Olympics: Everything you need to know right now

Japanese tennis favorite Naomi Osaka made a shock exit on Tuesday as the focus shifted to the gymnastics arena where American great Simone Biles was set to compete for the first Tokyo gold in her quest to become the most decorated female Olympian.

Here’s what you need to know about the Tokyo Games:

OSAKA OUT

Osaka was swiped aside 6-1 6-4 by Czech Marketa Vondrousova in the third round of women’s singles after making 18 unforced errors – three times the number committed by her opponent.

“I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure, this time around,” she said. “I think it’s maybe because I haven’t played in an Olympics before and for the first one to be here was a bit much.”

The Japanese superstar lit the cauldron on Friday night to open the Tokyo Games, her first tournament since pulling out of the French Open in May when she said she had been suffering from depression for almost three years.

TOKYO Covid-19 CASES SPIKE

Tokyo recorded 2,848 daily coronavirus infections on Tuesday, the Olympic host city’s highest since the pandemic began, officials said, as media reported that authorities had asked hospitals to prepare more beds for patients.

By Sunday, nearly 21% of the Japanese capital’s 12,635 Covid-19 patients had been hospitalised. Games organisers have reported 155 cases associated with the Olympics.

FANS FIND A WAY IN SPECTATORLESS GAMES

At boxing, it was drum-wielding Uzbeks. At table tennis, flag-waving Chinese cheered so much that Japanese media complained it felt like an away match for the home team.

The Olympics may officially be without supporters but at venues across Tokyo, national delegations have brought the noise, replacing fans kept out by coronavirus countermeasures.

Outside of Tokyo, images shared on social media showed crowds, large and small, coming together around the world to celebrate Olympians – even in the shadow of pandemic curbs.