INTERNATIONAL: Day ten of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the world has a new fastest man. Italy’s Lamont Marcell Jacobs claimed a shock gold medal in the event, with a time of 9.8 seconds, just 0.04 seconds ahead of American Fred Kerley. World champion Christian Coleman and Trayvon Bromell, the world's fastest in 2021, were both absent from the final.
The closure of the gymnastics and swimming events on Sunday helped China retake the top spot on the medals table, with 24 golds and 51 medals in total. This week’s athletics events will most probably help the US though, currently sitting at second place with 20 golds and 60 medals in all. Host nation Japan is having one of its best Olympics ever, with 31 medals in all, 17 of them gold.
But despite the host nation’s successes, and the fact that the Games are already in their final week, there are still calls to cancel them. About a hundred protesters marched through the streets of Tokyo on Sunday. Many of them carried banners, reading "cancel the Olympics". Residents are worried about the impact the games will have on the already-bad Covid-19 situation in the capital, which is already under a state of emergency. Tokyo Olympics organizers reported 18 new Games-related cases on Sunday, taking the total Games-linked number to 259. Covid-19 cases in Tokyo surged to a record high of 4,058 on Saturday.
