/08/2021 (1523 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Rise and shine, Olympic fans. Here’s what you missed overnight and need to know about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics this morning.

For all the Star-related Summer Games content, visit our Olympics page here.

They were impressive comebacks for two brave gymnasts.

Ellie Black, fighting through a difficult ankle injury which took her out of the women’s all-around gymnastics final earlier on in Tokyo, made her return to the balance beam final and finished with a very respectable fourth place for her best career result at the Olympics.

Meanwhile U.S. superstar Simone Biles participated in her first event at Tokyo after taking a mental health break at the beginning of the Games, just narrowly edging out Black to finish third on the podium, a performance that will be sure to silence many of the naysayers Biles faced online.

Elsewhere, Andre De Grasse and Aaron Brown will sprint in the 200-metre final, Canada lost to the U.S. in women’s cycling team pursuit for bronze and the Canadian men’s volleyball team will finish fifth.

Here’s what you missed overnight on Day 11 while you were sleeping:

Biles and Black battle back

Simone Biles has finally reached the podium.

The U.S. gymnastics superstar finished third to win her seventh career Olympic medal with a score 14.000 in the women’s balance beam final, an impressive return to the Games after taking a break to focus on her mental health earlier on. First and second on the podium were China’s Guan Chenchen and Tang Xijing.

And it may have not been a medal for Canada’s Ellie Black, but the 25-year-old Nova Scotian pulled out a performance that she should be proud of. Black, who’s been battling an ankle injury, finished fourth with a score of 13.866. The total was tied with Biles’ teammate Sunisa Lee, but Black finished ahead after receiving a better execution score.

De Grasse and Brown breeze into 200m final

Canadian sprinter Andre De Grasse is still in the chase for his second medal at these Games. The 100-metre bronze medallist and teammate Aaron Brown both finished first in their 200-metre semifinal heats and will race in the final. De Grasse raced to a Canadian record and personal best time of 19.73. Brown raced to a career-best 19.99.

De Grasse was the 200-metre silver medallist in 2016.

Canada lose pursuit for bronze

The women’s pursuit track cycling team missed the podium in Tokyo, losing to the U.S. in a tight showdown for third place. The team of Allison Beveridge, Annie Foreman-Mackey, Ariane Bonhomme, Georgia Simmerling and Jasmin Duehring finished the bronze-medal race in four minutes 10.552 seconds, just over two and a half seconds behind the Americans.

Simmerling, Duehring and Beveridge were part of the group that won bronze in women’s team pursuit at the 2016 Rio Games. Duehring also helped Canada finish third in the same event four years earlier in London.

Germany won its showdown with powerhouse Britain to claim gold in a time of 4:04.242. Germany’s time beat the world record it set earlier Tuesday in the heats.

Upset for Canadian beach volleyball

Canadian beach volleyball players Sarah Pavan and Melissa Humana-Paredes, who entered the round of 16 as the top seed, lost to Australia in three sets in their quarterfinal match. Earlier, the Canadian pair of Heather Bansley and Brandie Wilkerson were also eliminated after losing 2-1 to Latvia.

More results from Canadians:

• Long distance track, men’s 5000-metres: Canadian long distance runners Moh Ahmed and Justyn Knight will race in the 5000-metre finals. The two finished second and third in their heats respectively during another hot and humid night.

• Volleyball, men’s team, finishes fifth: Canada lost to ROC 3, Canada 0 (25-21, 30-28, 25-22), to finish fifth overall, matching their result from the 2016 Rio Games.

• Water polo, women’s team: Canada will vie for fifth now after losing to back-to-back gold medallist Americans 16-5 in the quarterfinals.

• Sprinting, women’s 400-metre: Kyra Constantine, Canada, fifth in her heat with 51.69, but will advance.

• Canoe double, men’s 1000-metre: Roland Varga and Connor Fitzpatrick finish sixth.

• Kayak single, women’s 200-metre: Andréanne Langlois finished ninth.

Norwegian can barely believe it . . . and neither can we

Karsten Warholm of Norway smashed his own world record on Tuesday after running a lightning fast 45.94 seconds to win gold in the 400m hurdles. His face after the race says it all:

Well deserved day off

The Canadian women’s soccer team spent the day cycling around the Olympic Village, a day after beating the rival Americans in the quarterfinals to advance to the gold medal match on Thursday against Sweden.

Warm return for swimmers

Swimmers Maggie Mac Neil, Kylie Masse and Penny Oleksiak are back on home soil. The trio arrived in Toronto Monday afternoon after another set of impressive performances at the Tokyo Games. They were greeted by family and fans at Pearson airport while sporting their newly acquired medals.

You can view more photos here.

The Star in Tokyo:

Bruce Arthur: Belarusian sprinter’s case throws spotlight on how IOC deals with authoritarian states

Rosie DiManno: Transgender Olympic weightlifter Laurel Hubbard delivers a quietly dignified performance, away from the noise

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Photo of the day

View yesterday’s gallery here.