Bali faces oxygen shortage, as nearly 2,300 Covid-related deaths reported in Asean
The death toll in Asean hit a new high on Saturday, although there was a decline in new Covid-19 cases, collated data showed.
New Covid-19 cases on Saturday fell to 97,990 compared to 100,068 on Friday, while 2,288 people died compared to 2,184 the previous day.
ADVERTISEMENTx
Health Ministry officials in Indonesia’s Bali Island said that they are facing oxygen shortage due to the increasing number of Covid-19 cases.
As of Thursday, patients’ demand for oxygen was 113.3 tonnes, but hospitals across the island have only 40.5 tonnes of oxygen, officials said.
Recently, Indonesia had imported oxygen from countries, such as the US and China.
The government is currently holding discussions on whether the strict Covid-19 measures covering Bali, Java and 15 other provinces should be extended beyond Sunday.
The Vietnam government has imposed 15-day lockdown measures on its capital, Hanoi, in a bid to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Under the measures, people are not allowed to hold gatherings, while only government agencies, hospitals and some necessary businesses were allowed to open.
Bali faces oxygen shortage, as nearly 2,300 Covid-related deaths reported in Asean
The 107th joint Mekong River patrol by China, Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand, concluded on Friday, with three Chinese law-enforcement vessels returning home to a port in southwest Chinas Yunnan Province.
Atotal of four vessels from China and Laos navigated over 600 km over four days and three nights, according to the Yunnan provincial public security department. Laos, Myanmar, and Thailand sent police to carry out land patrols.
The patrol had targeted illegal immigration in the Mekong River basin, said the department.
ADVERTISEMENTx
During the operation, the law enforcement officers have constantly warned passing merchant ships of heavy rainfalls and risks of rising water level.
The Mekong River, known as the Lancang River in China, is a vital waterway for cross-border shipping.
China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand have been carrying out joint patrols on the Mekong River since December 2011.
Floods cause “destruction of historic proportions” to German rail infrastructure: DB
North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate could again experience heavy rain and thunderstorms over the weekend, the German weather service DWD said on Friday. In some areas, up to 40 liters of precipitation per square meter could be expected.
Last week’s devastating floods have caused “destruction of historic proportions” to Germany’s rail infrastructure, state rail operator Deutsche Bahn (DB) said here on Friday.
“Our infrastructure has never been destroyed in this dimension in one fell swoop,” said Volker Hentschel, member of the board of DB Netz, a subsidiary of the rail operator. “We are facing a tremendous challenge.”
ADVERTISEMENTx
Last week, catastrophic floods caused by intense rainfall blocked roads and highways, cut off electricity and swept away houses in Germany. The federal states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate were hit particularly hard, with at least 170 people killed and many still missing.
Damage to Germany’s rail infrastructure totaled nearly 1.3 billion euros (1.5 billion U.S. dollars), as some 50 bridges, 40 signal boxes, 180 railroad crossings and more than 1,000 catenary and signal poles were damaged, according to DB.
The rail operator’s goal is to have “around 80 percent of the damaged infrastructure back in shape” by the end of the year, Hentschel said. However, because some routes in western Germany are still flooded or completely gone, reconstruction would take “months, if not years.”
North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate could again experience heavy rain and thunderstorms over the weekend, the German weather service DWD said on Friday. In some areas, up to 40 liters of precipitation per square meter could be expected.
People clear a road damaged in floods in Bad Muenstereifel, western Germany, on July 17, 2021
WHO, ECDC call for enhanced efforts to prevent surge in COVID-19 Delta variant infections
The WHO recommends countries increase access to free testing, expand sequencing, incentivize quarantine for contacts and isolation for confirmed cases, strengthen contact tracing to break chains of transmission, and ensure that “those most at risk among our populations are vaccinated.”
Efforts must be reinforced to prevent the transmission of the Delta variant of coronavirus as it has become the most dominant strain across much of Europe, top health authorities in Europe warned on Friday.
The SARS-COV-2 Delta variant is moving fast across Europe based on surveillance data collected between June 28 and July 11, the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Regional Office in Europe and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) said in a joint statement.
“Based on current trends, the Delta variant will be the globally dominant strain over the coming months and has already been identified in almost all European countries. It will continue to spread, displacing the circulation of other variants unless a new, more competitive virus emerges,” the statement said.
“We are seeing a significant rise in cases associated with the spread of the highly transmissible Delta variant,” Hans Kluge, regional director of WHO Europe, said in the statement.
ADVERTISEMENTx
He warned that despite tremendous efforts by states to vaccinate people, millions more remain unvaccinated and therefore at risk of ending up in hospital.
The WHO official reiterated that receiving a full vaccination series significantly reduces the risk of severe disease and death. “When called to do so, people should get vaccinated.”
Both organizations noted that intensive implementation of the current public health measures, including increased access to testing, will be required to control COVID-19 transmission, particularly while the progress of vaccination is still not sufficiently high in many countries.
“We need to remain vigilant and continue to use common sense to prevent the spread of the virus,” said Andrea Ammon, ECDC director, in the statement.
She called on people to get a full course of vaccination as soon as the opportunity arises, maintain physical distancing, wash hands, avoid crowded spaces and wear a mask when necessary.
New COVID-19 cases have been increasing for the past month in Europe, and notification rates have also increased across all age groups, most rapidly among 15 to 24-year-olds, where a fivefold increase in reported cases has been observed over the period, according to WHO Europe.
The WHO recommends countries increase access to free testing, expand sequencing, incentivize quarantine for contacts and isolation for confirmed cases, strengthen contact tracing to break chains of transmission, and ensure that “those most at risk among our populations are vaccinated.”
Victim search ends in U.S. Florida building collapse killing at least 97
At least 97 people were killed in the June 24 collapse and at least one more person believed missing has yet to be identified.
Search for victims’ bodies has officially ended almost one month after a 12-story residential building partially collapsed in Surfside, a beachside town in southeastern U.S. state of Florida, authorities said on Friday.
At least 97 people were killed in the June 24 collapse and at least one more person believed missing has yet to be identified.
ADVERTISEMENTx
Firefighters left the Champlain Towers South collapse site around noon and drove slowly to their headquarters, local media reported.
“Providing closure to families was the ultimate test of everybody here, and I think we did our best to do that,” Scott Dean, the leader of Florida Task Force 2, told local media outlets.
The walls of an underground parking garage remain at the site, around a hollowed-out foundation, according to local media reports, adding that Miami-Dade County is bringing in crews to help shore up the remaining underground walls for safety.
Victims and families who suffered losses due to the collapse would get a minimum of 150 million U.S. dollars in compensation initially, a judge said on Wednesday.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at their first summit in Geneva in June to launch the dialogue to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures.
The United States and Russia will hold a Strategic Stability Dialogue on July 28 in Geneva, the State Department said on Friday.
Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman will lead the U.S. delegation’s participation in the dialogue, joined by Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security Bonnie Jenkins, according to a State Department statement.
ADVERTISEMENTx
President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed at their first summit in Geneva in June to launch the dialogue to lay the groundwork for future arms control and risk reduction measures.
Washington and Moscow this February extended the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) for five years to 2026. It is the last remaining nuclear arms control pact in force between the two nuclear superpowers.
Nationals Stephen Strasburg suffers another setback in recovery from nerve irritation
BALTIMORE – Stephen Strasburg had an “uncomfortable” feeling in his neck after throwing a bullpen session Wednesday, according to Washington Nationals Manager Dave Martinez, marking another setback in his attempt to return from nerve irritation. Hes been on the injured list since June 2 and will be there a while longer.
“We backed him down again and now we’re going to have to figure something else out,” Martinez said Friday before the Nationals’ game against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. “I know they’re going to look at some different options, see if we can find another specialist for him to go see. But as of right now, this continues to happen to him, so we need to figure something else out. . . . It’s unfortunate. I know he’s trying really hard to get back on that mound.”
In the week before the all-star break, Strasburg was nearing a rehab assignment before he felt this same discomfort after throwing a bullpen in San Diego. This week, he threw 32 pitches on Monday, long-tossed on Tuesday and felt good enough to throw 28 more pitches off the mound Wednesday before the Nationals were forced to ease his workload. Each step backward raises the question of whether Strasburg will make another start this season.
He has logged 21 2/3 innings this season and just 26 2/3 innings since signing a seven-year, $245 million contract in December 2019. He has had two recent IL stints – the first for a strained right shoulder in April and May, the second still going – and carpal tunnel surgery last August.
“We got to figure out what really is causing this,” Martinez said. “He can go out in two days or three days and play long-toss, get himself ready to throw again. But what’s to say it doesn’t happen again to him? We’ve been through this process a few times already, and it just happens to keep coming back, it keeps getting irritated, so we need to figure out what’s next for him medically.”
Heading into their weekend series in Baltimore, and with a week until the trade deadline, the Nationals are without Strasburg, starter Joe Ross (right elbow inflammation), left fielder Kyle Schwarber (right hamstring strain), starting catcher Yan Gomes (left oblique strain), backup catcher Alex Avila (bilateral calf strains), and relievers Tanner Rainey (stress reaction in his right tibia), Kyle McGowin (right biceps tendinitis) and Will Harris (thoracic outlet syndrome).
ADVERTISEMENTx
Friday’s pregame brought positive steps for a handful of the sidelined players. Ross threw a bullpen. Schwarber took batting practice on the field for the first time since his injury. Avila did, too. Gomes took 40 swings in the batting cage, felt good afterward and, if that continues, will go on a minor league rehab assignment to test his oblique in game action.
– – –
Starlin Castro’s administrative leave has been extended through July 29, according to Major League Baseball’s communications office. As initially reported by The Athletic, MLB is investigating a domestic violence allegation against Castro.
Both Martinez and Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo said this week that they do not expect Castro to rejoin the Nationals.
After leaving ESPN, Maria Taylor joins NBC in time for the Olympics
A little more than 48 hours after announcing her split with ESPN, Maria Taylor was back on TV with a new job. She appeared Friday night from Tokyo, on NBCs prime time Olympics coverage.
Taylor’s new job at NBC, according to an announcement from NBC which came shortly after the appearance, will be first as a host and correspondent at the Olympics and then include work on Sunday Night Football and on Super Bowls. It comes after Taylor and ESPN announced Wednesday that they could not come to terms on a new contract.
Her move to NBC also comes three weeks after The New York Times published a leaked audio recording of Taylor’s former ESPN colleague, Rachel Nichols, suggesting Taylor’s career had advanced at ESPN because she is Black. The tape surfaced as Taylor’s contract wound down and a year after Nichols made the comments in what she believed was a private phone call.
Taylor, 34, spent eight years at ESPN, becoming one of its most recognizable hosts and sideline reporters thanks to her roles on college football, the NFL Draft and NBA coverage. She hosted coverage of Game 6 of the NBA Finals in Milwaukee on Tuesday, her last assignment for ESPN.
“Literally, hosting the Olympics, Football Night in America, and the Super Bowl is what I dreamed of when I started in television,” Taylor said in the release. “And this would not be possible without standing on the shoulders of all of those who came before me and made this path possible. And I plan to pay it forward.”
U.S. drops cases against five researchers accused of hiding ties to Chinese military
WASHINGTON – The Justice Department this week dropped prosecutions of five foreign researchers accused of concealing ties to Chinas military and who were arrested last year in a highly publicized sweep against alleged Chinese spying in the United States.
The moves came as one defendant, cancer researcher Tang Juan, was scheduled to stand trial on Monday in the Eastern District of California on charges of visa fraud. A court on Friday granted the department’s motion to dismiss her case. Motions to dismiss are pending in the other four.
Documents filed in Tang’s case this week, including an FBI analysis, raised questions that could not be resolved before the trial, officials said. And several weeks ago, a judge in Sacramento dismissed a portion of her case – a false statements charge – after finding that FBI agents had not properly informed Tang of her right against self-incrimination.
All five defendants were charged with visa fraud.
Senior department officials insist that dropping the cases is not a reflection of a lack of evidence.
“This is not the same as saying that we were wrong to charge the case a year ago or that the proof was insufficient,” said one senior official, speaking on the condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the department. “In fact, I think the cases have done a lot to advance our deterrent objectives.”
The official pointed to an exodus of more than 1,000 researchers, who department officials said had apparently hidden their ties to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army and fled the United States after the arrests last summer.
The cases were part of a high-profile initiative that the Justice Department says reflects a strategic priority of countering Chinese national security threats, particularly in the realm of economic espionage.
The arrests last year were part of an enforcement strategy that extends to what the department calls “non-traditional collectors” – or university and lab researchers who officials say are “coopted” into stealing American technology for China.
They came shortly after the State Department ordered the Chinese Consulate in Houston to be shut down, accusing it of being a hub for illegal spying and influence operations in the United States. The closure escalated tensions already heightened by U.S. displeasure with a strict new Chinese security law for Hong Kong and U.S. criticism of Beijing’s handling of the covid-19 pandemic.
ADVERTISEMENTx
Malcolm Segal, a lawyer who represented Tang, said he was pleased with the dismissal. He said Tang is returning to China to be reunited with her husband, mother and child.
“In all of our prosecutions, the Department of Justice evaluates the merits of a case as it prepares for trial,” spokesman Wyn Hornbuckle said in a statement. “Recent developments in a handful of cases involving defendants with alleged, undisclosed ties [to the PLA] have prompted the department to re-evaluate these prosecutions, and we have determined that it is now in the interest of justice to dismiss them.”
Prosecutors alleged that Tang, a researcher at the University of California at Davis, lied on her visa application, saying she had never served in the Chinese military, when in fact she was a uniformed PLA officer.
Tang, who initially sought refuge at the Chinese Consulate in San Francisco, was detained for about 50 days before being released on bail. Two other defendants were detained for about a year, and a fourth for about nine months, officials said.
The senior official said that the punishment for visa fraud typically does not exceed a year. That fact, combined with the prospect of prolonged litigation in several instances, led officials to assess that the interests of justice were best served by dropping the cases, the official said.
“At some point you ask what’s the right thing to do?” the official said. “And after a year given that we’ve achieved our objectives, rather than seek an adjournment of the trial, this was the right thing to do. And once you reach that judgment, in one case, it was logical to extend it to the other cases.”
The other cases involve defendants Guan Lei in the Central District of California, Xin Wang and Chen Song in the Northern District of California, and Kaikai Zhao in the Southern District of Indiana.
Published : July 24, 2021
By : The Washington Post · Ellen Nakashima, David Nakamura
What to know about track and field at the Tokyo Olympics
Among the glamour events of every Summer Olympics, track and field promises to provide a stage for dramatic competition and historic performances at the Tokyo Games. Concerns about the heat have been part of the story line leading into this summer, but for U.S. athletes, conditions probably will not be as severe as what they faced during their trials last month in Eugene, Ore., which experienced record temperatures that required some schedule modifications.
Here’s what you need to know about track and field at the Tokyo Olympics.
– – –
Who are the U.S. track athletes to watch?
– Rai Benjamin: A 23-year-old who attended the University of Southern California, Benjamin is already one of the greatest 400-meter hurdlers of all time. He still must prove he is the best in Tokyo. Norway’s Karsten Warholm downed Benjamin at the 2019 world championships. A week after Benjamin came within five hundredths of a second of breaking Kevin Young’s 29-year-old world record, Warholm did break it at a Diamond League meet, lowering the mark to 46.70 seconds. To win gold, Benjamin or Warholm will probably have to break the record again.
– Matthew Centrowitz: After becoming the first American man to win a gold medal in the 1,500 meters since 1908, Centrowitz returns still at peak form. At 31, Centrowitz is an old man at the distance – even back in 2016, he wondered if he would have to move up to 5,000 meters for the next Olympics. But he finished second by a hair to 20-year-old Cole Hocker at the Olympic trials. He may not be the fastest, but he has become one of America’s greatest middle-distance runners through tactical savvy that borders on sorcery.
– Allyson Felix: The only American track and field athlete with 10 medals is Carl Lewis. Felix could catch, or even surpass, Lewis in her fifth and final Olympics. Felix made the U.S. team in the 400 meters at age 35, less than three years after giving birth to her daughter, Camryn, via an emergency delivery that threatened both mother and child. Felix owns nine Olympic medals, six of them gold. Felix could also be chosen for the 4×400 relay, where the U.S. team would be a heavy favorite.
– Keni Harrison: Harrison entered the 2016 Olympics as the newly minted 100-meter hurdles world record holder – but she didn’t even compete in Rio de Janeiro, having finished sixth at the U.S. trials less than a month before running 12.20 seconds, a time that still stands. The Americans swept the medals in Rio and could do so again in Tokyo. This time, at 28, Harrison will be there. She will be looking for her first major international title, having won silver at the 2019 world championships and finishing fourth in 2017.
– Grant Holloway: Another world record threat going to his first Olympics, Holloway came within one hundredth of a second of breaking Aries Merritt’s world record of 12.80 seconds in the 110-meter hurdles at the trials – in a semifinal heat. Jamaican rival Omar McLeod failed to make the Games, but the push Holloway will receive in Tokyo could vault him toward a new world record. It would be his second world record this year, adding to the indoor 60-meter hurdles record he set in February.
– Isaiah Jewett: Clayton Murphy won the 800 meters at the trials and won bronze at the 2016 Games, but the most electrifying presence in the two-lap race that knocked favorite Donavan Brazier out of the Olympics was Jewett. One week after winning the NCAA championship for USC, Jewett set a wicked pace on the first lap, created a gap and had just enough stamina to hold on for a spot in Tokyo. Jewett’s zeal for racing is infectious. With a month of rest after a long college season, it will be worth watching whether he can repeat his trials surprise and land on the podium.
– Erriyon Knighton: Three years ago, Knighton was a high school football player with designs on earning a scholarship in that sport, and he took up track to improve his already explosive speed. He has no plans to ever play football again. At the Olympic trials, Knighton broke Usain Bolt’s 17-year-old junior record by running the 200 meters in 19.84 seconds and became the youngest Olympian since Jim Ryun in 1964. He turned professional in January, just before his 17th birthday, and is far ahead of schedule.
– Noah Lyles: He may have lost his goal of three gold medals when he did not qualify in the 100 meters, but Lyles remains one of the most electric figures in sprinting. The Alexandria, Va., product and alum of T.C. Williams High reestablished himself as the gold medal favorite in the 200 after a trying year by winning the trials in 19.74 seconds. He is the fourth-fastest man ever at the distance, which makes him a likely choice for the men’s 4×100 team, the other event in which he is a reigning world champion.
– Sydney McLaughlin: McLaughlin turned 17 during her first Olympics in Rio, where she gained experience but only reached the semifinals. She will enter her second as the newly minted world record holder in the 400-meter hurdles, having run it in 51.90 seconds at the Olympic trials, becoming the first woman to break 52 seconds in front of former record holder Dalilah Muhammad, who continues to challenge her. With the help of legendary coach Bob Kersee, McLaughlin is pushing her event forward. Women have long been taught to take 15 strides between hurdles, but McLaughlin has started taking 14, raising the ceiling on what times are possible.
– Athing Mu: Growing up in a track-crazed family in New Jersey, Mu started breaking youth records in her early teens. She hasn’t stopped. Mu set a collegiate record in the 400 this year at Texas A&M, then turned professional immediately after her season ended with multiple NCAA titles. At the trials, she blew away a strong field in the 800 meters, finishing acres ahead of a pack that included American record holder Ajee Wilson. Mu could be picked to run the 4×400, giving her two strong chances at gold medals in her first of probably many Olympics.
– Gabby Thomas: It wasn’t a surprise that Thomas made it to Tokyo, but it was stunning how she pulled it off – by running 21.61 in the 200 meters, making her the second-fastest woman ever at the distance, behind only Florence Griffith Joyner. Thomas, 24, balances her accomplishment with an equally impressive life off the track. She graduated from Harvard with a degree in neurobiology and is now studying for her master’s degree in public health, with an emphasis on epidemiology.
ADVERTISEMENTx
Who are the international track athletes to watch?
– Dina Asher-Smith, Britain: Just 25 and already the fastest British woman in history, Asher-Smith made her Olympic debut at just 20 years old, finishing fifth in the 200-meter final in Rio and winning bronze as part of Britain’s 4×100 relay. She has much greater aims in her second Games. Asher-Smith is ranked first in the world in the 200 and second in the 100. She won three medals at the 2019 world championships, claiming gold in the 200 while reaching the podium in the 4×100 and 100.
– Timothy Cheruiyot, Kenya: Cheruiyot, 26, finished second and first in the 1,500 meters at the past two world championships, and now he will run on the Olympic stage for the first time. At a Diamond League meet in July, Cheruiyot became the fastest 1,500-meter runner in the world this year and the seventh fastest of all time by running 3:28.28. Five of the seven fastest men ever at the distance are Kenyans, but Cheruiyot is the nation’s best hope to win Kenya’s first Olympic medal in the event since Asbel Kiprop’s gold in 2008.
– Letesenbet Gidey, Ethiopia: In June, Gidey ran 10,000 meters in 29:01.03, breaking the record Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands had set two days earlier. Their showdown could be one of the best in Tokyo. Gidey, only 23, will be appearing in her first Olympics two years after winning a silver medal in her first world championships, where she finished behind only Hassan.
– Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Jamaica: With Usain Bolt in retirement, Fraser-Pryce has picked up the mantle as Jamaica’s greatest sprinting star. At age 34, she will try to join Bolt as the only sprinters to win three Olympic gold medals in the 100 meters. Fraser-Pryce is both the fastest woman in the world this year in the 100 and the second fastest at 200 meters, the distance at which she won silver in 2012.
– Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamas: Miller-Uibo delivered one of the lasting images of the 2016 Rio Games, diving at the line to beat Allyson Felix by 0.07 seconds and win the 400-meter gold. A towering and graceful runner, Miller-Uibo would be considered a threat to win in both the 200 and 400 this year, but the schedule does not allow for the double. Miller opted to run the 200, a distance at which she is unbeaten this season. The decision means she will miss out on a rematch against Felix, who made the U.S. team only in the 400.
– Karsten Warholm, Norway: The only thing keeping Warholm, 25, from being considered the best ever at the 400-meter hurdles is an Olympic gold. He has not lost in the event since the fall of 2018. He has two world championships. This month, he broke Kevin Young’s 29-year-old world record by finishing in 46.70 seconds. And yet, the presence of Rai Benjamin of the United States and Abderrahman Samba of Qatar – the third- and fourth-fastest men ever in the event – means Warholm will probably have to break his own world record to win gold at his first Olympics.
– Wayde van Niekerk, South Africa: After he broke Michael Johnson’s 17-year-old world record in the 400 meters at the 2016 Olympics by finishing in 43.03 seconds, van Niekerk’s road to superstardom hit a snag. He tore his ACL in a 2017 charity rugby game, knocking him out of the world’s elite for several years. His comeback hit a promising note when he ran 44.56 seconds in June, the 10th-fastest time this year. He’ll have to deal with American superstar Michael Norman and burgeoning threat Randolph Ross, but van Niekerk could use the Tokyo Olympics as a chance to announce his return.
Who are the U.S. field athletes to watch?
– Ryan Crouser: If Crouser wins his second consecutive Olympic gold medal, it still may be only his second-best accomplishment this year. At the U.S. Olympic trials, Crouser broke Randy Barnes’s 31-year-old shot put record by heaving the 16-pound iron ball 23.37 meters (76 feet 8¼ inches), the longest throw ever by almost 10 inches. Crouser’s best competition will probably come from countryman Joe Kovacs, who beat him at the 2019 world championships.
– JuVaughn Harrison: Any performance that evokes the name Jim Thorpe warrants notice. At the Olympic trials, Harrison became the first American man since Thorpe to claim a spot in both the high jump and long jump at the Olympics. Harrison, still competing in his LSU track suit, jumped 27 feet 9½ inches in the pit and 7 feet 7¾ inches over the bar to win both events.
– Deanna Price: A hammer thrower who joyfully – and often comically – wears her emotions on her sleeve, Price has emerged as one of the best in the world, winning the 2019 world championship and only improving since. She became the second woman to break 80 meters at the U.S. Olympic trials, where she also broke her own American record. Price could give the United States its first Olympic medal in the event, which women have contested at the Games only since 2000.
– – –
Who are the international field athletes to watch?
– Mutaz Essa Barshim, Qatar: Having won silver and bronze at the past two Olympics, this might be Barshim’s last, best chance at high jumping gold. He has finished no lower than fourth in the past five major international events, resulting in two world championships, one world championship second place and those two Olympic medals. American star Vashti Cunningham likes to study Barshim’s fluid style.
– Mondo Duplantis, Sweden: No athlete in the world stands further apart from his peers than pole vaulter Duplantis, a 21-year-old heading into his first Olympics. In February 2020, Duplantis broke Sergey Bubka’s world record by vaulting 6.18 meters (20 feet 3¼ inches). Since the start of 2019, no one other than American Sam Kendricks, the reigning world champion, has vaulted higher than 6.06 meters. Duplantis was born and raised in Lafayette, La., to an American father of Cajun descent and a Swedish mother, but Sweden offered a more certain path to the Olympics and greater financial incentives.
– – –
Who won the most track and field medals in Rio?
The United States led the medal table with 13 golds and 32 total podium finishes. Kenya finished second with 13 medals, six of which were gold, and Jamaica also won six golds but 11 total. No other nation finished with more than two golds or seven total medals.
– – –
Schedule of events
All times listed are United States Eastern.
July 29
8-11:30 p.m. NBC, USA (live)
Men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, first round
Men’s high jump, qualifying
Men’s discus, qualifying
Women’s 800 meters, first round
Men’s 400-meter hurdles, first round
Women’s 100 meters, first round
July 30
6-8 a.m. Peacock (live)
Women’s 5,000 meters, first round
Women’s triple jump, qualifying
Women’s shot put, qualifying
Mixed 4×400-meter relay, first round
Men’s 10,000 meters final
8-11 p.m. NBC, USA (live)
Women’s 400-meter hurdles, first round
Women’s discus, qualifying
Men’s pole vault, qualifying
Men’s 800 meters, first round
Women’s 100-meter hurdles, qualifying
Men’s 100 meters, preliminary round
July 31
6-8:55 a.m. Peacock (live)
Men’s long jump, qualifying
Women’s 100 meters, semifinals
Men’s 100 meters, first round
Men’s discus, final
Women’s 800 meters, semifinals
Mixed 4×400-meter relay, final
Women’s 100 meters, final
8:10-11 p.m. USA (live)
Women’s hammer throw, qualifying
Women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase, first round
Women’s long jump, qualifying
Women’s shot put, final
Men’s 400 meters, first round
Aug. 1
6-10:55 a.m. Peacock (live)
Men’s high jump, final
Men’s 100 meters, semifinals
Women’s 100-meter hurdles, semifinals
Women’s triple jump, final
Men’s 800 meters, semifinals
Men’s 400-meter hurdles, semifinals
Men’s 100 meters, final
8-10:55 p.m. USA (live)
Men’s hammer throw, qualifying
Women’s 1,500 meters, first round
Men’s long jump, final
Women’s 200 meters, first round
Women’s 100-meter hurdles, final
NBC (recorded) 9:30 p.m.: Men’s 100 meters, women’s 100-meter hurdles and men’s long jump, finals; men’s 800 meters and men’s 400 meters, semifinals; women’s 200 meters, qualifying round
Bali faces oxygen shortage, as nearly 2,300 Covid-related deaths reported in Asean
People clear a road damaged in floods in Bad Muenstereifel, western Germany, on July 17, 2021
SootinClaimon.Com 