Sports News Roundup: Gymnastics- For medals, U.S. women face biggest opponents - each other; Olympics-Swimming-The Russians are back -- and hunting gold and more

The campaign to have the sport included in the Games was going on long before the 19-year-old was born, and she and her fellow surfers are hoping for the big waves they need to showcase the best of their sport at Tsurigasaki Surf Beach. U.S. lawmakers urge IOC to delay or move China's 2022 Winter Olympics A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Friday called on the International Olympic Committee to postpone the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and relocate the event unless China ends what the United States deems an ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Gymnastics- For medals, U.S. women face biggest opponents - each other

Mykayla Skinner finally made the U.S. women’s Olympics 2020 gymnastics team after being left off the Rio 2016 squad. The 24-year-old Arizonan’s vault is good enough to land her on the podium alongside teammate Simone Biles, but she might not get the chance to try.

Olympics-Swimming-The Russians are back -- and hunting gold

The focus may be on the big name Americans and Australians but this could be the Games where Russian swimmers could make their biggest splash in the men's events in 25 years.

No Russian man has won a swimming gold in the Olympics since the Atlanta Games in 1996 when Alexander Popov and Denis Pankratov both topped the podium twice.

Olympics-Glittering gold distracts from Tokyo woes

Sport stretched out over Tokyo on Saturday as the Olympic Games finally got underway, but the shadow of COVID-19 and controversy was never far away on the opening day. China fired an ominous warning as Yang Qian grabbed the Games' first gold, the morning after Japan's global superstar tennis player Naomi Osaka had lit the Olympic cauldron to officially open the pandemic-delayed extravaganza.

Soccer-U.S. women's team files appeal in gender discrimination lawsuit

The U.S. women's national team (USWNT) on Friday filed an opening brief in the appeal of their lawsuit against the U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF), saying the decision to dismiss it was based on flawed legal reasoning. The brief, filed with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, asks that the ruling be reversed and the case sent back to the district court to be heard by a jury.

Surfing-Proud surfers ready to wave hello at first Games

American surfer Caroline Marks eyes the Pacific Ocean carefully before expertly catching a wave and launching into a routine of slashing turns and jumps, fine-tuning her tricks ahead of surfing's long-awaited Olympic debut on Sunday. The campaign to have the sport included in the Games was going on long before the 19-year-old was born, and she and her fellow surfers are hoping for the big waves they need to showcase the best of their sport at Tsurigasaki Surf Beach.

U.S. lawmakers urge IOC to delay or move China's 2022 Winter Olympics

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers on Friday called on the International Olympic Committee to postpone the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and relocate the event unless China ends what the United States deems an ongoing genocide against Uyghurs and other Muslim minority groups. Democratic Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Jim McGovern were joined by Republican Senator Marco Rubio and Representative Chris Smith in a letter saying that no Olympics should be held in a country "whose government is committing genocide and crimes against humanity."

Olympics-Surfing-Laid-back lifestyle comes to Olympic village with surfers, skateboarders

The addition of surfing and skateboarding has brought a whole new lifestyle vibe to the Olympic village, with laid-back competitors in Tokyo aiming just as much for having fun as they are for winning gold. Long seen by athletes and fans alike as underground sports that should not be about competition, the surfers and skaters at the 2020 Games are embracing the higher profile that comes with being part of the mainstream.

Baseball-Cleveland team to change name to Guardians from Indians

Cleveland's Major League Baseball team said on Friday it will change its name to the Guardians from the Indians following the 2021 season, drawing praise from Native American groups who had long viewed the old name as disparaging. The team, known as the Indians since 1915, began considering a possible name change in mid-2020 and selected Guardians from a list of 1,198 options that were narrowed down through 14 rounds of vetting.

Gymnastics-China and Russia put down early medal markers

China and Russia, two of Tokyo's top Olympic medal contenders in men's artistic gymnastics, put down markers on Saturday, dominating the first of three qualifying subdivisions.

Early action on opening day at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre produced little drama as the athletes expected to battle for podium places over the next 11 days looked poised to qualify with the minimum of fuss.

Olympics-Archery-U.S. pair ousted in surprise loss to Indonesia

The United States suffered a surprise loss to Indonesia in the mixed-team archery competition on Saturday, dashing the 8th-ranked pair's medal hopes. Indonesian pair Diananda Choirunisa and Riau Salsabilla, ranked 36th in the world-leading into the event, now go on to the next round to face Turkey in a quarter-final, ahead of the final later in the day.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)