Olympic Daily News: 27 July 2020

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Here’s some Monday Olympic Motivation: 68 years ago today, Czech Emil Zátopek picked up his third gold medal at the 1952 Helsinki Olympic Games as he won the Olympic marathon. Zátopek dominated the distance events at those Games, taking the titles in the 5,000m and 10,000m races, as well.

400m star Ariarne Titmus remains focused on Tokyo 2020 goals

Australian swimming star Ariarne Titmus remains focused on repeating the magic that gave her gold at last year’s world championships in the 400m.

Titmus, 19, shocked American Katie Ledecky to take that title in Gwangju. She was the silver medallist in the 200m and took bronze in the 800m, as well.

Earlier Monday, on what would have featured the 400m final at the Tokyo Olympics, Titmus joined the Olympic Channel live on Instagram to talk about Olympic postponement, her dog Lucy and more. She is also featured in the new 'Athletes to Watch' series.

“I was kind of thinking where I should have been right now,” said Titmus. “And then our time Australia time last night, I would have had the 400 heats and I was a little bit upset thinking about, you know, where I should have been. But now thinking about it, I'm really excited that hopefully we all get to be there next year and try and perform there.”

Volleyball’s Phil Dalhausser claims 100th career win

2008 Olympic beach volleyball champion Phil Dalhausser of the United States joined an elite list over the weekend, claiming his 100th career tournament title.

“I’m just grateful that I can make a living playing the sport, and to have 100 pro wins, that’s pretty darn cool,” he said.

The win came with partner Nick Lucena at the AVP Champions Cup in Long Beach, Calif., as they did away with Jake Gibb and Taylor Crabb in the final.

“It’s never a cakewalk with Jake or Taylor,” Lucena said. “I thought we applied some service pressure that got them in a little bit of trouble and we took advantage of it in the first and it kind of just got away from Jake and Taylor.”

Dalhausser is targeting his fourth Olympic Games next summer in Tokyo, while it will be a second trip to the Games for Lucena.

Battle of the Brits underway featuring Andy Murray

2012 and 2016 Olympic tennis gold medallist Andy Murray is set to take part in the Battle of the Brits tennis tournament happening this week.

The event in London features two teams of men’s and women’s players, competing in singles, doubles, and mixed doubles. Murray is expected to participate only in doubles in order to not jeopardize his preparations for next month’s U.S. Open.

The 'Battle' is a family affair for the former world No. 1 with brother Jamie as tournament organiser and his mum, Judy, a tennis coach and former Fed Cup captain, serving as a team captain.

Trivia time!

Yesterday, we asked which country owns the longest winning streak in a single Olympic event.

That record belongs to the United States in the men’s pole vault where they dominated the event from 1908-1968. That’s 12 straight Olympic wins.

Here’s today’s question.

Which Olympic torch was the first to travel in space?

1. London 2012
2. Atlanta 1996
3. Sochi 2014
4. Athens 2004