Olympics End; Israel’s Linoy Ashram Wins All-Around Rhythmic Gymnastics Gold

Rhythmic gymnast Linoy Ashram became the first Israeli woman ever to win an Olympic gold medal, and the fourth Israeli to earn a medal during the games in Tokyo that ended with a closing ceremony on Sunday. Ashram took gold in the individual all-around competition, edging out Russian champion Dina Averina by 1.5 tenths of a point. Averina and the Russian Olympic Committee called for an investigation into the final score after Ashram dropped her ribbon in the final exercise.

Saudi Arabia’s Tarek Hamdi was disqualified on Saturday in the final of the men’s karate kumite +75kg, after a high kick to the neck of Iran’s Sajag Ganzjadeh, who left Nippon Budokan arena on a stretcher. Ganzjadeh was automatically awarded the gold medal, with Hamdi receiving the silver.

Also on Saturday, Egyptian Feryal Abdelaziz won the first Olympic karate gold medal in women’s over-61-kilogram kumite, beating Azerbaijan’s Iryna Zaretska to win Egypt’s second Olympic gold medal since 1948. In addition, Egyptian athlete Ahmed Elgendy won silver in the men’s modern pentathlon.

Qatar won a bronze medal in men’s beach volleyball. Bahrain’s Kalkidan Gezahegne took a silver medal in the women’s 10,000-meter race. She previously represented Ethiopia before acquiring Bahraini citizenship in September 2013.