After all the lead-up, and the anxiety of hosting during these difficult times, the 2020 Tokyo Games are finally underway with the first medals being won on a busy Day 1 of competition.
Day 2 promises to be just as entertaining with Australian athletes competing across the spectrum of events. Of particular interest will be the first lot of swimming finals, where Australia's hopes of an opening medal or two appear strongest.
Find the full Olympics schedule here
In team sports the Boomers tip off their campaign tonight against Nigeria, while the Olyroos hope to back up their stunning first round win over Argentina when they take on the might of Spain.
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Day 1 |
Follow our rolling coverage of Australia's efforts on Day 2 of the Olympics:
Olyroos fall to Spain
A brave defensive effort has fallen just short for the Olyroos, losing 1-0 to Spain to leave their Olympic football quarter-finals hopes hanging by a thread.
Kookaburras rout India in Tokyo goal fest
The Kookaburras have displayed their gold medal credentials in emphatic style with a devastating 7-1 thrashing of India at the Tokyo Olympics.
Eight-time Olympic champions India were expected to provide Australia with a stern test after the Kookaburras' slightly nervy 5-3 opening win over Japan.
But the Kookaburras showed just why they are the world's top-rated team as goals from Daniel Beale, Jeremy Hayward, Flynn Oglivie and Joshua Beltz blew India away before halftime.
Blake Govers added two more, one a penalty stroke, to extend his remarkable international scoring record to 92 goals in 105 games before Tim Brand claimed a superb seventh.
- AAP
Boomers beat Nigeria to open Olympics campaign
The Boomers' quest for a maiden Olympic medal began with a messy 84-67 win over Nigeria, with flagbearer Patty Mills leading the charge with 25 points on five-of-eight three point shooting.
The contest was close for the first three quarters, but Australia surged ahead in the final term with a defensive masterclass and scored 26 points to Nigeria's 15.
They'll return on Wednesday night to meet Italy in their second group game.
Barty knocked out in first round
Ash Barty has been sensationally knocked out of the Tokyo Olympics singles in the first round, stunned by unheralded Spaniard Sara Sorribes Tormo in straight sets.
The world No.48 beat world No.1 and newly-crowned Wimbledon champion Barty 6-4 6-3 in the biggest shock of the Games to date as the Australian fell apart in the blistering Tokyo heat.
GOLD! Australia defends women's 4x100m freestyle relay title
Australia has won the Olympic women's 4x100m freestyle relay gold medal at the Tokyo Games in a world-record time.
Flagbearer Cate Campbell, Emma McKeon, Meg Harris and Bronte Campbell torched their opposition to win Sunday's final in three minutes 29.69 seconds at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre.
IOC reminds Olympians: No hugging on podiun
The International Olympics Committee has reminded athletes not to hug on the podium and keep their masks on as they celebrate their achievements at Tokyo 2020.
The reminder from the IOC comes after athletes were seen congratulating each other on the podium after the swimming on Sunday. Some athletes also removed their masks on the podium. This breaches the Olympics "playbook," a set of guidelines for the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Jessica Fox fires in first Tokyo race
Jessica Fox has laid down a promising marker at the Tokyo Olympics, finishing second in the opening run of the women's kayak slalom heats.
Fox completed her first race at Kasai in 104.05 seconds, trailing only German Ricarda Funk by 2.15.
The world No.1, pursuing gold after winning silver in this event at London 2012 then bronze at Rio 2016, and rivals will race again later on Sunday.
Replacement Purcell in huge tennis upset
Max Purcell wasn't even in the Australian Olympic team a week ago, and not even in the men's singles event until Sunday morning.
But the world No.190 is now into the second round in Tokyo, playing superb tennis to oust world No.15 Felix Auger-Aliassime.
An Australian Open men's doubles finalist last year, Purcell was added to the Australian team after Alex de Minaur's positive COVID-19 case.
Australia lose to USA in softball classic
Australia have gone close to a major upset in Olympic softball, losing to the United States 2-1 in the extra eighth inning.
A walk-off single to American third base Amanda Chidester with one out in the bottom of the eighth scored two runs, leaving the Australians shattered after a brave challenge to the gold medal favourites.
Hockeyroos bank impressive 3-1 opening win
Rosie Malone has enjoyed an Olympic debut to remember, helping the Hockeyroos open their Toyko campaign with a 3-1 win over Spain.
Goal-scorer Malone starred as her side made an on-field statement after a horrid chapter that prompted fears of a player strike and much off-field upheaval.
McLoughlin takes silver in 400m freestyle
Australian swimmer Jack McLoughlin has won the silver medal in the men's 400m freestyle at the Tokyo Olympics.
McLoughlin, a 26-year-old from Brisbane, produced a power-packed swim but was overwhelmed in the final metre by Tunisian teen Ahmed Hafnaoui in lane eight.
Smith charges home for bronze medal
Australia has collected its first medal of the Tokyo Games with Brendon Smith storming home after being as far back as seventh in the final of the men's 400m individual medley.
Smith started the final as favourite after breaking the Australia record to qualify fastest. He fell behind after the first three strokes, but powered through the field in the freestyle to almost grab the silver.
The always strong US swim team claimed the gold and silver with Chase Kalisz finishing first and Jay Litherland holding off Smith for second.
Aussies cruise in the sand in Tokyo
Australian duo Mariafe Artacho del Solar and Taliqua Clancy were untroubled in opening their Tokyo Olympics beach volleyball campaign with a straight-sets win.
The Commonwealth Games silver medallists beat Cuban pair Lidianny Echevarria Benitez and Leila Consuelo Martinez Ortega 21-15 21-14 in 40 minutes on the sand at Shiokaze Park.
The victory lifted them to the top of Pool E, with Italy and the Russian Olympic Committee - the other teams in the pool - due to open proceedings in Sunday's afternoon session.
Clancy dominated on serve with four aces, with her quickest registered at a lightning 73km/h, while she also showcased her strength at the net to pick up two block points.
The opening set began in competitive fashion as Australia held a slender 6-5 lead before winning five of the next six points, and led 19-10 before Cuba added some respectability to the scoreboard late.
The second set was far tighter, the Aussies winning six of the last seven points to close out the win.
Australia forced their Cuban opponents into 15 errors for the match, and can go a long way towards sewing up the top-two finish they need to guarantee progression to the round of 16 when they take on Italians Marta Menegatti and Viktoria Ortsi Toth on Wednesday.
-- AAP
Aussie judoka Katz bows out in round-of-16
Australian judoka Nathan Katz, who weathered three stints in hotel quarantine and multiple injuries en route to Tokyo, has given a good account of himself before bowing out at his second Olympics.
Katz defeated Peru's Juan Postigos in his opening bout, when both competitors battled throughout normal time without scoring a point.
But Israeli Baruch Shmailov proved too strong in the ensuing round-of-16 match-up, when a late hikikomi-gaeshi ended Katz's campaign at Nippon Budokan.
Katz, who has needed several cortisone injections over the past year to help manage a broken rib and bulging disc, improved on his round-of-32 loss at Rio de Janeiro.
Hifumi Abe, seeking to hand Japan a record-extending fourth Olympic gold in the 66kg division, headlines the event's list of semi-finalists.
Abe needed to win a remarkable 24-minute bout against reigning world champion Joshiro Maruyama to secure his spot on the Olympic hosts' team.
The televised one-off selection showdown took place in December; Abe and Maruyama were originally set to square off at a tournament in April but it was postponed because of COVID-19.
Katz produced an impressive ippon during golden score to defeat Postigos, changing direction while harnessing the Peruvian's momentum to throw him to the mat.
Sunday's morning session started at 11am (local time) but a series of marathon contests meant Katz cooled his heels for over two hours before finally setting foot on the tatami.
The extended wait was nothing compared to what Katz, whose mother Kerrye represented Australia at the 1988 Olympics when women's judo was a demonstration sport, has experienced over the past year.
The 26-year-old travelled to Hungary to compete alongside brother Josh at the world championships in June, which loomed as his final chance to qualify for the Olympics.
It didn't work out for the Sydneysider, who made peace with the fact he wouldn't fly to Tokyo.
But a call out of the blue from Judo Australia revealed there was a chance that a continental roll-down quota spot could potentially be his.
An appeal from another Australian judoka failed and, on July 14, Katz was officially added to Australia's Olympic team.
"I had dealt with that disappointment over the last month and now it's like I've got a new lease on life," Katz said at the time.
"It's just such a relief."
-- AAP
Australian women into quad scull final
Early front-running tactics have paid off as Australia won their repechage to reach the final of the women's quadruple sculls with a solid performance in Olympic rowing.
Ria Thompson, Rowena Meredith, Harriet Hudson and Caitlin Cronin edged out Italy by 0.77 of a second in a tight race on Sunday, winning in six minutes 36.67 seconds.
Australia lost the lead to Italy after halfway, but had a stronger finish.
"That was probably one of the most exciting races I've been in," Thompson said.
"We just wanted to get out the front of the pack, stay bowball to bowball, and then because we got out we felt a bit more in control.
"I could see what was going on around us and call out and tell the others what was going on. We really just adapted our race plan to try and stay in front.
"I think it was executed the best we could today and that was really cool."
Only the first two crews progressed to Tuesday's final and Australia finished a comfortable 3.24 seconds ahead of third-placed New Zealand.
Australian teammates Tara Rigney and Amanda Bateman finished second-last in their double sculls semi-final, meaning they are relegated to the B final.
Rigney and Bateman finished fifth out of six boats, well off the pace.
The Dutch won the semi-final in 7:08:09 and the two Australians were 7.16 seconds behind.
-- AAP
Hymer overhauled in taekwondo battle
Stacey Hymer put up a decent fight but the Australian was unable to sustain the charge in losing her round of 16 Olympic taekwondo battle with Canada's Skylar Park 25-15.
Hymer appeared on the verge of causing an upset in the women's 57kg class when she opened up a 12-6 lead midway through the second of three rounds, converting on some good counter-attacking blows to Park's body.
But five straight kicks to the trunk turned the contest the Canadian's way, the world No.3 taking a 16-12 lead in to the final round.
With time running out, a desperate Hymer tried to land the knockout blow, but Park held firm to move through to the quarter-finals.
-- AAP
Unsung swimmer eyes first Australian gold
An unheralded swimmer could claim Australia's first gold medal of the Tokyo Olympics on what looms as a Super Sunday for the nation.
Victorian 21-year-old Brendon Smith has shot to gold-medal favouritism in the 400-metre individual medley (11:30am AEST) - the first of three swim finals featuring Australians on Sunday.
Smith set an Australian record in his heat and was quickest into his final while the women's 4x100m freestyle relay team is an unbackable favourite to deliver a Sunday gold (12:45pm AEST).
The relayers - and flagbearer Cate Campbell - are seeking a third consecutive OIympic title and will race after medal prospects Elijah Winnington and Jack McLoughlin contest the 400m freestyle final (11:52am AEST).
The forecast success at the pool comes on a hectic day for Australian Olympians, who will be in action across 22 sports.
World No.1 Ash Barty starts her Tokyo singles campaign against Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo (12pm AEST) while Ajla Tomljanovic is also in action.
Barty paired with Storm Sanders on Saturday to easily beat Japan in their women's doubles opener.
Amanda Spratt will lead a high-quality Australian cycling team in the women's road race (2pm AEST), but the Dutch start as overwhelming favourites.
The Olyroos, coming off their outstanding opening win over Argentina, meet Spain (8:30pm AEST) while Jessica Fox, chasing an elusive gold medal, has her first runs in the K1 preliminaries (2:50pm AEST).
Surfing and skateboarding debut as Olympic sports with the men's and women's surf competitions scheduled to start at Tsurigasaki Beach (9am AEST).
Stephanie Gilmore, Sally Fitzgibbon, Julian Wilson and Owen Wright are Australia's surfing team.
Shane O'Neill is Australia's skateboarding entry, with the medals to be decided on Sunday (10:19am AEST).
The Boomers, after an impressive lead-up to the Games, take on Nigeria in men's basketball (6:20pm AEST).
The Hockeyroos begin their Tokyo assault against Spain (11am AEST) and the Kookaburras, fresh from a tough 5-3 win over the host nation, play India (7:30pm AEST).
Australia must stage a major upset against the United States (11am AEST) to keep their faltering softball campaign alive, while the Sharks play Montenegro in men's water polo (4:30pm AEST).