Tokyo Olympics: Asian Canadians win medals for their country's swimming team

Canada’s 400 free relay silver medallists (from left) Penny Oleksiak, Rebecca Smith, Maggie MacNeil and Kayla Sanchez

A pair of Asian Canadians helped win Canada's first swimming medal earlier this week.  The four-member team won the silver medal in the 4x100 freestyle relay.

Filipino Canadian Kayla Sanchez, 20, swam the leadoff leg of the race. Chinese Canadian Margaret MadNeil swam the next leg. They were joined by Rebecca Smith and Olympic medal winner Penny Oleksiak, who anchored the relay team.

Sanchez also swam in the 400m medley, swimming the freestyle leg. The Candians came in fourth in the finals.

Sanchez, the Canadian swimming star started swimming competitively at a young age after her Filipino family immigrated to Canada from Singapore, where she was born. After the Olympics, Sanchez will join the Thunderbirds of the University of British Columbia.

Margaret MacNeil wins gold for Canada.

The next day, on Monday, MacNeil won the gold medal for the 100 meter butterfly beating out international stars China’s Zhang Yufei (55.64) with Australia’s “medal machine” Emma McKeon.

MacNeil, 21, was born in China but was adopted as an infant by an Ontario family. She is a swimming star at the University of Michigan.

“It’s crazy. I’m trying to process what happened (Sunday) with the relay, because that was so incredible,” said MacNeil.

“And I still don’t think I’ve realized the whole world champion thing, so this will take a while to get used to.”

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Gallup: Most people don't like the society's mistreatment of Asian Americans and immigrants

Asian Americans may have more allies than they think. A new nationwide poll finds that most Americans don't like the way Asian Americans are being treated after a series of violent attacks in the past year.

A Gallup survey saw the was society treans people of Asian descent has fallen sharply this year, from 60% to 46%. This 14-percentage-point drop follows a 15-point decline between 2016 and 2020. Another way to say this is that more Americans think society is not treating Asian Americans fairly or nicely.

Before 2016, Gallup typically found more than seven in 10 Americans were satisfied with the way society treated AAPI.

Views on the treatment of Asian people have taken a sharp turn amid high-profile incidents of violence aimed at AAPI since the COVID-19 pandemic began. And while small majorities were content with the treatment of immigrants in the early 2000s, Americans are now the least satisfied with how this group is treated out of any group polled in the 20-year trend.

Americans are aware of society's flaws

Generally, Americans are not fully satisfied with how most groups are treated in society, and Gallup has recorded a larger decline in satisfaction with these groups' treatment in recent years. Levels of satisfaction with the treatment of Black, Hispanic, Asian and Arab people, as well as immigrants and women, have reached their lowest points in this latest poll or in recent ones.

These findings, from a Gallup poll conducted June 1-July 5, come after a year in which violence against Asian Americans spiked in several major cities and garnered significant media attention.

White (50%) and Hispanic (44%) adults are more likely than Black adults (30%) to be satisfied with the way Asian people are treated, but satisfaction has declined to a similar degree among all three groups.

At the same time, U.S. adults perceive that relations between Asian and White people, as well as Asian and Black people, have deteriorated. Double-digit drops are seen among those who say relations are "very" or "somewhat" good between White and Asian people (67%) and Black and Asian people (58%).

While majorities of Americans still view relations between these groups positively, the latest figures represent new lows in their respective trends.

Bad news for the GOP on immigration

Also, contrary to the belief by white supremacists and Trump backers who have made anti-immigrant actions a cornerstone of their values, Americans still favor immigrants and do not like they way U.S. society is treating them. 

The finding suggests that the GOP may be making a huge mistake by making attacks against immigrants and restrictive immigration policy a major part of their campaiigns.

Satisfaction with the treatment of immigrants has waned over the past 20 years, with the current 33% marking the lowest total percentage of those who are very or somewhat satisfied that Gallup has recorded for any group in this time. The prior low was 35% for the treatment of Black people in last year's survey.

Small majorities were satisfied with the way immigrants were treated in the early 2000s, but this figure gradually declined over the course of the three previous U.S. presidencies, during which no major legislation on immigration issues was passed. Since President Joe Biden took office in January, legislation to provide pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants has stalled, as well as other bills to protect farm workers and young immigrants.

Despite the new low in satisfaction with the treatment of immigrants in the U.S., Americans' acceptance of immigrants has remained relatively stable for years in Gallup's Migrant Acceptance Index.

On a relative basis, Americans are less satisfied with the way society treats immigrants and Black people than the way Asian people are treated. The 15% of Black Americans and 37% of Hispanic Americans satisfied with the treatment of Black people are the lowest Gallup has measured to date within those subgroups, though not meaningfully different from the 2018 or 2020 readings.

Similarly, less than half of Americans are satisfied with how Hispanic (46%) and Arab people (43%) are treated in society, with both figures similar to recent measurements.

In contrast, slim majorities are satisfied with the treatment of women (53%) and Jewish people (51%), while a larger majority of Americans are satisfied with how White people are treated (68%). The public was more satisfied with how women were treated earlier in the trend, ranging from 63% to 72% satisfied from 2001 to 2016. After the "Me Too" movement took hold in 2017, figures have been lower -- between 53% and 54% since 2018.

This is the first time Gallup has asked about the treatment of Jewish people and White people. The new measure for Jewish people comes after a spate of antisemitic attacks and hostility following the Israeli-Palestinian conflict this year in Gaza.

Not surprisingly, the survey found across all groups, White Americans are slightly more satisfied than the national average with the way people are treated in society, while Black and Hispanic adults are less satisfied than the U.S. average. On several measures, Black adults are far less satisfied with the treatment of groups than both White and Hispanic adults.

The bad news? Gallup's trends spanning two decades have not found any improvements over time in how Americans perceive various groups are treated, only stable or declining ratings. Thus, it is unclear if the 2020-2021 polls on the societal treatment of different people represent rock bottom or if these perceptions will only get worse.

Filipino American drafted at No. 2 nabbed by Houston Rockets

NBA

No. 2 draft pick Jaylen Green will play for the Houston Rockets.

Overnight, the number of Filipino American players in the NBA doubled -- to two.

Jalen Green, drafted No. 2 by the Houston Rockets Thursday in the NBA's draft in the first round, he joins Jordan Clarkson as the only Filipino American players in the league. The 6 feet, 6 in. guard will join the Rocket's 21-year old veteran Kevin Porter to form one of the youngest backcourts in the league.

“I love the Philippines. They show love and support. I’m just happy to get to represent them. I’m happy that I have family out there and I’m tied into the Philippines so I’m excited, and I hope they’re excited,too,” said Green, whose mother is from the Philippine province Ilocos Sur.

Green, who turned 19-years old on Feb. 9, was the first player to sign with NBA G League Ignite, a team dedicated to the development and mentorship of top young prospects in preparation for the NBA Draft. In 15 G League games last season, he averaged 17.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 1.53 steals, and 2.1 3-pointers made. Green tallied 30 points, 7 assists, 5 boards, and 3 steals in the Ignite’s lone playoff game vs. Raptors 905.

As a senior at California’s Prolific Prep in 2019-20, Green averaged 31.5 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.0 assists. He was ranked as the No. 1 high school prospect in the Class of 2020 by ESPN and was a McDonald’s All-American.

Green won gold medals with USA Basketball at the 2019 FIBA U19 World Cup, 2018 FIBA U17 World Cup, and 2017 FIBA Americas U16 Championship.Out of high school, 

Althugh highly recruited by colleges while he was in high school, he opted to forego college and join the G-League developmental program. He was one of the first elite prospects to take advantage of the league’s new “professional pathway” program, which he believes offered superior NBA preparation relative to college basketball.

NBA scouts believe he has "significant potential as a scorer," able to hit baskets at all three levels with a quick first-step and able to create his own shot. His defensive abilities needs work, however.

Tokyo Olympics: Suni Lee wins gold medal in best all-around gymnastic performance

The United States's Sunisa Lee with her newest hardware, an Olympic gold medal.

With all of the media focusing on gymnast Simone Biles and her mental health struggle, Sunisa Lee focused on herself and the task at had, to do her best. Her best, it turns out, was enough to win the gold medal in all-around.

"The past two years have been absolutely crazy with Covid and my family and everything else," Lee told journalists Thursday morning after she won the event at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

"This medal definitely means a lot to me because there was a point in time when I wanted to quit and I just didn't think I would ever be here, including injuries and stuff.

"So there are a lot of emotions, but I'm definitely super proud of myself for sticking with it and believing in myself," said Lee, who is the first Hmong American to represent the U.S. in the Olympics.

The 18-year old gymnast won the women's all-around title ahead of Brazil's Rebeca Andrade, the silver medalist and the Russian Olympic Committee's Angelina Melnikova, who won the bronze.

Lee's gold medal was the fifth in a row for an American gymnast in the Olympic women's all-around.

Biles and the rest of her teammates, were in the stands to cheer on Lee, who is bound for Auburn University on a full athletic scholarship.

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Sunisa Lee on the balance beam.

Biles, who most experts had predicted to dominate the gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics, bowed out of competition earlier in the weak because of state of her mental health. Her health, she said, was day to day. It is not certain if she will compete on the individual events Sunday.

At the U.S. championships held prior to the Olympics, Lee had pushed Biles throughout the competition, actually besting the G.O.A.T. on the uneven bars, Lee's specialty.

Biles and the older gymnasts told Lee advised Lee prior tot he competition. “They told me to just go out there and not worry about anything else because I was starting to put a lot of pressure on myself,” Lee said.

Lee can add on to her gold and the silver medal earned by the team. On Sunday gymnasts will compete on individual events. Lee has qualified on the balance beam and uneven bars.

The gold medal was up for grabs up until the last event, the floor exercises. After Lee's performance, which she  made more complicated for the points, she waited until her score to finally celebrated, clapping her hands before hugging her coach. Across the Pacific, cheering broke out in St. Paul, Minnesota where family and friends had gathered to watch her historic performance on television.

The Twin Cities is home to one of the largest Hmong American communities in the United States. Lee is the American-born-and-raised daughter of Laos' Hmong refugees who fought on the side of the Americans during the Vietnam War. Thousands of Hmong families sought refuge in the U.S. after the war.

Just being in the Olympics representing the U.S. "means a lot to the Hmong community," Lee told People,  "... and to just be an inspiration to other Hmong people (means) a lot to me too."

Tokyo Olympics: Japanese American swimmer wins silver in 1,500 meter race

NBC

Erica Sullivan, left, celebrates with teammate and gold medalist Katie Ledecky.

Usually, all the media's attention is on the gold medal winner, but Erica Sullivan grabbed some of the spotlight after coming in second in the inaugural women's 1,500m freestyle.

Sullivan's Silver Medal finish Wednesday was a surprise and the first person to congratulate the Japanese American was celebrated teammate Katie Ledecky, who finished four seconds ahead of Sullivan.

In the press conference following the race, Sullivan's told the journalists, that she was the "epitome of an American person.

“I’m multicultural. I’m queer. I’m a lot of minorities. That’s what America is,” said the Las Vegas resident. “That’s what America is. To me, America is not about being a majority. It’s about having your own start. The American Dream is coming to a country to establish what you want to do with your life.”

She responded to the Japanese reporters in fluent Japanese, the result of many trips to Japan with her mother,, Maco, who watched her daughter's moment from her Las Vegas home with Erica's younger sister, Nina. Her grandfather, Sullivan said, helped design some of the Olympic facilities.

"It's surprising and it's really cool that everything just happened to line up and work out," Sullivan said on NBC's Today show. "My mom would've loved to be here, but she's at home in Vegas cheering us on."

“Just me getting to be on the podium, in Japan, as an Asian American woman and getting to take silver in a historical women’s event for the first time, as someone who likes women and who identifies as gay — it’s so cool,” she said, via the Post. “It’s awesome.”

After qualifying for the Olympics, she said about Japan, “It’s literally my second home and I love it there. I found that in recent years I tend to identify with my Japanese side more than with my American side.”

Sullivan told Swimming World Magazine, “It wasn’t until I got out of high school and I really started to crave my Asian heritage and culture, and I really honed into it. “Luckily I found a community through anime watchers, and I found my own little network that I grew to love.”

To achieve her Olympic dream, Sullivan, 20, had to overcome anxiety, panic attacks, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder in the past few years after her father's death in 2017.

“I’m proud of the mental health barriers that I got through, with my dad dying in 2017 and really hitting a rock bottom in 2018 from the stress of losing a parent at age 16 and having to get over the anxiety, the panic attacks, the depression, the PTSD, all that,” Sullivan told Swimming World Magazine. “I’m so happy that I was able to overcome those.”

"The last five years, I've had a lot of struggles, and I think everyone knows that. It's pretty much (an) open book now," she said in the press conference. "But it feels good to have it all finally pay off, and I really hope I can be like a beacon of hope to anyone who's struggling with mental health or coming out or any minority that they are, to show that there's hope, and honestly me getting to do it here, where half my family is from, means the world."

Tokyo Olympics: Paige 'McFierce' McPherson battles her way to fourth in taekwando

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Paige McPherson, left, in one of her taekwondo matches in Tokyo.

Paige McPherson fell just shy of bringing home her second Olympic medal in taekwondo, but her fourth-place finish in the women’s 67 kg. class capped an impressive showing for the women of Team USA. The match also may mark the end of the Filipino American's competitive career.

"After this I’m actually transitioning out of the sport. It was kind of a sentimental day and emotional day overall just because it being the Olympics and also it possibly being my last competition eve,” McPherson said.

A day earlier, 18-year-old Anastasija Zolotic became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic gold medal in the sport with her victory at 57 kg.

PAGE McPHERSON

McPherson, also known as “McFierce” was competing in her third Olympic Games and looking for her second medal. Now 30, McPherson won bronze in 2012 and finished 11th in Rio in 2016. 

Seeded fifth in Tokyo, she got through the round of 16 with an 8-5 win over Farida Azizova of Azerbaijan, then defeated Turkey’s Nur Tatar, the fourth seed, 3-1 in the quarterfinals. A 15-4 loss to No. 1 Matea Jelic of Croatia in the semifinal meant foiled McPherson’s hopes of making it to the gold-medal match and set up the bronze medal contest against Egypt’s Hedaya Wahba. 

McPherson, from Sturgis, South Dakota, took a 5-3 lead midway through the match but Wahba jumped out to an 11-5 lead and then a head shot made it 17-6. The gap was too great for McPherson to overcome.

"I’m disappointed,” McPherson said. “I had that match and I should have listened to my own gut at the end of the day and I chose to listen otherwise, and it cost me the match.”

McPherson lost the semifinal match against eventual gold medal winner Matea Jelić, of Croatia. The U.S. Olympian then faced off against Hedaya Wahba, of Egypt, in one of two bronze medal match-ups, which she also lost.

Taekwondo is one of a handful of Olympic sports that award two bronze medals. Other sports that offer two bronze medals are boxing, judo and wrestling.

Even though she lost, she won over the hearts of the Miami community, where she lives, and grateful for the support of her family in South Dakota,

“It really is an honor to be here again for the third time. Nobody has ever done it and I was so close to another medal, but at the end of the day (I'm) just super thankful," said the Filipino American.

To “all my friends and family from there and even from around the U.S and the world. Just seeing those encouraging comments, messages and calls, I’m truly grateful,” McPherson said.

“I wouldn’t be here without you guys. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to bring a medal, but I did give it my all.”

Tokyo Olympics: Filipino American cyclist finishes 7th in road race

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U.S. cyclist Coryn RIvera in an earlier race.

It’s been 37 years since U.S. women’s cycling won an Olympic medal in the road race. Now they will have to wait another three years to try again in Paris 2024. Expect Filipino American Coryn Rivera to be battling for a spot on Team USA.

On another hot day in Japan, the United States' top sprinter, Rivera battled to seventh place behind surprise winner Anna Kiesenhofer from Austria in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 women’s cycling road race. Rivera rode a savvy race, but the heat and  humidity got to her in the end.

CORYN RIVERA

“Obviously, not what I want, but I’ve worked hard for it,” 28-year old Rivera said after the race. “I cramped, so I gave it my all.”

She turned professional at age 16 and has amassed a total of 72 US National Championships in four different cycling disciplines; road, track, cyclocross, and mountain bike. An astonishing 72 US National titles from the beginning of her career starting in the junior category, to collegiate, to U23, and now the professional category.

Rivera's latest and most prestigious title was wining the 2018 US Pro Road Race National Championships in National, Tennessee. She has competed at the highest levels of the sport such as Elite and Junior World Championships, UCI Women's World Tour, Track World Cups, UCI Road World Cups, and Pan American Championships. And is the first ever American, Male or Female, to win the Tour of Flanders, also known as De Ronde Van Vlaanderen.

She races professionally for UCI Women's World Tour: Team Sunweb and is part of the 2017 UCI Team Time Trial World Champion Team, winning the Gold Medal with her teammates in Bergen, Norway. Off the Bike, she is an alumni of Marian University where she graduated in 2015 with a bachelors degree in business marketing with a concentration in entrepreneurship.

“I’m pretty happy with it for my first Olympics,” added the racer, a resident of Newport Beach, CA. “After everything, I can be pretty satisfied.”

Tokyo Olympics: With Simone Biles' withdrawal, all eyes turn to Suni Lee in women's gymnastics competition

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Sunisa Lee is now the best hope in the gymnastic individual all-around competition.

UPDATED July 28, 11:15 a.m. PDT, to include Lee's tweet.

Suddenly,18-year old Suni Lee, the first Hmong American Olympic athlete, was in the spotlight, and so was the pressure.

That changed Sunday. Shaky mental health was the reason Simone Biles, who before the Olympics was expected to sweep all the gold medals, withdrew from the gymnastics team competition at the Tokyo Olympics.

Lee, who finished second to Biles in the U.S. championships, delivered when the U.S. team was still reeling from Biles decision and needed an emotional lift to remain competitive with the Russians

After a shaky performance on the vault, Biles took herself out of the competition and suddenly left the floor. She returned, but she had decided to not compete in the team competition. Biles' training partner Jordan Chiles was called in the take the place of Biles.

The next event, the uneven bars, is Lee's specialty. It is the one apparatus that Biles was not expected to win because of Lee's complex spectacular routine. She earned a score of 15.4, the highest score of the night. Lee's performance on the bars signaled the rest of the room that the U.S. was not going to go down without a fight.

Lee nailed her balance beam routine. The rest of the U.S. team did their best with just a few mistakes.

Lee took Biles place on the floor competition and even without preparation or warm up, scored high enough to keep the U.S. close to the Russians.

The Russians three strong floor routines was enough fo win the team competition, The first time in three straight Olympics that the U.S. did not take the gold.

Lee will now compete in Thursday's individual all-around, a competition that she could win, now that her teammate Biles is not competing.

Meanwhile, Biles, acknowledged as the greatest gymnast -- male or female -- of all time will decide later whether or not she will compete in the separate apparatus.

Late Tuesday night, Biles announced that she would not be taking part in the individual all-around. "I'm taking one day at a time," she told reporters, admitting that the problem is more mental than physical.

"Whenever you get in a high stress situation, you kind of freak out," Biles told reporters on Tuesday. "I have to focus on my mental health and not jeopardize my health and well-being.

"It just sucks when you're fighting with your own head." 

"After further medical evaluation, Simone Biles has withdrawn from the final individual all-around competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games, in order to focus on her mental health," tweeted USA Gymnastics.

"Simone will continue to be evaluated daily to determine whether or not to participate in next week's individual event finals. Jade Carey, who had the ninth highest score in qualifications, will participate in her place in the all-around.

"We wholeheartedly support Simone's decision and applaud her bravery in prioritizing her well-being. Her courage shows, yet again, why she is a role model for so many."

Asked about Biles in a press conference after the team competition, Lee responded, “To see her kind of go out like that is very sad because this Olympic Games, I feel like, is kind of hers.”

A reporter asked Lee if she stacks up against the competition, Biles interjected, giving  Lee some impromptu advice, "Instead of competing against other people, if you just focus on yourself you'll be alright."

Later on Tuesday night, Lee, a native of St. Paul, Minn, tweeted that she has “never been prouder to be apart of such an amazing team with an amazing group of girls.”

She added: “We stepped up when we needed to and did this for ourselves. we do not owe anyone a gold medal, we are WINNERS in our hearts.”

Tokyo Olympics: Hawaii's Carissa Moore catches a wave to a gold medal

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Hawaii's Carissa Moore carried off the beach after winning surfing's first Olympic gold medal.

This is the first time surfing has been included as an event in the Olympics so it is fitting that surfing's first gold medal goes to a native of Hawaii, the birthplace of the sport.

The world's No. 1 ranked woman surfer Carissa Moore is the first woman to ever win a gold medal in her sport at the Olympics. The surfing team's lone ethnic Hawaiian, she not only represented the U.S., she represented Hawaii and its people.

"I feel super blessed, super fortunate. It's been an incredible experience," Moore said after beating South Africa's Bianca Buitendag in the final competition. 

"It's been a crazy couple of days, a little bit of a rollercoaster of emotions just trying to figure out the break, find my rhythm, learning how to trust myself without my family here." 

After Tropical Storm Nepartak bypassed the Olympic site overnight, a rainbow spanned the sky over Tsurgasaki Beach 40 miles from Tokyo. It may have been a sign from her the Rainbow State where her family stayed up late in Hawaii to cheer their hometown hero.

Buitendag had trouble catching the rough waves unable to perform her tricks but Moore caught wave after wave building an unsurmountable score.

Moore, the four-time World Surf League champion ,entered the tournament as the No. 1 seed. She has been surfing since she was seven.

"The ocean has changed my life and I can't imagine my life without it, I'll be surfing until I'm in the ground," Moore added. "Riding the wave makes you feel free, it makes you feel present, it makes you feel more in love with yourself and the ocean and the environment." has been surfing since she was seven. Now at 28, she has been the No. 1 woman surfer since she was 20.

This morning  (July 27), Moore was interviewed on the Today Show where she also called the victory a "huge moment" for her native Hawaii, where surfing is central to the culture.

"It's the best sport in the world," she told Today hosts Savannah Guthrie and Craig Melvin. "I'm biased, but it's just nice to share it with a whole other stage and with a whole bigger audience. Surfing, it just brings so much joy, and I hope that people can sense that when they watch."

Watch Carissa Moore win her gold medal:

Tokyo Olympics: Huge upset as tennis star Naomi Osaka defeated

Naomi Osaka is out of the Olympics.

After dominant wins in the first two rounds of Olympic tennis, Japan's Naomi Osaka was upset by the  Czech Republic's Marketa Vondrousova, 6-1, 6-4.

With 34 unforced errors, Osaka looked listless throughout the match, consistently missing her first serve. Osaka had trouble handling Vondrousova's left-handed returns.

The Olympics was Osaka's first tournament since she withdrew from the French Open two months ago, citing her mental health. 

"I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this," Osaka said after the match. "I think it's maybe because I haven't played in the Olympics before and for the first year (it) was a bit much. I think I'm glad with how I played, with taking that break that I had."

"I feel like my attitude wasn't that great because I don't really know how to cope with that pressure so that's the best that I could have done in this situation."

By the time Vondrousova jumped to a 3-0 lead in the match's first 8 minutes, it was obvious Osaka was not at her best. At 4-0 it looked like Osaka was already looking forward to the next set.

In the second set, the 23-year old Osaka showed flashes of the player who won four Grand Slams, but by then Vondrousova had her confidence and belieivedd she could beat the No. 2 seed.

Although she was raised in the U.S. where she lives and trains, Osaka, who's father is Haitian and mother Japanese, elected to assume Japanese citizenship and play for the nation of her birth.

Last Friday, Osaka lit the Olympic torch in an emotional ceremony, her first public appearance after withdrawing from the French Open and skipping WImbledon.

After Ashleigh Barty, No. 1 seed and recent Wimbledon champion, fell in straight sets in the first round to Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo, Osaka was favored to win the gold.

Instead, Osaka will get an early start to prepare for the U.S. Open ,which will be played in September.

Naomi Osaka will leave the Tokyo 2020 Olympics without a medal, as the four-time major champion was upset in the third round Tuesday by Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.

Vondrousova, a 2019 French Open finalist, advances with the 6-1, 6-4 win.

Osaka -- who had 32 unforced errors in the match -- isn't the first big name to lose early in the women's draw. World No. 1 and Wimbledon champion Ashleigh Barty of Australia lost in the opening round to Spain's Sara Sorribes Tormo. No. 3 seed Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus also made an early exit, losing to Croatia's Donna Vekic in the second round.

But this upset is arguably much bigger than those. The face of these Olympics, and on her best surface, this is the first time Osaka has lost on a hard court before the quarterfinals since the 2020 Australian Open, when she lost to American Coco Gauff in the third round. All seven of Osaka's career titles have come on hard courts.

"I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this," Osaka said after the match. "I think it's maybe because I haven't played in the Olympics before and for the first year (it) was a bit much. I think I'm glad with how I played, with taking that break that I had."

The Olympics was Osaka's first tournament since she withdrew from the French Open two months ago, citing her mental health.

"I've taken long breaks before and I've managed to do well," Osaka said. "I'm not saying that I did bad right now, but I do know that my expectations were a lot higher.

"I feel like my attitude wasn't that great because I don't really know how to cope with that pressure so that's the best that I could have done in this situatio

Tokyo Olympics: Suni Lee joins Simone Biles in gymnastic's all-around competition

Suni Lee on the uneven bars in Tokyo.

The first Hmong American Olympian qualified for the individual all-around competition in women's gymnastics at the Tokyo Olympics.

Sunisa Lee, of St. Paul, Minnesota was among the bright spots for the U.S. at the Olympics gymnastics arena in Tokyo. She will be joining Simone Biles, the world's No. 1 gymnast and compete in all five events for the crown of best gymnast.

After Biles, it was a battle between Lee and Jade Carey to determine who would join Biles in the all-around. Each nation can only enter two women. It wasn't decided until the balance beam, the final event when Lee scored higher than Carey.

The U.S. women were not at their best in the team qualifying round. Superstar Biles, especially, was not her usual other worldly self, particularly in her landings in the vault, balance beam and uneven bars where she had to take extra steps. 

As a result, the Russian women scored higher than the Americans, who up until yesterday were considered a lock for th gold medal.

Sunday's qualifying scores do not carry over to Tuesday when the team scores will count and the women's team was subdued coming off the floor. 

"Obviously, there are little things we need to work on,'' Biles said. "We'll go back and practice and work on that, so we can do our best performance at team finals. That's what matters.''

Lee said the competition was "most nerve-wracking" that she's been in. Nerves may have been part of the reason the U.S. did not perform up to their own standards. The other reason was that the Americans held back some of their best routines while the Russians upped their game.

Lee also qualified for the balance beam and uneven bars event finals.

Lee is the first Hmong American to represent the U.S. in the Olympics. It "means a lot to the Hmong community ... and to just be an inspiration to other Hmong people (means) a lot to me too," she stold the Sahan Journal.

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Suni Lee's family cheered her performance from their home in St. Paul, Minn.

Tokyo Olympics: Filipino American fencer wins gold

 

SCREEN CAPTURE / NBC

Lee Kiefer with her historic Olympic gold medal.

UPDATED: July 26, 1:120 a.m.

Lee Kiefer became the first American woman to win a gold medal in the women's individual foil event and earned Team USA's first fencing medal of the Tokyo games. She defeated reigning Olympic champion Inna Deriglazova 15-13 to capture her first career Olympic medal after finishing fifth in London and 10th in Rio.

To win her gold medal, the 27-year old Filipino American, a medical student at the University of Kentucky, Kiefer went 5-0 in her matches. 

She won 15-4 over Singapore’s Arnita Berthier; 15-13 over Canada’s Eleanor Harvey, 15-11 over Japan’s Yuka Ueno; 15-6 over Russia’s Larisa Korobeynikova; 15-13 over Deriglazova in the gold medal match.

In the final point of the gold medal match, Deriglazova, knowing she was behind, was aggressive, charging at Kiefer, targeting Kiefer's chest. The Filipino American took a lunged forward going low making herself a smaller target and brought her foil upwards to score from below.

Watch the entire match below:

After the final point, Kiefer ripped off her mask and shouted "Oh my God!"

"What just happened? What just happened?"

After hugging her long-time coach Amgad Khazbak, she looked for her husband, Gerek Meinhardt, who is also an Olympic fencer competing in the men's foil. He was nearby.

“It was incredible,’’ Meinhardt said. “I know how hard she works every day, how much she wants it, how important a part of our lives fencing is.’’

Kiefer, a graduate of Notre Dame is a member of the Bluegrass Fencers' Club in Lexington, Kentucky, is a four-time NCAA champion and a nine-time individual Pan American champion.

"What just happened?' yelled Lee Kiefer after winning a gold medal in foil fencing.

Born in Cleveland and raised in Lexington, Kiefer grew up on the fencing ramp with her family. Her father, Steve, was a fencing captain at Duke. Her older sister, Alex, was an NCAA champion at Harvard. Her younger brother, Axel, has competed in the junior worlds. Kiefer said she was inspired by her father, now a neurosurgeon.

"Before I left, my dad wrote me a card, and he said that we have been on this journey. We have done our best and our pot of gold has been filled all along as we moved along and just being here is the icing on top," she told the Indianapolis Star.

"I just feel so much love and I have so much to give back to everyone. My dad pushed me from the beginning. We used to bump heads all the time because we are both so competitive and demand excellence, but here we are. Thank you, dad."

Kiefer’s mother, Teresa, is from the Philippines and a psychiatrist. The fencer joins a handful of prominent Filipino American Olympic medal winners, including diver Victoria Manolo Draves, figure skater Tai Babilonia, gymnast Kyla Ross and speed skater J.R. Celski.

Lee Kiefer celebrates after winning her final match.

Tokyo Olympics: Despite surge of hate, AAPI athletes will represent America 'no matter what.'

Naomi Osaka has been outspoken against racial injustice in the U.S.K

It's one thing to represent your country, but the pressure intensifies when one has to represent your race. That is a heavy burden for AAPI athletes at the Tokyo Olympics. 

Naomi Osaka, whose mother is Japanese and father is Haitian, grew up in the United States but plays for Japan where she was born, perhaps is the most outspoken example of the toll "representing" takes on an individual. 

Osaka plays for Japan and had to drop out of the French Open earlier this summer because of mental health issues. The four-time Grand Slam champion admitted that she has been struggling with depression.

Her biracial identity -- Japanese and Haitian -- and culturally, "American" could have contributed to her condition. After speaking out about racial justice during the U.S. Open last fall she made it clear where her sympathies were on behalf of the Black Lies Matter Movement. She was also outspoken against the recent surge of racist attacks against Asian Americans amid the coronavirus pandemic.

“If people loved Asian people as much as they love bubble tea, anime, mochi, sushi, matcha etc…” tweeted Osaka, who has a Haitian father and a Japanese mother and has lived in the United States since she was three.

"Imagine profiting/enjoying things that come from a culture and then attacking/diminishing the ethnic group that created it,” she continued.

It was a powerful statement Friday, when she Osaka chosen to light the Olympic torch the product of two continents and three cultures. In a moving, dramatic moment, Osaka lit the Olympic flame to officially start the Games. Symbolically, her prominent presence holding her torch aloft, can be seen as permission to speak out on racial justice and inequality and representation.

Russell Jeung, a professor at San Francisco State University and the co-founder of the reporting forum Stop AAPI Hate, said athletes speaking out has been an important component in spreading awareness.

“I think that’s definitely helped,” he told Today. “It initially wasn’t getting much mainstream attention, but once Asian American athletes started talking about it and posting on social media, there was a lot more traffic.”

Asian Americans occupy a "conditional status of belonging" due to the perpetual foreigner stereotype, Jeung told an Axios reporter. "If they're winners, [Americans will] accept them because America likes to be winners. If they lose, then we'll get vilified and blamed."

That puts Asian Americans in an unfair "double bind," Jeung told Axios. They not only represent themselves and their countries, but also have to represent their race.

Like Black athletes, Asian Americans are representing a country that doesn't fully accept them, said Jeung. Stop AAPI Hate started collecting reports of anti-Asian attacks in March 2020. In a year's time, over 6,600 reports of anti-Asian hate incidents collected by the group, with the majority against women and girls. 

Sakura Kokumai will compete in karate. in Tokyo.

While victims of the attacks cut across all social strata, from elderly pensioners to Hollywood celebrities and Washington politicians. Although there was no breakdown of the incidents that occurred against athletes, Jeung said they did receive multiple reports of harassment from Asian joggers, professional basketball player Jeremy Lin was called "coronavirus" during a game and karate ka Sakura Kokumai,was verbally assaulted during one of her workouts in a public park in California.

"I was a target because of how I looked. Not because I am an athlete. Not because I compete in karate — but because I am Asian. And no matter how you look at me, I will always look Asian," said Kokumai, who will be at the Olympics competing in kata, a formalized routine of karate techniques.

Although she considers herself a private person, Kokumai, 28, felt the need to go out of her comfort zone to speak out.

"I wish there was one thing that would fix this problem, but the first step is spreading awareness. And then we have to have empathy and compassion for one another. Over time we can help change things in the world for the better.

"As a Japanese American who was born and raised in Hawaii, I have always considered the United States my home. Hawaii is where I learned karate when I was seven. The U.S. is the country I have competed for since I was 14. But Japan is where my family is from. 

"And now to be able to go back to Tokyo to compete in kata in the Olympics — to represent the United States in a sport that originated in Japan — it’s a very special thing. I have a lot of people in Japan and in the U.S. who are rooting for me, and I want to show up and do what I do best. It’s something that makes me proud to be Japanese American," said Kokumai. 

Yul Moldauer will represent America "no matter what."

The anti-Asian hate "shouldn't be normal," said U.S. gymnast Yul Moldauer“ to The Oklahoman. “Asian-Americans shouldn’t have to go through the name calling, the stereotypes and the jokes.”

"My job is to represent this country no matter what ... no matter if an individual feels like they need to say something or harass me," said Moldauer, a Korean American adoptee.

"I'm just going to put that (bigotry) away because there are so many other great Americans in this country I get to represent."

"There's a segment of the population that is ... always going to be thinking less of Asian Americans," said American East Conference commissioner Amy Huchthausen, who co-founded the AAPI Athletics Alliance this year. "But I hope that Asian American athletes representing Team USA use this moment to speak about it and bring more awareness to it ... There's power in athletes using their platform."