Herriman’s Rhyan White, the first Utahn to swim in the Olympics, raced for a medal Monday night in prime time.
White placed second in the 100-meter backstroke for the second straight day Sunday behind American teammate Regan Smith. In both the qualifier and the semifinal, Smith set an Olympic record. White finished Sunday’s race in 58.46 seconds, six-tenths of a second behind Smith.
She finished in fourth place in Monday’s final with a time of 58.43, behind third-place Smith’s 58.05.
White will also swim the 200 backstroke and is expected to be part of at least one relay.
Storm is brewing over Japan
Tropical storm Nepartak is expected to put a damper on the Olympic Games in Tokyo in the coming days.
Accuweather is predicting the storm will hit Tokyo on Monday night, local time, and could continue into Wednesday. It has already caused organizers to push rowing — including Kathleen Noble’s women’s single sculls E final — to the weekend. It could disrupt other outdoor competitions as well, including the bronze- and gold-medal softball games and the women’s triathlon, all set for Tuesday in Japan.
“Enhanced rain, winds and rough surf will impact areas generally to the north of Tokyo Monday night into Tuesday night, local time,” AccuWeather senior meteorologist Rob Richards said.
The storm is not expected to develop into a typhoon.
“As a whole, I think things should go on as scheduled,” Richardson said of the Olympics.
Softball: Team USA tops Japan in exciting preview of gold-medal game
(Chang W. Lee | The New York Times) Kelsey Stewart, of the United States, runs the bases after hitting a walk-off home run to win their first game against Japan at the delayed 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, July 26, 2021.
Kelsey Stewart hit a walk-off home run as Team USA took down host Japan 2-1 Sunday to end the round-robin portion of the Olympic tournament undefeated.
Haylie McCleney tied the score in the sixth inning when she scored from third base on a single to outfield by Valerie Arioto. Stewart’s hit delivered the USA its second straight walk-off victory and the home-team designation when the two teams meet again for the gold medal Tuesday at 5 a.m. MDT. The loss to the U.S. was Japan’s first of this Olympics.
Amanda Chidester, who lives in Draper, twice reached base for the USA but finished with no hits.
Softball: Mexico battles its way to bronze-medal game
(Matt Slocum | AP) Mexico's Anissa Urtez celebrates a two-run home run during the fifth inning of a softball game against Italy at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, July 25, 2021, in Yokohama, Japan.
Former Ute softball star Anissa Urtez had two hits as Mexico beat Australia 4-1 to advance to the bronze medal game. Mexico will face Canada for the bronze.
Men’s volleyball: USA close but not quite able to knock off ROC
(Manu Fernandez | AP) United States' Taylor Sander, right, spikes the ball during the men's volleyball preliminary round pool B match between United States and Russian Olympic Committee at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021, in Tokyo.
BYU alumnus Taylor Sander and his teammates couldn’t lift the USA over the Russian Olympic Committee on Sunday despite several match-point opportunities. They lost 25-23, 27-25, 21-25, 25-23.
Sander finished with 14 kills, tying the team and match high, and two blocks.
Team USA drops to 1-1 in Pool B play. It next plays Tunisia at 8:05 p.m. Tuesday MDT.
Three things to watch
If you are using the app, you can view the event list here: https://public.flourish.studio/visualisation/6741612/
Here are three events Utahns will want to keep track of in the next 24 hours:
• Swimming: Women’s 100-meter backstroke final, 7:51 p.m.
Look for Herriman’s Rhyan White in Lane 6. She will try to overtake teammate Regan Smith and Canada’s Kaylee McKeown, who have traded Olympic records since the qualifying heats.
• Mountain biking: Women’s cross country, 2 a.m.
Haley Batten, who grew up in Park City, is among the medal favorites in this race in Izu, about 100 miles outside of Tokyo.
• Softball: Bronze-medal game, 10 p.m. Monday; gold-medal game, 5 a.m. Tuesday.
Anissa Urtez and Mexico will fight Canada for the bronze medal. A few hours later, her fiancee, Amanda Chidester, supported by one of Urtez’s best friends, fellow Utah alumnae Hannah Flippen, will have a showdown with host Japan in what should be an intense game.
