Leila Fadel

On a recent day in Irvine, Calif., Ali Malik is looking for his son Layth's shoes to get ready to go to an arcade.

Layth is 5 and his brother, Muhammad Binyamin (they call him Binyamin) is 9.

The Sept. 11 attacks happened well before their lives began. So they don't fully understand how it changed so much for this country, led to two American invasions, occupations and wars. And they also don't know how it changed their dad.

TOKYO — They were called the "COVID Olympics." The "pandemic Olympics." The "anger Olympics." Many Japanese people were upset to host such a huge and risky event in the middle of the pandemic, and many outside observers were surprised it happened at all.

TOKYO — American BMX racer and three-time Olympian Connor Fields is expected to be released from a Tokyo hospital on Thursday and fly home to the United States.

Fields, who won a gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games, was racing in an Olympic BMX semifinal heat on July 30 when he crashed face first and suffered a brain hemorrhage and broken rib.

TOKYO — We're in the home stretch of the most dramatic Olympics in recent memory, held against great odds amid a global pandemic in a country where many Japanese residents didn't want it to happen at all.

TOKYO — The International Olympic Committee said it's looking into a U.S. athlete's decision to defy a ban on protesting while on the medal podium in Tokyo.

U.S. shot-putter Raven Saunders briefly held her arms above her head in the shape of an X after accepting her silver medal. The ceremony was over; China's anthem to honor gold medalist Gong Lijiao was complete.

When U.S. shot putter Raven Saunders is competing, she calls herself the "Hulk." It's the alter ego that bursts onto the field to fight for championships.

Saunders — with the help of her "Hulk" persona — took silver in the women's shot put final at the Tokyo Summer Olympics. She hurled the heavy ball 19.79 meters, or nearly 65 feet. It's the third medal ever for the U.S. in the women's event and it's Saunders' first.

TOKYO — Today, Reshmi Oogink finally gets to go home.

But it won't be the homecoming in the Netherlands she expected after the Tokyo Olympics.

She was aiming to showcase her skills in Taekwondo. This would have been her second Olympics representing her county.

TOKYO — American BMX racer Connor Fields remains in a Tokyo hospital after a crash on Friday at the Olympics. Today officials from USA Cycling revealed Fields sustained a brain hemorrhage and broke a rib during his semifinals heat.

During the race, Fields slammed headfirst into the ground following a jump that was leading into his first turn. He remained motionless after the crash. Medics rushed him off the course on a stretcher and into an ambulance.

TOKYO — Thirteen-year-old Momiji Nishiya dazzled during the Olympic women's skateboarding street competition. She skated through a park of rails, ramps and stairs meant to mimic city street parks at the Ariake Urban Sports Park.

When she finished, she became Japan's youngest-ever gold medal winner and one of the youngest Olympic champions of all time. Nishiya shared the podium with two other teenagers.

For Mandy Bujold getting to the Tokyo Olympic Games was a fight that had nothing to do with boxing. She was effectively disqualified by the International Olympic Committee for having a baby.

"I have a child. That's a blessing, it's not a hindrance," Bujold said in an interview before her match in Tokyo today.

The Canadian boxer timed the birth around the Olympic cycle. But then the coronavirus pandemic delayed the Games, interrupted training and forced the cancellation of the May boxing qualifier in Buenos Aires for the Americas. She was out.

A Dutch rower has become the first athlete at the Tokyo Olympics to receive a positive coronavirus test after they competed in their event.

Finn Florijn, a 21-year-old vaccinated Dutch rower, tested positive after his Olympic debut in the men's single sculls race. He finished fourth in his heat and was scheduled to row again on Saturday, but now he's out of the competition and isolated for 10 days.

"I wasn't completely satisfied with my race yet. But I was hopeful to improve in the rematch. Now it's over in an instant," the athlete said in a statement.

The youngest Olympian at the Tokyo Games was knocked out of the competition in her first round on Saturday.

The Syrian table tennis player, Hend Zaza, just 12 years old, took it all in stride. She snapped a picture with her Austrian opponent, Liu Jia before leaving.

In her Olympic debut, Zaza played a woman more than three times her age at the women's singles preliminary round. She's beat players more seasoned than herself before. To qualify for the Games she bested a 42-year-old Lebanese player when she was 11.

TOKYO — In some ways, the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics looks very normal. Delegations of athletes decked out in clothes representing their countries march triumphantly into the stadium, waving flags. A beautifully choreographed spectacle from the host country, Japan, celebrates its art and traditions.

Emiliano Bosso gets into the elevator of his Tokyo hotel with a Japanese newspaper tucked under his arm. He has a translation app on his phone and tonight the paper will be the field hockey player's companion.