Olympics 2020: USA makes history by becoming maiden women’s surfing champion; Germany grabs first gold

The four-time world champion and world No.1 sealed a comprehensive victory to enter the Olympic history books.

The 28-year-old had already commended herself to the Japanese public ahead of the Games by delivering a thank you speech in Japanese to the city of Makinohara for hosting the pre-Olympic Games training camp.

The first gold of the Games for Germany

Ricarda Funk becomes Germany’s first gold medalist after winning in the women's slalom K-1 final.

It’s Germany’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics

Despite the empty stands, there was a good atmosphere for the final; music blared from speakers as competitors were introduced and coaching teams ran alongside the course shouting encouragement to their athletes.

COVID in Olympics

Tokyo has reported its highest-ever increase of new COVID cases since the pandemic began, adding 2,848 new cases on Tuesday.

The capital’s previous daily record of new cases was reported on January 7, with 2,520 new cases, according to Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

The record comes amid the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in its fourth day of official competition.

At least 160 Covid-19 cases have been reported as linked to the Tokyo 2020 Games as of Tuesday, according to Tokyo 2020 organizers.

The Japanese capital is currently under a state of emergency in effect until August 22.