FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
B3
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • FrIday, JULy 30, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
OLYMPICS
Tokyo Games
Team
USA
China
Russia
Japan
Australia
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15
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16
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11 41
10 33
9 30
6 25
11 22
LEE’S GOLDEN MOMENT
In a dramatic twist, gymnast becomes fifth straight all-around champion for U.S.
Results as of 8 p.m. Thursday
Swimming: More
medals for U.S.
Russia’s Evgeny Rylov
completed a backstroke
sweep at the Tokyo Olym-
pics on Friday.
Rylov added the
200-meter backstroke title
to his victory in the 100
back, winning with an
Olympic-record time of 1
minute, 53.29 seconds.
The silver went to
American Ryan Murphy
in 1:54.15, while Britain’s
Luke Greenbank grabbed
the bronze in 1:54.72.
Murphy was a dou-
ble-gold medalist at the
2016 Rio Games, extend-
ing America’s dominance
of the backstroke events
that went back to 1992.
Rylov ended the U.S.
winning streak with his
two golds in Tokyo. Mur-
phy settled for a bronze
and silver this time.
Also on Friday, South
Africa’s Tatjana Schoen-
maker set the first indi-
vidual swimming world
record in Tokyo.
She won the women’s
200-meter breaststroke
with a time of 2 minutes,
18.95 seconds, breaking
the mark of 2:19.11 set by
Denmark’s Rikke Moller
Pedersen at the 2013
world championships in
Barcelona.
The United States
claimed the other two
medals. Lilly King set a
blistering pace early in the
race and held on for a sil-
ver in 2:19.92. Annie Lazor
grabbed bronze in 2:20.84.
It was the third world
record at the Tokyo Aquat-
ics Centre, with the first
two coming in women’s
relays.
Volleyball: USA in
the quarterfinals
The U.S. women’s vol-
leyball team won its third
straight match at the
Olympics Thursday and
is assured of a spot in the
quarterfinals.
The Americans beat
Turkey 25-19, 25-20, 17-25,
20-25, 15-12 in their third
pool play match to join It-
aly at 3-0 in Pool B.
The United States is
seeking its first gold medal
in the sport and is off to a
good start in Tokyo with
wins over Argentina, de-
fending champion China
and Turkey.
Italy, Serbia and Brazil
have also clinched spots
in the quarters with the
other four spots still to be
determined.
Canoe: Aussie wins
women’s slalom
Australia’s Jessica Fox
made Olympic history at
the Tokyo Games Thursday
as the first gold medalist in
women’s canoe slalom.
Fox made the last run
of the final and crushed
it, beating rival and sil-
ver-medalist Mallory
Franklin of Britain with a
winning run of 105.04 sec-
onds through the rapids of
of the Kasai Canoe Slalom
Center. It was a clean run
without the mistakes and
penalty seconds that pre-
vented her from winning
gold in the kayak slalom
two days earlier, when she
won bronze.
The women’s canoe
slalom is one of 18 new
events introduced to the
Olympics this year in a
push for gender equity. It
replaced the men’s double
canoe slalom.
—Associated Press
Morry Gash/AP
Sunisa Lee, of the United States, performs on the balance beam during the artistic gymnastics women’s all-around final at the Summer Olympics Thursday in Tokyo. Her
score of 13.833 pushed her past Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade heading into the floor exercise. Lee became the fifth consecutive American to win gold in the all-around.
BY WILL GRAVES | Associated Press
Sunisa Lee,
of the United
States, embraces
her coach Jeff
Graba after
performing
on the uneven
bars during
the artistic
gymnastics
women’s all-
around final
Thursday at
the Summer
Olympics in
Tokyo. Lee’s
score of
15.300 was
the highest on
that apparatus.
OKYO — Sunisa Lee wanted to quit during
quarantine.
It all had become too much. The lingering
pain from a broken foot. The deaths of two fam-
ily members from COVID-19. Her father’s slow
recovery from an accident that left him paralyzed.
The urge eventually passed. It always does. Still, less than
two months ago the 18-year-old gymnast hobbled around
the podium at the U.S. championships, getting by more on
grit than anything else.
Tokyo seemed far away. The top of the Olympic podium,
even farther.
Then suddenly, there she was on Thursday night as a
tinny version of “The Star-Spangled Banner” echoed across
Ariake Gymnastics Centre. Gold medal around her neck.
A watch party back home among the Hmong-American
community in her native Minnesota raging. A victory she
never envisioned not yet sinking in.
“It’s crazy,” Lee said after winning the Olympic all-around
title following a tight duel with Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade. “It
doesn’t seem like real life.”
T
Gregory Bull/AP
See Lee / B5
Sneaking a peek: Fans find creative ways to get a glimpse
There’s no spectators this
year, at least not officially
BY DAVE SKRETTA
Associated Press
MISHIMA, Japan — The soon-
to-be Olympic champion was in
what cyclists derisively call “the
pain cave,” empty lungs searing
and legs feeling like dead weight.
The climb he was on seemed inter-
minable, the evil gradient sending
him straight into the sky.
Hardly the time for Richard
Carapaz to look fondly upon a
near-naked man running beside
him on the road.
Except ... did the stoic rider
from Ecuador actually crack a
smile?
Indeed, he did. That same stunt
that overzealous fans pull in the
Alps and Pyrenees during the Tour
de France, where it might annoy
Carapaz to no end, was actually
welcomed by him in the Olym-
pic road race. That’s because the
draconian measures taken by the
organizers of the Tokyo Games to
prevent the spread of COVID-19
have also prevented fans from the
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
see most of the world’s best ath-
letes perform on their own soil.
Or roads, as it were.
“It gave us a sensation of some-
how coming back to normality,
seeing the fans there,” Carapaz said
later. “I loved it.”
Technically speaking, a ban on
fans for almost every event re-
mains in place. Police and volun-
teer security guards are on almost
constant patrol. But that hasn’t
stopped many locals from catching
a glimpse of the action.
See Spectators / B5
NBA | DRAFT
As expected, Pistons grab Cunningham at No. 1
Oregon’s Chris Duarte
picked 13th by Pacers
BY AARON BEARD
AP Basketball Writer
The Detroit Pistons selected Okla-
homa State’s Cade Cunningham with
the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft Thurs-
day night.
Cunningham had been widely ex-
pected to be the first name called in
New York, though Pistons general
manager Troy Weaver wouldn’t reveal
plans earlier this week and said the
team would look at every scenario, in-
cluding trades.
In the end, Detroit stuck with the
19-year-old mentioned as a potential
top pick before ever stepping foot on
the Oklahoma State campus.
Oregon’s Chris Duarte, a 6-foot-6
shooting guard, was selected at No. 13
by the Indiana Pacers. Duarte, 24, av-
eraged 17.1 points as a senior for the
Ducks last season and was one of the
oldest players in the draft.
Cunningham, a 6-foot-8,
220-pound point guard from Arling-
ton, Texas, lived up to expectations
with his size and fluid game to be-
come a first-team Associated Press
All-American.
He averaged 20.1 points, 6.2 re-
bounds and 3.5 assists with a game
that allowed him to hit from 3-point
range, score off the dribble or find
teammates out of traps.
Cunningham attended the draft
wearing a dark suit, shirt and tie with
sparkles on his collars and cuffs. When
the pick was announced, Cunning-
ham kissed 2-year-old daughter Riley,
sitting on his lap, then hugged family
members and took the stage alongside
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver to
don a blue Pistons hat.
See Draft / B4