Sport stretched out over Tokyo on Saturday and gold medals rained down as the Olympic Games burst into life, finally casting aside some of the shadow of COVID-19 and controversy that has plagued the global showpiece.

Japan's Miki Ishii and Megumi Murakami won the first women's match of the beach volleyball tournament at the Tokyo Olympics by default after their Czech opponents withdrew due to Covid-19.

Novak Djokovic launched his pursuit of Olympic gold with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Bolivia's Hugo Dellien in the first round of the Tokyo Games on Saturday.

China's Zhihui Hou won the gold medal in women's 49-kg weightlifting at the Tokyo Olympics, bagging the second gold for China in as many competitions, with a comfortable win over Indian and Indonesian medalists.

Ice-cold Chinese shooter Yang Qian claimed the first gold of the Tokyo Games on Saturday, keeping her cool while Russian Anastasiia Galashina lost hers in a dramatic finale.

Archers Ruman Sana and Diya Siddiqui were eliminated from the pre-quarterfinal stage of recurve mixed event of the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday morning.

Bangladesh’s top archers Ruman Sana and Diya Siddique got off to smooth starts in their individual recurve events on the opening day of the Tokyo Olympics after finishing 17th and 36th respectively among 64 competitors at the Yumenoshima Park Archery Field in Japan yesterday.

Guinea cancelled its participation in the Tokyo Olympics on Wednesday due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the west African state's sports minister announced.

Brazilian legend Pele hailed Marta as "much more than a footballer" and an "inspiration" after she scored in a fifth Olympic Games on Wednesday.

The pandemic-postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympics began on Wednesday with Japanese women's softball pitcher Yukiko Ueno getting Games competition underway in what the head of the World Health Organization said was needed as "a celebration of hope".

The cardboard beds at the Tokyo Olympic Village are “sturdy”, organisers reassured on Monday, after a report warned they weren’t strong enough for sex.

Teenage archer Diya Siddique is considered to be the third potential athlete -- after Ruman Sana and shooter Abdullah Hel Baki -- to bring success for Bangladesh in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics as the 17-year-old archer has recently hogged the limelight by bagging a silver medal by pairing with Ruman in the Recurve mixed event of Archery World Cup in Switzerland.

Triumph for Pogacar, Morikawa

Lewis Hamilton was the victim of "multiple instances of racist abuse on social media" during and after his controversial win in the British Grand Prix, according to a joint statement by Formula One, the FIA and his Mercedes team. 

The fresh-faced Slovenian Tadej Pogacar was set to ride into Paris in triumph on the final stage of the Tour de France after cementing his grip on the lead in the time trial on Saturday 

The chief of the Tokyo Olympics tried to reassure "worried" athletes on Saturday as the Games Village was hit by its first coronavirus case, six days before the pandemic-delayed event opens.

Since the first Olympic appearance in 1984, Bangladesh, one of most populous countries in the world, never won an Olympic medal in nine appearances of the world’s most showcased event. Up until the 2016 Rio Olympics, the Olympics has always been a matter of token participation for Bangladesh. However this time, Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) sees its participation in Tokyo Olympics as the journey with a new dream, the foundation of which has been laid by the international performances of shooter Abdullah Hel Baki and archers Ruman Sana and Diya Siddique. On the eve of their departure for Japan yesterday evening, Baki talked to The Daily Star about his preparation, performance and target for the Tokyo Olympics.

Bangladeshi Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus will receive the Olympic Laurel at the Tokyo Games, the second time the trophy has been awarded, the IOC said Thursday.

Olympic champions at the Tokyo Games starting next week can forget about having their medals hung around their necks as they stand on the podium, shaking hands with dignitaries and soaking up their success.

Olympics organisers have pledged to prioritise sustainability at the Tokyo Games in an attempt to demonstrate how countries such as Japan -- a top carbon emitter -- can work towards a greener future.