August 1 Tokyo 2020 Olympics news and results

Team USA golfer Xander Schauffele won a thrilling gold medal in the men's golf on Sunday.

The 27-year-old, one of four American golfers in the field, carded a final-round 67 to finish 18-under for the tournament, a shot ahead of Slovakian Rory Sabbatini who claimed the silver medal.

Schauffele has come close to claiming a breakthrough victory before in his career, finishing tied second at both the Masters and the Open, as well as tied for third at the US Open.

However, he claimed a famous gold medal for Team USA, etching himself into golfing history with some steady golf interspersed with some brilliant play.

When asked whether it is the biggest victory of his career, Schauffele agreed.

"For me, I really wanted to win for my dad. I am sure he is crying somewhere right now. I kind of wanted this one more than any other. 

"First up, you are trying to represent your country to the best of your ability and then you add family stuff on top of that and, you know, I'm probably going to have a nice call with my grandparents tonight. I am sure they are back home, everyone is back home watching. I was feeling the love from San Diego and Las Vegas this whole time. 

"I'm a little speechless right now, quite honestly."

Schauffele's father Stefan, who is also his coach, described being "very, very proud" watching his son claim the gold medal at the Kasumigaseki Country Club.

"This is going to take a while to settle in. I was pretty stone cold out there, to be honest with you. It was just a process we were observing. But when I talked about the podium and the anthem, I got choked up. I describe today as definitely needing a towel moment (to hide his emotions). I am very, very proud."

While Sabbatini won the silver, the bronze medal went down to a remarkable seven player playoff between C.T. Pan, Collin Morikawa, Mito Pereira, Paul Casey, Sebastian Munoz, Rory McIlroy, and Hideki Matsuyama. That septet encompassed seven different nationalities.

It's been quite a ride for Team GB BMX rider Charlotte Worthington over the last three years.

In 2018, Worthington was working full-time as a chef in a restaurant before she decided to commit 100% to her dream of becoming a BMX rider.

On Sunday, the 25-year-old recovered from a fall on her first run to win a gold medal in the women's BMX park freestyle Olympic final with a score of 97.50 on her second run to finish first.

"In 2018 I went to a couple of events and contests and got speaking to people and found out about BMX being in the Olympics and British cycling putting together a team," Worthington told reporters after winning her first Olympics gold medal.

“So at the time I was just taking a lot of really cool opportunities that I enjoyed doing, and it just kind of snowballed from there. It was something I found out I was really passionate about, and I really enjoyed it, so I’ll never look back at the days of working in a kitchen.”

Worthington won her gold in thrilling style.

She fell during her open run attempting a 360-degree backflip.

Undeterred she landed the trick in her final run, becoming the first woman to land a 360-degree backflip in competition.

Afterwards, she said she was "super proud" to successfully land the trick.

“I’ve not been doing that trick that long, so it was probably one of my biggest goals coming here. This week was my first time doing it, the first female in the world to do it. It’s been super-tight turnaround as well, because I was dealing with a little injury a few weeks ago.

“I just had to have faith that it was ingrained in my body with the amount of work that we’ve been putting into it.

"Going out there the second time I just ready to give it my all again. Once I landed that trick I knew that it was on. I pretty much zoned out for the rest of the run.”

Taiwan’s flag anthem was played in front of Chinese athletes for the first time in the history of the Olympics on Saturday, when the Taiwanese team beat China in the badminton men's doubles final.

Taiwanese badminton duo Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin beat the Chinese team by 21-18 and 21-12, clinching the second gold medal for the self-governing island at the Tokyo 2020 Games. China took home silver with the loss.

Both teams attended the medal ceremony and listened as Taiwan's flag anthem was played. Taiwan has both an anthem and a flag anthem, the latter of which is commonly played at international sporting events.

Taiwan’s athletes compete in the Olympics under the name "Chinese Taipei" because of the political and historical sensitivities surrounding the democratic island's relationship with mainland China. Despite being governed separately for more than seven decades since the end of a civil war, Beijing considers Taiwan to be a breakaway province.

Taiwan's team has won two gold medals, two silver medals and three bronze medals so far in Tokyo.

Athletes in Tokyo have been instructed to wear masks at all times, except when training, competing, eating and drinking, and during interviews. For Team USA's Raven Saunders, that’s been an opportunity to don perhaps the most eye-catching mask of the Olympics so far.

That’s not the only unique fashion choice Saunders has made at the Games — she’s also been sporting purple and green hair and some no-nonsense shades.

Her colorful dress code aside, Saunders has also bagged her first Olympic medal in Tokyo — a silver in the women’s shot put on Sunday with a distance of 19.79 meters. She finished fifth at Rio 2016.

Saunders' personal battle: Between Rio and Tokyo, Saunders has faced difficult personal challenges, suffering from depression and suicidal thoughts. She spoke with CNN earlier this year about a time “it all boiled over” and how she found support through therapy, meditation and reaching out to close friends.

Now, she wants to encourage others who are struggling with their mental health to get the support they need.

Whether watching bikers fly through the air from a bridge hundreds of feet away or lining up on the street to take in a triathlon, Tokyo's eager fans are increasingly finding ways to enjoy the Olympics in person — despite the ban on spectators inside venues.

Hundreds of people were seen crowded along a bridge close to the BMX freestyle venue trying to catch a glimpse of the final competitions on Sunday. Crowds lined the streets to watch cyclists competing in the mixed triathlon event on Saturday morning, and many defied requests from police to leave the area.

With Covid-19 cases surging to new records in Tokyo and Japan's capital under a state of emergency, the Olympics are effectively operating in a bubble, with residents on the outside looking in.

While public-facing events give spectators a chance to get a glimpse of the Games, the pandemic makes it risky. Tokyo's daily case numbers keep hitting new records, and doctors have warned that health care systems are facing a tremendous burden that is at risk of being overwhelmed.

The Olympic Games is not behind the recent surge in Covid-19 infections in Japan, Tokyo 2020 boss Toshiro Muto said at a news conference Sunday.

Muto said while the number of infections across Japan have been surging, organizers have been able to keep the number of infections at the Games relatively low.

Muto cited similar comments from Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga and Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike denying the Olympics were responsible for the spike in cases.

A total of 259 Covid-19 cases have been linked to the Games, according to Olympic officials.

Six people have lost their accreditation for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics for violating rules set by organizers to prevent the spread of Covid-19, Japan's top Games official said Sunday.

Those affected include two Georgian judo athletes, who left the Olympic Village to sightsee — a "serious violation," Toshiro Muto, head of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee, said at a news conference Sunday. Officials did not name the athletes who lost accreditation.

The other incident involved four contract employees who were arrested for possession of drugs.

Covid-19 cases are surging in Tokyo and the city is under a state of emergency due to the pandemic. There were myriad concerns ahead of the Games that the competition could turn into a super-spreader event, but organizers have expressed confidence in the measures they put in place to keep Olympians, Olympic staff and the Japanese public safe.

Muto said organizers are also investigating an incident in which multiple athletes and members of delegations were drinking alcohol at a park in the Olympic Village on the night of July 31. There have been several other minor offenses, Muto said, but he would not disclose specifics. Those incidents did not result in removal of accreditations.

Eighteen new Covid-19 cases tied to the Tokyo Olympics have been identified, event organizers said Sunday.

Of those, only one was an athlete, and that individual was the only case reported within the Olympic Village. The rest were contractors, volunteers or Games staff.

A total of 259 coronavirus cases have been linked to the Games so far, Olympic officials said. Organizers are not revealing their names or nationalities.

Swimming events have wrapped up at Tokyo 2020 with the US and Australia dominant on Sunday morning Japan time. Covid-19 cases are rising fast. And lots more gold medals are up for grabs today.

Tokyo's two worlds: Saturday saw Olympic records fall and new champions crowned in yet another exciting day of action. But outside Tokyo's stadiums, fields and race tracks, the city is struggling to combat what may be the most devastating surge of Covid-19 the Japanese capital has seen to date.

The Tokyo Metropolitan government said Saturday they had identified another 4,058 coronavirus cases, a new single-day record and more than three times the 1,128 infections reported the prior Saturday.

Tokyo broke its single-day case record four times this week. Nationwide, records fell three times this week — including Saturday, when 12,341 new infections were reported.

The so-called Olympic "bubble" appears to have held, with no major outbreaks so far. But there's still a week left until the closing ceremony, and the pandemic shows no signs of abating.

Swimming ends: Swimming wrapped up at Tokyo 2020 on Sunday with five medal events, all of which were won by either the United States or Australia. American Caeleb Dressel added two more gold medals to his haul — he'll leave Tokyo with five golds in total.

Australia's Emma McKeon took home two golds on Sunday, too. She won seven medals these Games, including three golds. According to NBC, she is just the second woman to win seven medals at a single Olympics, a feat only previously accomplished by Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya.

Other golds Sunday morning:

Medal count update: China leads all countries with 22 gold medals, followed by the US with 19 and Japan on 17. The Americans lead the overall medal tally with 52.

Here's what's coming later:

The full Olympic schedule can be found here.