Tokyo Olympics 2020 live: Laura Muir easily qualifies from 1,500m heat alongside Katie Snowden - latest updates

• Laura Muir easily qualifies in 1,500m heat

• Men's long jump final has begun

• Beth Dobbin, Britain's last hope in the 200m, looks to qualify at 3.10am

• Women's 100m hurdle final to be run at 3.50am

• Team GB go for eventing gold at 9am in the showjumping

• ​'The men's 100m final used to be the Olympics' blue-riband event - this felt like a novelty act'

Laura Muir made a serene start to her quest to win an elusive Olympic medal by easing through her 1,500 metres heat, but there was huge drama when gold-medal favourite Sifan Hassan - who is attempting an unprecedented 1,500/5,000/10,000m treble in Tokyo - had to recover from a fall to win her race.

Content to plonk herself at the back of the 15-woman field in the early stages, Muir switched all the way out into lane three at the halfway point before smoothly making her way to the head of proceedings.

From that point, qualification never looked in any danger as she held her position alongside former training partner Gabriela Debues-Stafford, of Canada, and ensured she exerted minimum energy while cruising over the finish line in second place. Her time was four minutes 3.89 seconds, just behind Debues-Stafford.

Muir, who has won five European indoor and outdoor titles, is looking to end a run of narrow misses at global level having finished seventh at the last Olympics and fifth, fourth and fifth at the last three World Championships. The expectation is firmly on a medal this time, although Kenyan Olympic champion Faith Kipyegon and world champion Hassan, of Netherlands, are expected to be very difficult to beat.

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02:27 AM

Athletes banned from 400m forced to compete in 200m

by Ben Bloom in Tokyo

A relatively little-known athletics controversy has played out in Tokyo this morning with three athletes who have been banned from competing over their preferred distance of 400m instead going in the 200m heats.

Namibian teenagers Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi in April ran the second and third-fastest 400m times in the world this year and were expected to make a huge impact on these Olympics over the quarter-mile distance, but subsequent tests deemed them to be athletes with Differences of Sexual Development (DSD).

Those DSD athletes - of which Caster Semenya is the most well known - have elevated levels of naturally occurring testosterone and must take hormone-lowering medication if they want to compete at distances from the 400m up to the mile.

Semenya has refused to do that and failed to qualify to compete at these Olympics over 5,000m, while Burundi’s Francine Niyonsaba ran in the 5,000m heats after claiming Olympic 800m silver behind Semenya at Rio 2016.

Mboma and Masilingi both qualified easily from their 200m heats this morning, as did fellow DSD athlete Aminatou Seyni of Niger, although it is unlikely any of them will win a medal in an event that they have been forced into rather than choosing.

“In the beginning I was very down, you can’t come and tell me now I am not a woman,” Masilingi told the BBC. “That is really frustrating and gets me on my nerves but there’s nothing we can do about it at the moment.

“It is really unfair because you cannot expect everyone to be the same, everyone to have the same abilities. We are born with different abilities, we can’t be the same, it doesn’t make sense.”

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02:13 AM

Beth Dobbin qualifies in 200m heat

The Brit, who represents the nation's last hope for 200m success after Dina Asher-Smith pulled out through injury, finished in second place in her heat to qualify automatically.

Dobbin ran a 22.78, a good time but not near here PB.

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02:08 AM

Tajay Gayle misses long jump cut

A surprise there, the Jamaican was considered a favourite in this event before the Games, but looked to be struggling with injury and has failed to make the top 8 and second round of the men's long jump final.

That 8.21m from Maykel Massó is still the longest jump of the day so far.

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01:58 AM

Maykel Massó still leads men's long jump final

Entering the final round before the cut, the Cuban, who also competed in the high jump yesterday, still leads with 8.21m. The jumpers all look like they're a bit rusty with this morning final.

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01:44 AM

Maykel Massó leads men's long jump final

The Cuban leads after the first round, after a jump of 8.21m. Miltiádis Tentóglou of Greece, the European champion, is in second after a jump of 8.11m in what was a relatively tentative opening round.

Jamaican favourite Tajay Gayle was red flagged in his opening jump as he appeared to be struggling with injury.

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01:40 AM

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Price qualifies from 200m heat

The the two-time Olympic 100m champion Jamaican cruised through her 200m heat, winning comfortably in a time of 22.23.

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01:23 AM

Men's long jump final underway

Cuban Juan Miguel Echevarria got proceedings underway with a jump of 8.09m. It could have been much longer as he took off 38.4cm short of the board.

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01:06 AM

Katie Snowden qualifies, Revee Walcott-Nolan misses out

Brit Katie Snowden cruised into the top six in the third and final 1,500m heat to qualify for the next round, spending much of her race cruising behind the leaders and finishing with a PB of 4.02.77.

However, her compatriot Revee Walcott-Nolan failed to qualify as her time was bested by three fastest losers in the final heat.

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12:56 AM

Revee Walcott-Nolan misses top six as Sifan Hasan qualifies despite tripping

Brit Revee Walcott-Nolan will need to hope she qualifies as a fastest loser for the next round of the 1,500m as she finished just outside the top 6, despite running a PB of 4:06.23.

Meanwhile, the Dutch runner Sifan Hassan, aiming for unprecedented 1,500m/5,000m/10,000m treble, had a major scare after tripping with 400m to spare after some jostling ahead of her saw several runners tumble. But she came tearing back, sprinting the final lap to, amazingly, win the heat. Warning sent.

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12:46 AM

Laura Muir speaks

On starting her Olympics - "So excited to get started, all my flat mates have raced already so I was itching to get going. It's nice to get that first run out the way, feeling comfortable."

On the conditions - "It's just about being as best prepared as possible, having a good lead up to this."

On her tactics - "I'm more prepared than ever. Before my speed was my weakness but I'm improved so much over the last couple of years with that. I'm in the best shape I can be in and deal with anything that comes my way."

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12:42 AM

Laura Muir easily qualifies from 1,500m heat

The Brit ran a composed, controlled race in the first round heat of the women's 1500m, easily finishing inside the top six needed to advance.

Muir started her race at the back of the pack, aiming to conserve energy in the early laps, before making her move heading into the final 800m. From there, she picked up the pace but never looked like leaving third gear until the final 250m. Along the back straight, the Brit picked up the pace again before cruising over the line in second, qualifying comfortably.

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12:35 AM

Athletics preview on day 10

by Ben Bloom in Tokyo

Blimey, this athletics malarkey comes at you thick and fast.

It was only a few hours ago that I was booted out of the Olympic Stadium at 2am while still writing about a former long jumper who had never broken 10 seconds until three months ago officially becoming the world's fastest man.

Bonkers. But old news, because there is now more athletics to watch.

There are two finals in today's morning session: the men's long jump and women's 100m hurdles, where Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn may well have one eye on Kendra Harrison's world record after taking down the Olympic record in the semi-finals.

Neither of the Ofili sisters (Tiffany Porter and Cindy Sember) made it through so there will be no Brits involved. Laura Muir also makes her first step to winning an elusive Olympic medal.

She will almost certainly have no trouble at all easing through her 1,500m heat. She's up momentarily.

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12:27 AM

Italian rower who tested positive for Covid-19 awarded bronze medal

by Tom Morgan

An Italian rower who missed the men's four final due to a positive Covid-19 test has been awarded a bronze medal in an unprecedented move by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

Bruno Rosetti had been forced to pull out on the day of competition after failing a test. The 33-year-old then looked on as a crew of Matteo Castaldo, Marco Di Costanzo, Matteo Lodo and Giuseppe Vicino finished third.

However, having participated in all of the heats, the IOC utilised an allowance in its protocols to hand him a medal.

World Rowing had reportedly previously suggested Rosetti was not eligible, but the IOC said he would be given one in line with its rules.

"Athletes who participate in preliminaries of team sports get a medal [but don’t join the podium]," the IOC said.

Rosetti, still in quarantine following his positive test, said he was "very happy to receive the news of the decision of the IOC", but he "still cannot understand" how he came to test positive.

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12:14 AM

From hiding in JD Sports and Wolves toilets to boxing for gold

After Joshua Buatsi won bronze in Rio 2016, Ben Whittaker hopes to throw the punches to win gold on Wednesday, reports Pippa Field from Tokyo.

Sacked from two jobs as a teenager for hiding in the lavatory and called names on account of his small size, it is little wonder boxer Ben Whittaker afforded himself a big smile upon reaching the men’s light heavyweight final in Tokyo.

The 24-year-old, who grew up embarrassed to tell people about his ADHD diagnosis and who got kicked out of education in Year 11, has always been determined to prove people wrong – from the school which told him he would never amount to anything to those who attached the “Ben Peahead” nickname to him, due to being the small, bald kid in the year.

Whittaker was certainly standing tall in the ring on Sunday after his 4-1 split decision semi-final win over Russian Olympic Committee’s Imam Khataev, a result which means the West Midlands boxer could be crowned Olympic champion by Wednesday.

“I’m just a local lad from Darlaston, I don’t think I want my life to change to be honest,” Whittaker said, when asked about the increased attention that his boxing exploits in Japan will bring. In truth, his life changed for the better the moment he decided to commit to boxing. Before that he had been struggling to hold down a job after his father, Tony Wilson, told him to get one to help install a bit of discipline in his life after being kicked out of school.

You can read Pippa's profile of the big boxer here.

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11:57 PM

Athletes warned over breaching Covid protocols after drinking in the Olympic village

by Tom Morgan in Tokyo

Athletes have been warned they face punishment for breaching Covid-19 protocols after they were caught drinking in the Olympic village.

Organisers said they were investigating after a group allegedly violated their stringent measures. The athletes were spotted with alcohol in a park in the athletes' village on Friday night.

Police were in attendance but are not believed to have made any arrests. Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto told a news conference: "We are looking into the matter."

"We will take appropriate steps based on our findings," he said. Muto did not give details of the number of athletes involved or their nationalities. Organisers previously said athletes are permitted to drink alcohol only in their rooms and only if they are alone, as a precaution against Covid-19.

Drinking and partying are normally features of life in the Olympic village, as athletes let off steam after years of gruelling training once their competitions end.

But with Tokyo 2020 taking place without spectators and under tight social distancing measures because of the pandemic, athletes have been subject to daily testing and their movements limited inside a "bubble".

Some have taken to social media to complain of boredom. Organisers had said they planned to give out 150,000 condoms at the Games, but would tell athletes to take them home rather than use them in the village.

Separately, organisers have said six people attending the Games have so far had their accreditation revoked for violating rules imposed to hold the Olympics safely.

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11:40 PM

'There is no need': Italian and Qatari high jumpers share gold after turning down sudden-death decider

The pair were given the option of sharing gold or competing in a jump-off which would have seen them take one attempt each at lower heights, reports Ben Bloom.

The Olympic spirit was alive and strong on Sunday night when two high jumpers opted to share the gold medal rather than take on a sudden-death contest that would have seen one of them miss out.

High jumpers Gianmarco Tamberi, of Italy, and Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim have long been close friends and they made history together after becoming the first track and field athletes to share gold in more than a century.

The two men had matched each other blow for blow throughout the competition, with identical perfect records as the bar rose up to 2.37 metres. Another increase to 2.39m then proved a step too far for both men and they suffered three failures apiece.

Under rules introduced a decade ago only for the high jump and pole vault, the pair were then given the option of either sharing gold or competing in a jump-off which would have seen them take one attempt each at lower heights.

You can read Ben's report in full here.

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11:26 PM

'Max Whitlock's Toyko gold provides me with the confidence to push on to Paris'

Max is only a year younger than me, so him going and proving that age is just a number gives me that extra drive, says Britain's Becky Downie.

You can read more of Becky's thoughts here.

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11:12 PM

Two 800m runners tripped over each other - but their reaction was the definition of the Olympic spirit

The Olympic spirit was alive and well in Tokyo on Sunday when two runners dramatically collided in the 800 metres semi-finals before helping each other up and jogging side by side over the finish line, reports Ben Bloom from Tokyo.

America’s Isaiah Jewitt was about to turn into the home straight when he tripped, began to fall and clipped Botswana’s gold-medal favourite Nijel Amos on the shin.

Both men tumbled to the track and could only watch as the field sprinted off into the distance.

There were no hard feelings from either party, with Jewett offering his hand to help Amos to his feet before the pair jogged the remainder of the race in unison.

Following a protest from the Botswana team, Amos was later advanced to the final, which will now have nine men instead of the eight who automatically qualified.

You can read more on this heart-warming tale of sportsmanship here.

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10:56 PM

American shot putter becomes first athlete to defy Olympic organisers by protesting on podium

Raven Saunders raised her arms in an X shape after collecting her silver medal, reports Ben Bloom from Tokyo.

An American shot putter on Sunday became the first athlete to openly defy Olympic organisers by protesting on the podium in Tokyo.

Raven Saunders raised her arms in an X shape as she stood on the podium after collecting her silver medal.

She explained: “X is a place, it’s the cross-intersection where all people who are oppressed meet.

“I represent a couple of those communities, so I pretty much wanted to use my platform to stand up for everyone.”

Before the Tokyo Games, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach had warned athletes not to express their private views on the medal podium.

“The podium and the medal ceremonies are not made… for a political or other demonstration,” he said. “They are made to honour the athletes and the medal winners for sporting achievement and not for their private [views].”

You can read Ben's report in full here.

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10:42 PM

Belarus Olympic sprinter 'forced to airport against her will' after criticising coach

Kryscina Tsimanouskaya removed from Olympics and taken to Tokyo airport according to Belarusian media, report our Russia correspondent Nataliya Vasilyeva, sports news correspondent Tom Morgan and James Rothwell.

A Belarusian Olympic athlete was spirited out of the Olympic village in Tokyo on Sunday by Belarusian officials, who attempted to deport her for criticising the country's sports officials.

Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, a sprinter, is trying to seek asylum in Europe after the dramatic episode saw her taken to Tokyo airport by officials who then tried to take her back to the Olympic village after news of her situation was reported worldwide.

“I've been pressured, and now they're trying to take me out of the country against my will,” Ms Tsimanouskaya, said in a selfie video filmed at the airport police station.

After refusing to board the flight to Istanbul, she was placed under Japanese police protection amid reports that several men at the airport were about to force her onto the plane.

Ms Tsimanouskaya is now in a safe place with an immigration lawyer, the Belarusian Sports Solidarity Fund said, a group of opposition-supporting athletes.

It added that she intends to seek asylum in Europe.

You can read more on the astonishing tale here.