Two years ago Beth Shriever was working part-time as a teaching assistant at Dame Bradbury's Junior School in Saffron Walden and having to resort to crowdfunding to keep her BMX dream alive.
On Saturday the 22-year-old born in Leytonstone will wake up as an Olympic gold medallist who can count Liam Gallagher among her growing legion of admirers.
A truly extraordinary day at the Ariake Urban Sports Park in Tokyo on Friday witnessed the coronation of one of Britain’s least likely champions in Shriever, who showed remarkable resolve to stay in her chosen sport after UK Sport decided to cut the funding for women’s BMX post-Rio 2016.
The best thing about the story, though, was that it was preceded, by a matter of minutes, by what was arguably an even better one. Shriever’s tale of going from teaching four-year olds their ABCs to teaching the world’s top BMX racers a lesson was great, but in terms of inspiration it was at least matched by that of team-mate Kye Whyte.
The 21-year-old, who grew up on a council estate in south east London and who spent his evenings and weekends as a small boy at the Peckham BMX club in Burgess Park, trying to stay out of the sort of trouble which claimed the lives of a couple of his friends, won an equally unexpected silver medal in the men’s event.
What a day for British cycling. Shriever and Whyte are Britain’s first medallists in BMX since it was added to the Olympics in 2008. And what a day, too, for British Cycling, the sport’s national governing body, which has made a conscious effort since the last Games to widen appeal and participation beyond road and track. Friday’s medal, and Tom Pidcock’s in the mountain biking on Monday, can be seen as vindication of that decision.
Even their most wildly optimistic supporters could not have expected things to go quite as smoothly as they did. Whyte had overcame dodgy starts in two of his three semi-final runs to qualify for the final. But when it mattered most, he got off to a flyer, reaching the first berm – bend – in second place behind the Dutchman Niek Kimmann. That was how it stayed, although the ‘Prince of Peckham’ was closing fast by the finish. “If there had been 10 more yards, maybe it would have been a gold,” Whyte said afterwards.
“But it's a learning curve. It’s only my first Olympics.” As for Shriever, she dominated the women’s event, winning all three of her semi-final runs convincingly before leading the final from gun to tape. The only shame was there were so few there to see it.
It was up to Whyte, who stayed trackside to watch Shriever’s race, to scream encouragement as she held off a late attack from Colombia’s double Olympic champion and ‘Queen of BMX’, Mariana Pajón.
The camaraderie and warmth between the two of them was actually one of the nicest things about the whole day.
After Shriever crossed the line, virtually collapsing with all the lactic acid in her legs, Whyte scooped her up in his arms and carried her over to the cameras in celebration. And when they were doing their interviews in the mixed zone afterwards, they riffed off each other beautifully.
Whyte teased Shriever, joking that she was “stressful” to train with. “She cries, she throws tantrums and gets angry very quickly,” he said, grinning as Shriever, standing to the side, looked sheepish. “But she's a wonderful woman. You know what, I'm almost more happy for her than I am for me. That girl puts in some serious graft.
“Training with her has been great. It's taught me to be more respectful in front of women. She tells us off for our dangerous banter! She's the best in the world now.”
Bethany Shriever and Kye Whyte - PA
The feeling is clearly mutual. Shriever said she had to force herself not to burst into tears after Whyte, who she first met when they were racing in the juniors aged just 12, took his silver.
After working so hard to earn her shot she was determined not to blow it.
After UK Sport took the decision to cut funding for men’s mountain bike and women’s BMX, Shriever was left with a simple choice: quit the sport, or fund herself. She chose the latter, working part-time as a teaching assistant with three- and four-year olds while training and competing on the side. “I did that for two years and then Sparky [Park] saw my potential,” she explained.
Park, in fact, had had to shuffle British Cycling’s entire funding structure to accommodate her after UK Sport refused to add more than the agreed 92 athletes to the World Class Programme.
Eventually it agreed British Cycling could spread its funding across women’s BMX and men’s mountain bike provided it supported fewer athletes in the other disciplines.
Shriever was brought onto the programme full-time in June 2019. She remains the only woman in the squad today and credits that fact with making her a stronger rider.
“It has its moments [training with the men],” she said laughing. “But no, honestly they’ve been amazing.” Shriever also reserved special praise for coach Marcus Bloomfield, and for former world champion Shanaze Reade who she described as “an inspiration”.
Shriever and Whyte are the inspirations now. And it is going to be fascinating to see what impact their success has on the sport in the coming years. It was clear already from the reaction to their races yesterday that their stories had cut through to the wider consciousness.
From the raucous celebrations in Peckham, where Whyte’s friends and family had stayed up into the small hours to watch, to that tweet from former Oasis singer Gallagher.
“Bethany Shriever what a ledge well done LG x” he wrote, adding that the BMX was “blowing his mind”.
Shriever, it seems, is too cool for school. Asked whether she was an Oasis fan, she crinkled her nose. “Nah,” she replied.
In the pool, Duncan Scott won silver in the men's 200m final to keep alive his hopes of a historic haul of four medals at a single Games.
No British athlete has won four medals at any one Games. Reginald Doherty (tennis, 1900), Taylor (swimming, 1908), Bradley Wiggins (cycling, 2004), Chris Hoy (cycling 2008), Max Whitlock and Jason Kenny (gymnastics and cycling 2016) currently share the record of three medals but, barring the swimming equivalent of a dropped baton in Sunday’s team relay, Scott will now surpass those names.
Scott finished second with a time of 1 min 55.28 sec, just 0.28 seconds behind the Chinese winner Shun Wang.
Elsewhere in the pool, Luke Greenbank claimed another swimming medal for GB in Tokyo by taking bronze in the men's 200 metres backstroke.
Silver medalist Duncan Scott of Great Britain celebrates during the Men's 200m Individual Medley Final - Shutterstock
Greenbank qualified second fastest to reach the final on Friday morning and started well at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre, sitting behind only Evgeny Rylov of the Russian Olympic Committee after the first length.
He was overtaken by Ryan Murphy of the United States by halfway but comfortably held on to to finish third in a time of one minute and 54.72 seconds.
Rylov set an Olympic record time of 1min 53.27 secs to claim his second gold of these Games, having already bagged top spot on the podium in the men's 100m breaststroke, while Murphy finished in 1:54.15 to scoop silver.
Men's eight salvages pride for GB rowing before explosive fall-out begins
Great Britain's men's eight team produced an outstanding performance to take bronze in the regatta's final event.
They were not considered realistic medal challengers, but it proved an outstanding display by Josh Bugajski, Jacob Dawson, Tom George, Mohamed Sbihi, Charles Elwes, Oliver Wynne-Griffith, James Rudkin and Tom Ford.
They finished third behind gold medallists New Zealand, with Germany taking second.
It was Britain's second medal of the Tokyo Olympics rowing regatta after a silver in the men's quadruple sculls on Wednesday.
The bronze medal ensured a positive end to a difficult Games for British Rowing. Their efforts in Tokyo yielded just one silver and one bronze, a tally likely to provoke some introspection given the level of investment in the sport.
GB's rowers celebrate winning bronze in the men's eight - Getty Images
Earlier on Friday, Vicky Thornley agonisingly missed out on a medal in the women's single sculls. Nevertheless, her fourth place was the best ever performance by a British female rower in the event.
Thornley said: "Fourth is tough, but I don't think I could have done any more, especially in the second half of the race. "I didn't have quite enough at the end, but I am proud of what I have delivered over the last eight days. There have been some hellish days, especially the three days waiting for the semi-final.
"The last five years have been incredible - some of my darkest days and some of my best days. I am proud of the race I put together.
"I thought I had the momentum, but I didn't have quite enough."
Early exit for Okoye
It was not a good day at the office for GB's Lawrence Okoye in the discus.
The London 2012 Olympian quit discus throwing after those Games and moved to America where he spent a few years playing NFL.
He didn't quite cut it at the very top of the American football world though, so decided to give athletics another crack and managed to qualify for these Tokyo Games. But his stint did not last long.
He failed to record a legal mark with all three efforts in discus qualifying and will now head home early.
Great Britain's Lawrence Okoye in the Men's Discus Throw Qualification Group A at Olympic Stadium - PA
Mexican wave in golf
On another weather-affected day at Kasumigaseki Country Club, the men's golf had a new leader as Mexican Carlos Ortiz reached nine-under par.
Overnight leader Sepp Straka from Austria tumbled back towards the pack, but there was good progress made by Rory McIlroy who reached six-under. Xander Schauffele is USA's best performer on the same score.
Team GB'S Paul Casey is well positioned one shot further back at five-under par, just outside the top 10. Sweden's Alex Noren, Chile's Mito Pereira and Thailand's Jazz Janewattananond also feature prominently on the leaderboard.
Here's how the morning unfolded on day seven
05:55 AM
That's all from me today
Bradley Forbes-Cryans is in the canoeing final for GB and you can follow how he fares in our evening session live blog here. Later on, Team GB's football team face Australia in their quarter-final match while Sarah Adlington makes her Olympic debut in the judo.
05:35 AM
James Whittaker has guaranteed a boxing medal for GB
Here's what he had to say after getting the better of Jorge Luis Vivas Palacios:
"I don't want to cry again! I've been crying like a baby, it was weird. Before I was thinking a bronze is nothing, a silver is nothing, but when the win did come I had a little celebration and out of nowhere it hit me 'do you know what you've done?!'.
Benjamin Whittaker of Great Britain takes a break during the Men's Light Heavy - Getty Images
05:24 AM
Good news on Connor Fields after that BMX crash
The reigning champion had already done enough to qualify for the final later, but his hopes of a second successive gold medal came to an end in brutal fashion.
He was close to the front heading into the first steeply-banked corner at the Ariake Urban Sports Park and appeared to tangle with another rider, crashing down heavily.
"We can confirm that Connor Fields is awake and awaiting further medical evaluation," a team official told Reuters.
"We will share additional updates as they become available."
05:21 AM
Badminton latest
Japan won its first-ever mixed-doubles bronze medal on Friday when Yuta Watanabe and Arisa Higashino, who have played together for a decade, took out Hong Kong's Tang Chun Man and Tse Ying Suet 21-17 23-21 in a tight match.
Exhausted, the Japanese shuttlers both said there were times they wanted to throw in the towel.
"It was really difficult to enjoy because there was so much pressure," Higashino said.
Watanabe, the only Japanese man to win an Olympic medal in badminton, said he hopes others win more and that he is honored have been the first.
"Of course I wanted to get gold, but I'm still satisfied," he said.
05:19 AM
Finger on the pulse
In an Olympic first, more than 100 archers are broadcasting their heart rates as they go for bullseye at the Tokyo Games, pushing forward contactless health monitoring despite disquiet in some quarters on accuracy and surveillance implications.
Pattern-recognition software from Japanese tech giant Panasonic Corp is calculating heartbeats per minute by tracking face colour in live video from standard cameras placed 12 metres from the shooting line. Variations correlate to pulse, which displays on the Olympics television feed.
All but two women and four men among the Games' 128 archers agreed to participate, with data retained only in the form of archived TV footage.
"I like it because I am able to know heart rates of other athletes, and think, 'Oh, that athlete is always calm,'" said Japanese archer Miki Nakamura. "As long as they are using data as stated, I am cool with it."
By Reuters
04:46 AM
Australia will now face Fiji after shock defeat in the sevens
The United States claimed a surprise 14-12 victory over fancied Australia in the women’s Olympic Rugby Sevens on Friday to take top spot in Pool C and set the defending champions on a collision course with Fiji in the quarter-finals.
The end of the morning session was delayed by 90 minutes due to lightning around the Tokyo Stadium, but eventually the quarter-final line-up was completed as the United States meet Britain, New Zealand are up against the team representing the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and France tackle China.
The matches will be played later on Friday.
By Reuters
04:37 AM
Simone Biles latest
Olympic star Simone Biles says she's dealing with a bout of "the twisties" and is uncertain whether she'll continue to compete at the Tokyo Games.
Biles, who withdrew from the team and all-around competition because she felt she wasn't mentally prepared, said she started struggling with her air awareness after qualifying last Sunday.
The "twisties" are gymnastics code for when an athlete can't figure out where they are in relation to the ground during a routine. Biles admitted she was dealing with them after the U.S. took silver in the team competition Tuesday.
This isn't the first time Biles has dealt with the phenomenon. She said the length of the episodes have varied but typically last around two weeks. She is scheduled to compete in all four event finals early next week but has not made a decision on whether she will participate.
It's raining medals again for Great Britain! After that BMX gold and silver in quick succession, boxer Pat McCormack has guaranteed another medal after beating Bobo Baturov of Uzbekistan via a split decision (4:1). He will compete in the welterweight semi-final for the chance to fight for gold, but the worst he will leave Tokyo with is bronze. Ben Whittaker could also yet add to that tally shortly, with his men's light heavyweight quarter-final with Keno Machado of Brazil coming up shortly.
04:00 AM
Shriever's race in full
BETHANY SHRIEVER YOU ARE AN OLYMPIC GOLD MEDALLIST! 🥇
To even be here is an achievement in itself. To make a final is an achievement...I'm so over the moon. It just means so much, I'm so grateful for the support from everyone waking up at home.
It wasn't my goal. Results are out of our control, just stick to my routine.
03:53 AM
Kye Whyte: The Prince of Peckham
Kye Whyte of Team Great Britain celebrates winning a silver medal - Getty Images
The 22-year-old wins gold, and she can barely stand after the finish line. Moments earlier, Kye Whyte took silver in his final so that is a good morning's work on the track for GB.
Just like Whyte, she will have first pick of the gate number in the final after a time of 44.807. Three wins from three semi-final runs. What a result for GB.
Great Britain's Bethany Shriever competes in the Cycling BMX Racing semi finals at the Ariake Urban Sports Park - PA
03:21 AM
Paul Casey under par for this day
He is now five-under, four behind Mexican Carlos Ortiz who leads at nine-under. McIlroy is at six-under, alongside Australian Cam Smith, Viktor Hovland of Norway and Rory Sabbatini. Sabbatini was born and raised in South Africa, but married a Slovakian woman and now represents them.
Britain's Paul Casey watches his drive from the 5th tee in round 2 of the mens golf individual stroke play during the Tokyo - AFP
03:17 AM
Caroline Dubois has progressed in the boxing
👊
Caroline Dubois is through to the quarter-finals after winning via split decision (3-0) against the American Rashida Ellis.
He records the fastest time recorded today, and that earns him the first pick of gate number in the final.
Whyte got off to a first start and then burst through the openings when they presented themselves. He picked off Dutch rider Niek Kimmann in the final seconds of the race.
Great Britain's Kye Whyte competes in the Cycling BMX Racing semi finals at the Ariake Urban Sports Park - PA
03:05 AM
Kye Whyte beginning his semi-final
He is on the outside in lane seven. Trying to plot the ideal path and avoid any possible trouble.
02:58 AM
Results from the first men's BMX semi-final
Fields is much-fancied but came down hard. At least he has qualified:
Just the one British judoka in action today at the impressive Nippon Budokan arena - a venue perfectly set up for a brilliant atmosphere had fans been allowed - with Sarah Adlington, the 2014 Commonwealth champion, finally making her Olympics bow after near misses for London and Rio.
Unfortunately for the Edinburgh judoka her Tokyo campaign ended after her first bout, knocked out at the round of 32 stage of the women's +78kg competition by Nihel Cheikh Rouhou of Tunisia, who earned the decisive ippon score to progress.
"It's a massive disappointment. I was actually doing good in the fight before I got caught. I've done everything I possibly could to get here in the best shape of my life," said an upset Adlington, who lay flat on the mat for several moments afterwards.
The team's judo medal tally stands at one after Chelsie Giles claimed Great Britain's first podium of the Games with bronze in the women's -52kg event on Sunday.
02:45 AM
Duncan Scott speaks
On Team GB's success in the pool, Scott said: "It's obviously not just a one meet thing. It's been going on for quite a while. It probably started with (Adam) Peaty way back in 2015 when he first won the worlds. His mental drive and the way he dominates races I think rubs off on people, but on top of that there's some excellent coaches in British Swimming."
02:42 AM
GB leading in the latest dressage event
By Reuters
Britain's Oliver Townend, ranked world number one, rode his stallion Ballaghmor Class to an early lead on Friday in the first session of the dressage round of the equestrian eventing competition at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
China's Alex Hua Tian came second and Germany's Julia Krajewski is in the bronze position, but the rankings are subject to change with further athletes competing in dressage on Saturday.
Britain's Oliver Townend, - AP
Germany's Michael Jung, who won individual Gold in London and Rio, will compete in the eventing dressage test on Saturday at the Baji Koen Equestrian Park, which also hosted the equestrian events the last time Tokyo hosted the Olympics in 1964.
The cross-country and show jumping tests of the three-discipline eventing contest are scheduled for Sunday and Monday.
02:36 AM
Some carnage in the women's BMX semi-final
It seems Bethany Shriever managed to avoid the crash.
Zoe Claessen (R) of Switzerland and Alise Willoughby (L) of USA crash - Shutterstock
Sure enough, he surged through the field on the final freestyle leg of the race and came within a whisker of pipping Wang to gold. Scott is facing the wall in the pool, hard to tell if that is disappointment or exhaustion.
02:21 AM
At the halfway mark
Scott is expected to make a late run off the back, his second-half is his strong point. Wang of China is the leader, but all of them are still within touch.
02:20 AM
And they're off
Scott in a central lane in the pool.
02:20 AM
Duncan Scott is on the block
A mixture of strokes remember in the 200m individual medley final.
02:17 AM
McIlroy has surged up the golf leaderboard
Now four-under for his round and six-under for the tournament. He is currently on the 11th and just two shots behind new leader Alex Noren, who is representing Sweden.
Rory McIlroy of Team Ireland plays a shot from a fairway bunker on the ninth hole - Getty Images
Anna Hopkin not in contention in the women's 100m freestyle final
Australia's Emma KcKeon was the winner. Hopkin finished seventh but was less than a second from the winner's time, so there's a reason to be encouraged. All eyes on Scott now...
01:59 AM
It's bronze for Greenbank
He finished strongly but Rylov always had his closest competitors at arm's length. Still, that's GB's first medal in the event. Mark Foster thinks Greenbank needs to work on his turns.
01:55 AM
At the halfway mark
Greenbank is third, 0.54 seconds behind Rylov. 100m to go...
01:54 AM
They're off
Greenbank in lane five with that distinctive red hat.
01:53 AM
It's time for Luke Greenbank
He is a strong contender for gold in the men's 200m backstroke final. He qualified as the second fastest. GB have never won a medal in this event.
01:48 AM
Tatjana Schoenmaker breaks the world record!
It's gold for South Africa in the women's 200m breaststroke final. A time of 2:18.95.
Neither Renshaw or Wood could close the gap on Annie Lazor in third. They finished sixth and seventh respectively.
01:46 AM
Lily King of the US is setting a strong pace at the front
But South African Schoenmaker is closing the gap. The two Brits are in a battle for bronze...
01:44 AM
A huge 30 minutes or so of swimming begins
Molly Renshaw and Abbie Wood are on the block in the women's 200m final. Here's the latest from Jeremy Wilson in Tokyo:
The first now of five Team GB swimmers who have finals over the next 36 minutes. Molly Renshaw and Abbie Wood go first in the 200m breaststroke, followed by Luke Greenbank in the 200m backstroke, Anna Hopkin in the 100m freestyle and then Duncan Scott in the 200m medley. Scott and Greenbank are best hopes on basis of qualifying, but Renshaw a good outside medal shot too.
01:39 AM
GB rowing by the numbers
Bronze for men's eight, behind NZ and Germany. Britain's rowers at the Olympics: 2012 – 4 🥇 2 🥈 3 🥉 2016 – 3 🥇 2 🥈 2021 – 1 🥈 1 🥉 £24.65 million spent on the sport over Tokyo cycle, for two medals. A major inquest beckons...
But GB's rowing haul for these games stands at one bronze and one silver. Given past results and the sizeable investment in the sport, that will be classed as a disappointing result overall.
Well, at least it wasn't a seventh fourth-place finish in the rowing. It was a tremendous race which ebbed and flowed, in the closing stages it seemed GB could finish anywhere from second to fourth. In the end it was third, behind Germany in second and New Zealand who produced a heck of a performance to win gold.
01:30 AM
500m to go
GB are in second behind New Zealand, around half a second behind. The US have moved into contention on the outside.
01:29 AM
1km in...
There is virtually nothing between New Zealand, the new leaders, and Germany and GB. A quarter of a second between the three of them. Shaping up to be an epic finish.
01:27 AM
At 500m
Germany lead GB now by a mere 0.15 seconds!
01:26 AM
And they're off
Strong start from GB who have a slender advantage in the early stages.
01:24 AM
They are lining up for the final of the men's eight
Team GB are in lane five. This event is regarded as one of the blue-ribbon rowing races and certainly one of the noisiest spectacles with eight rowers and a cox bellowing instructions.
01:07 AM
Thornley speaks
"I don't think I could have done anything more. I was confident I could come through in the second half but in the last 100 I just fell away.
"I knew I was racing for bronze, it was about me and the Austrian Magdalena Lobnig, I thought I could reel her back in but fair play to her she's an awesome athlete.
"I've given it absolutely everything I've got."
01:02 AM
Sounds like there will be a delay in the BMX
They need to try and dry the course out after a heavy downpour. They could be some time.
She was gaining ground in the final quarter of the race on Magdalena Lobnig, who looked to have gone too hard to early, but the Austrian held on to take the bronze. Fourth is still the best a female British single scull has done at the games.
Emma Twigg of New Zealand cruised to gold with an Olympic best time of 7:13.97.
12:39 AM
In the third 500m...
Twigg still impressive up front, but Thornley is into fourth and closing on third. Could still be a chance of bronze!
12:37 AM
At the 1km halfway mark
Twigg is more than two seconds clear in the lead. Thornley has struggled after a good start and is in fifth.
12:35 AM
Thornley in fifth at the 500m mark
Emma Twigg of New Zealand is in the lead.
12:33 AM
And they're off!
Under starter's orders...and away they go in calm conditions in Tokyo. 2km of water lie ahead of them.
12:30 AM
They are lining up now at the start line
Thornley is in lane five between New Zealand and Austria.
12:24 AM
Not long now until Thornley takes to the water
As Katherine Grainger describes on BBC, the single sculls poses a particular mental challenge: you are out there all on your own with only your intrinsic motivation to drive you on.
12:08 AM
Rory McIlroy has started his second round
He is level par after two holes, two-under par for the tournament. McIlroy, representing Ireland alongside Shane Lowry, needs to make some birdies to close the six-shot to Straka. A cap is conspicuous by its absence for Rory this week.
Rory McIlroy of Ireland - Reuters
11:54 PM
Duncan Scott
Some interesting detail in this piece by Jeremy Wilson about the man who is looking to make history by becoming the first British Olympian to win four medals at a single Games in the men's 200m individual relay.
Scott, who is 24 and graduated from the University of Stirling last month with a 2:1 in Business and Sports Studies, said that his already vast experience in accumulating 27 medals in various Olympic, World, European and Commonwealth Games competitions was standing him in good stead.
11:42 PM
That's where Thornley will be racing in around 50 minutes
Fabio Fognini blamed the soaring heat for him using a homophobic slur during his men's singles third round defeat to Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday.
The television microphone picked up on the volatile Italian repeatedly calling himself a “frocio” (an Italian word that translates to “faggot” in English) after missing a forehand return at break point up in the first game of the deciding set. He would go on to lose 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.
Footage and audio of the incident quickly circulated and Fognini later issued an apology via an Instagram post with a rainbow-coloured background.
“The heat went to my head,” he wrote. “In today’s match I used a really stupid expression towards myself. Obviously I didn’t want to offend anyone’s sensibilities. I love the LGBT community and I apologise for the nonsense that came out of me.”
Fabio Fognini of Italy in action against Daniil Medvedev of the Russian Olympic Committee - Getty Images
The 34-year-old could face a fine from tournament organisers, who were informed of the comment after the match because the chair umpire is understood not to have heard it at the time.
Fognini is no stranger to controversy. In 2017 he was suspended from the US Open for using misogynistic language towards an umpire, while two years later he apologised after saying he wished a bomb would explode at Wimbledon.
Earlier this year, he was defaulted from a match for the first time in his career at the ATP tournament in Barcelona for abusing an official, although he protested his innocence.
The heat and humidity has been a constant problem for the tennis competition in Tokyo this week with Russian Medvedev among those to express his concerns, asking the umpire in Wednesday's match who would take responsibility if he died. From yesterday organisers delayed the start time for matches to 3pm rather than 11am due to conditions.
11:07 PM
Transgender athlete praised by IOC
By Tom Morgan
Olympic organisers have taken the highly unusual step of praising the “courage and tenacity” of a weightlifter set to become the Games' first transgender athlete.
Laurel Hubbard’s involvement in Tokyo as a trans woman has already polarised opinion - with critics claiming that, having transitioned aged 35, she has an unfair advantage.
However, ahead of the 42-year-old New Zealander competing on Monday, Dr Richard Budgett, the IOC’s medical and science director, said “everyone agrees that trans women are women”.
The IOC is due to update its guidance but currently says trans women can compete in the women’s category without gender reassignment surgery as long as they keep their total testosterone level in serum below 10 nanomoles per litre.
“To put it in a nutshell, the IOC had a scientific consensus back in 2015,” he said. “There are no IOC rules or regulations around transgender participation. That depends on each international federation. So Laurel Hubbard is a woman, is competing under the rules of her federation and we have to pay tribute to her courage and tenacity in actually competing and qualifying for the Games."
Hubbard is in the women’s 87kg weightlifting on Monday. “I am grateful and humbled by the kindness and support that has been given to me by so many New Zealanders,” she had said in a statement in response to her selection by her country as part of a five-woman squad.
Assigned male gender at birth, Hubbard set national records in junior competition under her given name before undergoing hormone therapy and coming out as trans in 2013, aged 35.
She has won a silver medal at the 2017 World Championships.
10:44 PM
Potentially a very exciting morning in the pool
Duncan Scott, Luke Greenbank and Molly Renshaw are among the contenders aiming to add to Great Britain's medal rush in the pool at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre on Friday morning.
There is at least one Team GB representative in the finals of the women's 200 metres breaststroke, the men's 200m backstroke, the women's 100m freestyle and the men's 200m individual medley.
Britain have already won three swimming golds for the first time since London 1908, as well as one silver.
Adam Peaty believes GB's success in the pool owes much to the culture and ethos fostered in recent years which is the envy of the many countries trailing behind them.
"It just shows that British Swimming is really going from strength to strength over the last six years," said Peaty, who made history by becoming the first British swimmer to win gold at consecutive Games in the men's 100m breaststroke.
"The culture and the ethos, both of them we live by, is just evolutionising - something which is idolised within other teams now.
"It's been great to get us off to a rolling start with the gold medal. What those other guys did is just remarkable and if I helped them just 0.5 per cent then that's my job done.
"The team's getting older, more experienced and I can't wait for the next generation to start kicking through and start saying 'this is possible'."
Before that potentially exhilarating 35 minutes, GB rower Vicky Thornley is in the final of the women's single sculls final while the men have a medal chance in the eight.
In the BMX, Kye Whyte races at 2.03am in men's semi-final with Bethany Shriever's semi-final at 2.18am
The second round of the golf is under way, with Austrian Sepp Straka leading and GB's Paul Casey in pursuit, while there is also the small matter of Tokyo 2020's first athletics session featuring Dina Asher-Smith's first 100m heat.
Israel’s strike on Iran on Friday morning will not come as a surprise to Western observers – but it will cause great concern in Washington and London as the region tips closer towards an all-out war.
Samantha Davis, the wife of Star Wars and Harry Potter actor Warwick Davis and herself an actress, has died aged 53. Samantha co-founded the dwarfism charity Little People UK and featured in the final Harry Potter film, alongside Warwick. Warwick announced the news in a statement to the BBC, revealing she had died on 24 March.
Following the Cass Review, a riveting ding-dong has broken out on X (formerly Twitter) between JK Rowling and the TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp. In broad terms, Allsopp belongs to the Pollyannaish “Be kind to trans people” (what harm do pronouns do?) side.
King Charles is said to have extended an olive branch to his youngest son and his wife by 'hinting' they should visit Balmoral this summer - but it could put the couple in a 'difficult position'.
Meghan Markle was on hand to congratulate her husband Prince Harry and his Royal Salute Sentebale team after they won the Royal Salute Polo Cup in Wellington, Florida
Speed limits could be dramatically changed in one part of the UK from next week as opposition politicians demand an immediate review amid a growing resentment of 20mph zones
Springtime On The Farm returned to Channel 5 with Helen Skelton and Jules Hudson but fans had the same complaint for the show and the former Blue Peter presenter
Jabin Botsford/ReutersDespite the troubles plaguing Donald Trump’s first criminal trial in New York City, the process reached a milestone Thursday afternoon when the judge filled all 12 seats of the jury that will determine his fate.But the slog is far from over, as prosecutors and defense lawyers must now screen dozens of other jurors to pick the half-dozen New Yorkers who will serve as alternates during the next month or two—and might not even make it into the deliberation room.The new additio
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh's daughter Lady Louise Windsor has to follow a very antiquated rule with regards to her younger brother James, Earl of Wessex
The rest of Europe, Remainers like to tell us, is forging ahead into a glorious green future while Brexit Britain is stalling, the government backsliding one by one on its net zero commitments.
Meghan Markle is said to be missing "some aspects" of life in the UK and is worried that her children may grow up to "blame her" if they are "deprived" of the chance to be working royals in the UK.
Yahoo Sport 
