Olympics gold in field hockey, cycling; Sifan Hassan takes second medal

The Netherlands took gold medals in the women’s field hockey competition at the Olympic Games in Tokyo on Friday, with a decisive victory over Argentina. Men’s track cyclist Harrie Lavreysen also took the gold medal for the Dutch squad, and gold medalist Sifan Hassan won a bronze medal in the 1,500 meter race.

Oranje goes gold in field hockey

The Dutch women’s field hockey took the gold medal for the third time in the last four Olympic Games. The top prize was awarded after they defeated Argentina 3-1 in Tokyo, with all goals coming off penalty corners.

Halfway through the second quarter, the Oranje squad took the lead thanks to Margot van Geffen, who lightly tapped a penalty corner by Frédérique Matla. A few minutes later they struck again, and this time Caia van Maasakker was accurate from a penalty corner. Soon after, the defender, who is retiring after the Games, successfully scored again from a penalty corner.

Van Maasakker had already struck the bar from a penalty corner before the scoring had started.

When the signal sounded for half-time, Agustina Gorzelany narrowed the margin to two from a penalty corner. There were no more goals in the second half, and the Dutch team, coached by Alyson Annan, controlled the game. Maria Verschoor had an excellent chance to make it 4-1, but she missed from close range.

While there were still a few seconds to play, the substitutes on the side were already celebrating and moments before the final buzzer, several players dropped their sticks to celebrate.

The Oranje squad, which left the Olympic title to Great Britain in 2016, recorded eight consecutive victories at the Games in Japan. The Netherlands scored no less than 29 times and only conceded four goals. The British hockey players were already convincingly defeated in the semi-finals.

Lavreysen takes gold

Track cyclist Harrie Lavreysen also won gold in the sprint at the Olympic Games. The 24-year-old from Noord-Brabant defeated his compatriot and training mate Jeffrey Hoogland in three heats in the final.

Lavreysen thus gave the Netherlands its eighth gold at the Games. Hoogland, the 28-year-old whose girlfriend Shanne Braspennincx won gold at Keirin Cycling on Thursday, had to settle for silver.

The final battle of the sprint tournament was a repeat of the past two World Cup finals. Lavreysen won then, too. The bronze on the Izu cycling track went to Scotland’s Jack Carlin, who defeated Russian cyclist Denis Dmitrijev.

Lavreysen is the first Dutchman to win gold in the sprint since Jacques van Egmond at the Los Angeles Games in 1932. Theo Bos was the last Dutchman to take a medal in the sprint: silver in Athens 2004.Hoogland won the first heat. He and Lavreysen already won gold in the team sprint.

The tournament is now over for Hoogland. Lavreysen will continue in the Keirin from Saturday.

Phenom Sifan Hassan takes bronze for her second medal

Sifan Hassan won her second medal at the Olympics, though it was not a gold. The 28-year-old athlete took bronze in the 1,500 meter final.

Kenyan Faith Kipyegon took the gold in the Olympic Stadium, who extended her status as the Olympic title holder at this distance. The British athlete Laura Muir also finished ahead of the Dutch woman to take the silver.

Hassan previously won gold in the 5,000 meters during a race in which none of the other finalists had an answer to the acceleration of the Dutch lap in the final lap. Things were different in the 1,500m final.

Hassan already took the lead after 200 meters, which she later said was on purpose to determinethe pace. That was an unusual sight, because she usually runs the first laps in the back. Kipyegon followed her closely. In the last round, the Kenyan appeared to have the strongest legs. She went past Hassan, who couldn't follow, and then Hassan was also overtaken by Muir before the final corner.

Kipyegon finished in 3.53.11. Muir was clocked at 3.54.50, and Hassan completed the race at 3.55.86.

Hassan, who was also very happy with bronze, will run another final on Saturday. Then she will go for gold in the 10,000 meters. She is the first athlete to combine the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 distances at the Games.