Tag Archives: Tokyo Olympics

Luis Mosquera Claims Silver in Men’s Weightlifting, Giving Colombia First Tokyo Games Medal

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2020 Tokyo Games

Luis Mosquera has given Colombia its first medal…

The 26-year-old Colombian weightlifter had to settle for the silver medal in the men’s 67 kilos category at the 2020 Tokyo Games after being denied the gold by China’s Chen Lijun.

Luis Mosquera

Mosquera was surpassed by Chen, the world record holder in the category, his last attempt at the competition.

After lifting 151 kg in the snatch, six more than his Chinese competitor (4th with 145), Mosquera thought that he had secured the gold by lifting 180 kg in the third attempt of the clean and jerk, which was validated by the judges after reviewing the images, since at first it wasn’t considered good, which caused the claim of the Colombian delegation.

Chen, who had lifted 145kg in the snatch and 175kg on his first clean and jerk attempt, to put on an additional 12kg to end up lifting 187 and totaling 332kg, one more than Mosquera.

Italy’s Mirko Zanni took the bronze.

“The dream was to be an Olympic champion, but I have a very strong competitor next to me and I am proud to have been on the podium with him,” said Mosquera about his opponent.

“I was confident, because I had already lifted that weight,” declared the champion, who also highlighted: “The clean and jerk is my strong point, so despite being behind after the start, I knew I could do it (come back).”

Laurie Hernandez to Appear in Peacock’s Women’s Gymnastics-Themed Docuseries “Golden”

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Laurie Hernandez is golden…

The 20-year-old Puerto Rican Olympic gold medal gymnast and Dancing with the Stars champion will appear on Golden, a docuseries about women’s gymnasts vying for a spot on the U.S. team heading to the Tokyo Olympics.

Laurie Hernandez

The six-episode series, which hails from Peacock and LeBron James and Maverick Carter’s Uninterrupted will track five hopefuls competing for four spots on the U.S. Olympic team.

A premiere date hasn’t yet been confirmed for the show, which is part of a broad array of live and on-demand Tokyo programming heading to NBCUniversal platforms.

In addition to Hernandez, the series also features Morgan Hurd, Sunisa Lee, Konnor McClain, and MyKayla Skinner.

A major theme will be the coronavirus pandemic, which forced the postponement of the Games from 2020 to 2021 and also dramatically altered athletes’ preparations and training.

Each hour-long episode of Golden will center on one of the individual gymnasts, with storylines of the other competitors woven into the narrative.

Hernandez is known to Olympic viewers for winning a gold medal as a member of the “Final Five” team and an individual silver on beam at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

The series will cover a five-month span and milestones like national team training camps, the U.S. Gymnastics Championships, and the U.S. Olympic Team Trials, which start June 24.

Three-time Olympian Dominique Dawes is executive producing, along with James, Carter and Uninterrupted’s Jamal Henderson and Philip Byron.

“When I look back, I remember the tremendous sacrifice it took me to achieve my own Olympic pursuits,” Dawes said. “Similarly, these gymnasts have and will continue to endure physical, emotional and mental hurdles that most cannot fathom. The millions of viewers who watch the Summer Games are accustomed to witnessing the short-lived glory of the podium without truly understanding the demands these young female athletes face.”

Jesus Ferreira Leads United States U-23 National Team to Critical Win Over Costa Rica

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Jesus Ferreira is leading the American futbol pack…

The 20-year-old Colombian soccer player led the United States U-23 national team to a critical victory in its bid to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, helping them defeat Costa Rica 1-0 in its opening match of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Guadalajara.

Jesus Ferreira

Ferreira, an attacker for FC Dallas, scored the game’s only goal in the 35th minute, and the U.S. defense made it stand up, with keeper David Ochoa making a total of eight saves in a Man-of-the-Match performance.

With Mexico and the Dominican Republic also in Group A, the victory puts the U.S. in excellent position to be one of the two teams to advance and progress to the winner-take-all semifinal.

The U.S. struggled to maintain possession as the game went on amid difficult conditions at Estadio Jalisco that included game-time temperatures approaching 90 degrees as well as altitude of over 5,000 feet. Given that the Major League Soccer season has yet to start while the Costa Rican league is in the middle of its own, the fact that Los Ticos had the better of play wasn’t that surprising.

But the U.S. made the plays that mattered, and rode the saves of Ochoa to claim all three points.

“It wasn’t great,” said U.S. manager Jason Kreis about his team’s attempts to take care of the ball. “It was an important result for us but I would say that we would have hoped to have gotten that result in a little bit of a better fashion.

“I think we would have hoped that we could have been better on the ball and make better decisions and maintain the tempo of the game better. But unfortunately, part of guys not playing matches is that it’s not just about fitness, it’s also about their touch on the ball.

“And so I felt that the majority of what Costa Rica did to hurt us was in transition, when we gave the ball away very cheaply.”

Both teams showed nerves in the early going. Ferreira robbed Costa Rica defender Fernan Faerron in the second minute, advanced on goal unimpeded, but could only hit the post with the shot.

Ochoa was then twice called on to deliver two big saves, smothering Adrian Martinez‘s shot in the seventh minute, and then another close-range Martinez effort 10 minutes later following a giveaway from U.S. defender Mauricio Pineda.

Intent on getting an equalizer, Costa Rica started the second half with the greater level of intensity. The U.S. didn’t help itself with some giveaways deep in its own half, but Ochoa was on hand again, diving to his right to deny Randall Leal‘s effort in the 48th minute and then saving from Luis Diaz three minutes later.

Andres Perea Granted Permission to Represent United States

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Andres Perea is switching (international) sides…

The 20-year-old professional soccer player and Orlando City SC midfielder has been granted a one-time switch from Colombia to represent the United States.

Andres Perea

Perea, a Tampa, Florida native, moved to Colombia at an early age, rising through the club ranks at Atletico Nacional. He went on to represent Colombia at the FIFA U17 World Cup in 2017 and U20 World Cup two years later before joining Orlando City on loan last season.

Perea, who’s at the January camp with the U-23 U.S. men’s team, received the news on his switch from senior side coach Gregg Berhalter. Because Perea played for Colombia in official competition, Perea wasn’t able to take part in the USMNT‘s 6-0 win against El Salvador last December.

“It was a very important decision for me. Colombia is my country as well, but it’s an honor for me to represent the United States as I did Colombia in the past,” Perea said.

The players of the U23 side — which will represent the U.S. at the Tokyo Olympics this summer — are training alongside 12 members of the senior group in Bradenton, Florida, with reports of a friendly match against Serbia in the works.

“Andres we find to be a really, really interesting holding midfield player for us,” U.S. U23 coach Jason Kreis said during a conference call. “The amount of ground that he’s capable to cover defensively, I think it’s a little bit different level than some of the other guys that we have in our pool. His processing of the ball, he’s still learning a little bit about that.”

Kreis anticipates men’s Olympic soccer qualifying for North and Central America and the Caribbean will take place during late March in Guadalajara, Mexico, where the CONCACAF tournament last spring was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Kreis said he anticipates it will be difficult to access top Europe-based Americans for qualifying. FIFA does not require that clubs release players to under-23 teams. FIFA extended the age limit by a year, keeping the group for qualifying limited to players born on or after Jan. 1, 1997.

Each team reaching the games in Japan can supplement its roster with three players over the age limit. Top Americans are not expected at qualifying, with clubs expected not to make available Christian Pulisic, Weston McKennie, Tyler Adams, Joshua Sargent and Giovanni Reyna. All are regulars in league play this season.

Sergio Ramos Becomes Most Capped European Player Ever

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There’s a new feather in Sergio Ramos’ cap(ped)…

The 34-year-old Spanish soccer player has become the most capped male European footballer ever, making his 177th appearance for Spain in their UEFA Nations League 1-1 draw with Switzerland on Saturday.

Sergio Ramos

But the milestone day almost turned into a nightmare as Ramos squandered two penalties in the stalemate, after not having not missed in his previous 24 attempts for either Spain or Real Madrid.

The defender — who captains both club and country — has now played one international game more than the previous record holder, former Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, who retired from international duty in

Ramos is now targeting the world record held by Egypt‘s Ahmed Hassan, who played 184 games for his country between 1995 and 2012. The defender could reach that mark at next summer’s Euro 2020 tournament, if he features in all of Spain’s matches before then.

But Spain coach Luis Enrique said Ramos’s twin spot-kick misses wouldn’t affect his captain.

“Sergio’s numbers when it comes to taking penalties are in the reach of few players. If we had got a third penalty or a fourth one he would have taken them as well,” he said. “He had scored his last 25, but football has moments like this.”

The number one spot-kick taker for Real Madrid and Spain, despite being a defender, Ramos has turned penalty taking into an art in the last two years, with his last miss coming when he hit the crossbar in Madrid’s 3-2 defeat by Sevilla FC in May 2018.

He has confessed to relishing the high-stakes situation of a penalty, scoring a number of crucial spot-kicks in Real’s run to the La Liga title last season as well as netting from the spot in last month’s 3-1 win at Barcelona.

But he finally met his match in Swiss keeper Yann Sommer, who guessed the right way to parry Ramos’ first penalty early in the second half and then refused to be fooled by the Spaniard’s ‘Panenka‘ routine which has worked so well for him in the past.

“It’s a real shame that Ramos missed the penalties because he’s usually so good,” added Spain forward Dani Olmo.

“But he’s very strong mentally and I’m sure that the next time he takes a penalty he’ll score.”

Saturday’s start further entrenches a remarkable international career that began when he made his Spain debut in March 2005, coming on for Carles Puyol at half time in a 3-0 friendly win over China.

He initially featured as a right back — including at Euro 2008, Spain’s first tournament win in 44 years, and in the country’s only World Cup winning side in 2010 — before switching to centerback for their defense of the European Championship title in 2012.

Despite turning 35 next March, he has expressed a desire to feature not just at the Euros in June, but also the Tokyo Olympics, describing the possibility as “a nice idea, an event no-one would say no to.”