Sports News Roundup: Olympics-Softball-U.S. beats Canada as Abbott strikes out nine; Olympics-Tennis-Djokovic to start the quest for Tokyo gold against 139th-ranked Dellen and more

Locked in for her Tokyo Olympics start on Thursday, Abbott must have missed headlines late Wednesday in which local authorities said security near Fukushima's softball venue saw a brown bear two consecutive mornings this week. Olympics-Winning trust will be harder than winning medals for USA Gymnastics The most closely watched members of the United States Olympic gymnastics team in Tokyo will not be superstar Simone Biles or her fellow athletes, but the doctors and therapists hired to treat them as the sport works to put years of scandal behind it.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Olympics-Softball-U.S. beats Canada as Abbott strikes out nine

The United States scored a 1-0 victory over Canada as U.S. pitcher Monica Abbott dominated the Canadian batters from the start on the second day of softball at the Tokyo Games. For seven innings, Canadian batters chased pitches off the plate and failed to make contact on 116 kilometers per hour tosses from one of the game's fastest throwers and a five-time Japanese league's most valuable player.

Olympics-Tennis-Djokovic to start the quest for Tokyo gold against 139th-ranked Dellen

Tennis world number one Novak Djokovic will begin the next leg of his quest to become the first male player to complete the Golden Slam when he takes on Bolivia's 139th-ranked Hugo Dellien at the Tokyo Olympics in the opening round. The Serbian will need to win in Tokyo and then the U.S. Open later this year to achieve the feat that has so far only been accomplished by Germany's Steffi Graf in 1988.

Scandals over ceremony have deterred some, Tokyo 2020 head says

A series of recent scandals engulfing officials working on the opening ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Games may have discouraged some people from watching the event, the president of Tokyo 2020 said on Thursday. Seiko Hashimoto also told reporters that she had no intention of resigning after the latest scandal, in which organizers fired the director of the ceremony after past comments about the Holocaust surfaced.

MLB roundup: Rays earn walk-off win over Orioles

Austin Meadows delivered a two-run, two-out walk-off single in the ninth inning as the Tampa Bay Rays rallied to beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-4 on Wednesday in St. Petersburg, Fla. With the Rays down 4-3 in the ninth, Mike Zunino walked and Randy Arozarena -- who homered twice in the contest -- blooped a ball that fell into the right field following a collision between Baltimore's Pat Valaika and Ryan Mountcastle.

Olympics-Softball-Olympic softballers hunt roaming bear, no luck finding it so far

U.S. softball pitcher Monica Abbott had one regret on a day she threw a dazzling shutout to beat Canada: She had no idea she was supposed to be on the lookout for a bear. Locked in for her Tokyo Olympics start on Thursday, Abbott must have missed headlines late Wednesday in which local authorities said security near Fukushima's softball venue saw a brown bear two consecutive mornings this week.

Olympics-Winning trust will be harder than winning medals for USA Gymnastics

The most closely watched members of the United States Olympic gymnastics team in Tokyo will not be superstar Simone Biles or her fellow athletes, but the doctors and therapists hired to treat them as the sport works to put years of scandal behind it. Following the 2016 Rio Games, USA Gymnastics was rocked by revelations of systemic abuse of athletes that triggered mass resignations, lawsuits, investigations, and bankruptcy filings.

Olympics-Opening ceremony director fired over Holocaust joke on Games eve

On the eve of the Tokyo Games, organizers fired the director of the opening ceremony over a joke he made about the Holocaust, while media reported former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, a memorable advocate for the Tokyo Games, would skip the showpiece event. The news is the latest in a series of embarrassments for Tokyo organizers that have sparked outrage at home and abroad and comes just days after a well-known musician was forced to step down https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/tokyo-2020-organisers-want-composer-who-apologised-bullying-stay-2021-07-19 as a composer for the ceremony after old reports of his bullying and abusive behavior surfaced.

Olympics-Basketball-Fed up with fourth place, Australia want podium spot

Australia's men's basketball team is arguably the most successful outfit never to have won an Olympic Games medal, having finished fourth on four occasions, but for 2014 NBA champion Patty Mills this run must end at the Tokyo Games. The Australians finished fourth in 1988, 1996, 2000, and 2016, while also coming in fourth at the 2019 World Cup.

Olympics-Soccer-Sweden's women stun U.S. with 3-0 thrashing in Tokyo opener

A pair of goals from Swedish forward Stina Blackstenius spelled catastrophe for the United States on Wednesday, as they suffered a shock 3-0 defeat in their Tokyo 2020 debut. Fifth-ranked Sweden put the pressure on almost immediately with three shots in the first eight minutes, as the four-time Olympic gold medalists showed little sign of the stellar, 44-game unbeaten run they had enjoyed since 2019.

Olympics-Swimming-Terminator v dominator is Tokyo's pool duel

American Katie Ledecky can become the most successful female Olympian of all time with another golden haul in Tokyo but Australia's Ariarne Titmus could be the dasher of dreams. The duel in the pool between Stanford University graduate Ledecky, the dominator of women's distance swimming, and 20-year-old Tasmanian "Terminator" Titmus promise to be a highlight of week one.

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