The second full day of competition saw 18 gold medals up for grabs, including the first ever in skateboarding, one of several new sports introduced in Tokyo as part of an International Olympic Committee drive to attract younger fans.

A perfectly scripted final saw Japanese world champion Yuto Horigome strike gold in a tense street competition.

The 22-year-old, who grew up just a stone’s throw from the Olympic venue, landed three huge tricks in a row to eclipse American favorite Nyjah Huston, who finished seventh.

“This is special because it was held in Koto City, where I was born,” said Horigome as quoted by AFP.

“For me it’s very meaningful, very inspiring.”

Horigome’s victory was one of four golds snaffled by Japan on Sunday.

The haul included a remarkable judo double, with brother and sister Uta and Hifumi Abe both winning Olympic titles within an hour of each other.

Uta Abe was first to strike gold in the women’s under-52-kilogram category, beating Amandine Buchard of France in the final.

She then cheered on as her big brother Hifumi overpowered Georgian judoka Vazha Margvelashvili in the under-66-kg gold medal fight.

Earlier, unheralded swimmer Yui Ohashi had sparked the Japan gold spree in an action-packed morning finals session at the Tokyo Aquatics Center.

Ohashi powered to victory in the women’s 400 individual medley, toppling Hungary’s defending champion Katinka Hosszu.

Ohashi – whose previous best performance on the world stage was a silver medal at the 2017 World Championships – touched in 4:32.08 ahead of United States duo Emma Weyant and Hali Flickinger.

Cycling, tennis upsets

Ohashi’s win was upstaged however by Tunisian teenager Ahmed Hafnaoui, who pulled off a massive shock in the men’s 400-meter freestyle to take gold.

The 18-year-old had only qualified eighth-fastest for the final but produced a devastating late burst to win in 3 minutes 43.36 seconds, overhauling Australian Jack McLoughlin, who took silver in 3:43.52.

“I just can’t believe that, it’s amazing,” Hafnaoui said.

“I felt better in the water this morning than yesterday and that’s it. I’m the Olympic champion now.”

It was Tunisia’s first ever Olympic medal in the event and just their third gold ever in swimming.

The other swimming medals were split between the US and Australia, with Chase Kalisz winning the 400-m medley and Australia taking gold in the women’s 4x100-m freestyle relay in a world record time of 3:29.69.

The upsets extended beyond the pool later Sunday, with Australian world number one Ashleigh Barty crashing out in the first round of the women’s tennis singles. Barty, the reigning Wimbledon champion, lost 6-4, 6-3 to Spain’s Sara Sorribes Tormo.

Austrian mathematician Anna Kiesenhofer, meanwhile, claimed a shock victory in the women’s cycling road race, which ended in bizarre fashion with Dutch veteran Annemiek van Vleuten crossing the line mistakenly thinking she had won.

Van Vleuten punched the air as she finished, oblivious to the fact that Kiesenhofer had broken away from the peloton earlier to take gold.

Golf chaos, Biles wobbles

Elsewhere on Sunday, a century-long wait to see surfing at the Olympics came to an end at Tsurigasaki Surfing Beach.

Blue skies and blazing sunshine greeted surfers as they paddled into the Pacific Ocean for the men's and women’s heats.

It marked the culmination of efforts to get surfing added to the Olympic program which date back more than 100 years.

The specter of COVID-19 meanwhile continued to stalk the Olympics, with the men’s golf tournament upended by two high-profile withdrawals.

World number one Jon Rahm was ruled out after returning a positive test – his second coronavirus disease positive in two months – while Bryson DeChambeau also saw his Olympic hopes end with a positive case.

In gymnastics, US superstar and defending champion Simone Biles produced a rusty performance in qualifying, with several uncharacteristic mistakes in a near-empty arena.

Biles rolled her eyes after one unsteady landing on the vault and had her performance director Tom Forster shaking his head in disbelief after a shaky end to her beam routine.

Indonesia’s first silver

Indonesia’s top weightlifter, Eko Yuli Irawan, lifted a total of 302 kg to win the first silver medal for the country in the 2020 Tokyo Games on Sunday.

“I tried my best, and I am really grateful of what I have achieved. I’m sorry I was unable to contribute a gold medal to the team, as I have always wanted,” Eko said in a statement obtained by The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

It was the fourth Olympic medal for Eko, who also won silver in the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, as well as bronze in the 2012 London Games and in 2008 in Beijing.

On Saturday, Indonesia celebrated another lifter, Windy Cantika Aisah, who earned the country’s first bronze medal in the Tokyo Games in the women’s 49 kg category.

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