Tokyo (AFP)

On the tartan and in the gymnasium, the Dutch Sifan Hassan and the French Samir Aït Saïd are pursuing their Olympic dream, but the Tokyo Games will have to deal with the intrusion of international politics and societal issues on Monday.

Sport, politics, society, echoing "faster, higher, stronger", the Olympic motto.

In the evening, at the Olympic Stadium, the Dutch Sifan Hassan launches the first stage of an unprecedented and puzzling treble in the long distance and middle distance (1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 m) which would add to her record already provided but also to the doubts that the accompany since the suspension of his ex-trainer Alberto Salazar.

It starts on Monday, with the 5,000m final (9:40 p.m. local, 2:40 p.m. in France).

The 28-year-old Dutchwoman exudes an incredible sense of ease, has a formidable finish, and is capable of disgusting her competitors on the train.

She had brilliantly achieved the 1,500m and 10,000m double at the Doha Worlds in 2019.

She seems so superior that she also carries doubt on her thin shoulders, especially since her former American trainer Alberto Salazar, guru of the Oregon Project supported by the firm Nike, was suspended for "incitement" to doping in 2019.

In the morning, the Greek Miltiadis Tentoglou was crowned in his last long attempt (8.41 m), while the Puerto Rican Jasmine Camacho-Quinn dominated the 100 m hurdles (12.37), ahead of the American record holder for the world Kendra Harrison (12.52).

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For the sport itself, we will therefore cling to the Olympic rings on Monday, with the flag bearer Samir Aït Saïd.

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Five years after Rio, the gymnast wants to exorcise this bad memory brought back from Brazil, where he had broken his leg in mondovision.

“I am not leaving on a stretcher but with a final!” He blurted out, bursting with joy on Saturday after qualifying.

Japan and the IOC also woke up on Monday with a delicate sporting-diplomatic issue to deal with.

Belarusian athlete Kristina Tsimanouskaya said she was "safe" Sunday evening, after claiming to be forced to withdraw from the Games and threatened with a forced departure from Japan for criticizing her federation on social networks.

This incident comes as the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko relentlessly pursues a crackdown on opponents, journalists and activists, with the hope of definitively putting down the historic protest movement of 2020 against his re-election to a fifth term.

Social issues will also be on the day's program, with the presence in the +87 kg weightlifting competition of the first transgender woman to compete in the Olympics, New Zealander Laurel Hubbard.

Hubbard, 43, was born male and competed in the youth male categories before beginning a transition process to becoming a female at around 30.

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She became selectable for women after meeting the International Olympic Committee (IOC) criteria for transgender athletes.

However, his presence in Tokyo sparked a complex debate on questions of bioethics, human rights, science, equity and identity in sport.

Hubbard supporters believe that qualifying for the Olympics represents a victory for inclusiveness and the rights of transgender people.

But others see her as having an unfair advantage over her female rivals due to physical abilities inherited from decades as a man.

On the French side, Koumba Larroque was beaten from the start in freestyle wrestling in the -68 kg category.

The French equestrian team can be in the spotlight with the show jumping of the eventing, in individual as in teams.

We will also know more about the fate of the women's basketball and handball teams: the handball players qualified in the morning for the quarter-finals by dominating Brazil (29-22), while the basketball players face the United States ( 1:40 p.m. local, 6:40 a.m. in France).

© 2021 AFP