blake essig joining us there, many thanks. and now we bring in patrick snell with the day's other actions. bring us up-to-date. >> yes, already so much to talk about. amazing historic day this tuesday and it was a pleasure to actually witness, a privilege even. warholm won gold in the 400 meter hmeet hurdles and 1459 shattering the records. we called it the race of the ages. world records standing at 46.70 seconds which warholm said himself both he and benjamin beating the mark by a wide margin, warholm becoming the first to run it in less than 46 seconds finishing in a time of 45.94. benjamin's time 46.17. even the bronze medal, that time 46.72. and that by the way the fourth fastest in the entire history of this event. after the race warholm calling it the biggest moment of his life adding that it defines everything, all the hours that i put in, everything that my coach has been working for. i dream about it like a maniac, i tell you, i sleep all night on it, i spend all my time thinking about this, so just getting this last

blake essig bringing us the latest on that.e delta variant outbreak has reached wuhan, the original epicenter of the covid-19 pandemic. and it is prompting citywide covid tests as authorities scramble to contain their first reported local infections in more than a year. kristie lu stout is joining us from hong kong, she's been monitoring this. so why is china struggling to contain this covid-19 outbreak after doing so well at the start of the pandemic? >> reporter: it has everything to do with the highly contagious nature of the delta variant and also according to the council for relations, the fact that china needs more effective vaccines. the delta outbreak is growing and causing alarms with panic buying in wuhan. of course that was the city where the coronavirus first emerged and the delta variant has been detected there. first emerged onigrant workers infected. and they announced 71 new locally transmitted cases, the highest daily tally for china in six months. and the fact that the virus has been able to spread to 26 diffe

blake essig there, in tokyo. appreciate it. #. >>> now, australia has more protests against covid lockdowns in sydney at least for now. next up, a police show of force dissuades demonstrators from hitting the streets. we'll be right back. [sfx: radio] welcome to allstate. ♪ [band plays] ♪ a place where everyone lives life well-protected. ♪ and even when ththings go a bit wrong, we've got your back. here, things work the way you wish they would. and better protection costs a whole lot less. you're in good hands with allstate. click or call for a lower auto rate today. what's on the horizon? the answers lie beyond the roads we know. we recognize that energy demand is growing, and the world needs lower rbon solutions to keep up. at chelike through ouring to venture capital group. backing technologies like electricehicle charging, carbon capture and even nuclear fusion. we may not know just what lies ahead, but it's only human... to search for it. >>> welcome back to our viewers here, in the united states and all aro

joining me now blake essig in tokyo and andy scholes here in atlanta. andy, give us the latest on simone biles. >> now we're just waiting to see if we'll see biles competing again at the olympic games. she decided to not do the individual all-around and vault and now pulled out of the floor exercise final as well. biles says she is dealing with the case of a twisties which is a mental block that they just can't shake which causes them to get lost in the air while doing moves that they have done thousands and thousands of times. u.s. gymnastics said that simone has withdrawn from the final for floor and will make a decision on beam later this week. either way we're all behind you. and biles came into the tokyo games as the face of team usa with the hopes of winning six gold medals. the only event left for her now would be that beam final on tuesday. and if the same team line continues, it means that we should get a decision on whether she will compete in that sometime tomorrow. >> so you will keep us posted. meantime also just talk us through contaaeleb

joining me, blake essig in tokyo, cnn sports andy scholes in atlanta. andy first, what's the latest with simone biles? >> we now wait to see if biles is even going to end up competing at these olympic games. she decided not to do the individual all-around, then vault and bars. biles has pulled out of the floor exercise final as well due to mental health. biles says she's dealing with a case of the twisties, which is a word gymnasts use to describe a mental block they can't shake which causes them to get lost in the air while trying to do moves they've done thousands and thousands of times. usa gymnastics made the announcement on twitter saying, simone has withdrawn from the event final for floor and will make a decision on beam later this week. either way, we're all behind you, simone. biles came into tokyo these games as the face of team usa with hopes of winning six gold medals. the only event left for her now would be that beam final on tuesday. and if the same timeline continues, we should find out if she's going to compete in that event by tomorrow

blake essig is standing by in tokyo. i know organizers are playing things close to the vest about the closing ceremony. but what can you tell us? >> reporter: it ends where it all started right here at the new national stadium. but we don't know much about the closing ceremony but i can tell you that they have been rehearsing all day. and what we do know is that the theme is the world we share, organizers say the idea being that even if the world can't be together, we can all share the moment and open the door to a brighter future. and as we take a step back and reflect on the past two weeks, these olympic games have been anything but normal. we knew that would be the case. and here on the ground, it has been a tale of two cities. on the one hand the constant protests and fierce opposition to these games really hasn't changed. but at the same time many have tuned in to watch the games on tv and gather for any opportunity to experience the olympics in person. if you just take a look behind me, there are hundreds of people

blake essig is joining us.l japan keep its citizens and athletes safe amid the gain in the covid cases and how are the athletes preparing? >> reporter: paralympic organizers say the playbooks in place thattout line the covid measures worked well within the olympic bubble a few weeks ago. and organizers are saying that once again they plan to lean heavily on the playbooks to ensure the safety. and while no question that the movement of people increased as a result of the olympics, organizers maintain that there is no connection between the games and rising cases in tokyo. but since the olympics started about a month ago, cases in the capital have skyrocketed with the daily case count now about three times higher than it was back then. and just last week tokyo's governor called the situation a disaster level emergency. currently only 41% of japan's population is fully vaccinated and medical professionals say the recent surge in cases has put the medical system under immense pressure. 19 prefectures are under a fu

let's go to blake essig in tokyo where the closing ceremony is just a few hours away. w organizers are playing things close to the vest. but can you tell us a bit about the closing ceremonies? do you know what's going to happen? >> reporter: yeah, you know kim, i've been standing outside for hours. i can tell you there's been a lot of commotion going on inside the national stadium as organizers continue to rehearse for the event that starts in just a few hours. there's been a lot of commotion outside the stadium too as people gather to take one last picture with the stadium before the lights go out on tokyo 2020. for now we really don't know much about the closing ceremony. it's still very much shrouded in mystery. what we do know is that the theme for this closing ceremony is "the world we share." organizers say the idea being, even if we can't be together, we can all share the moment and open the door to a brighter future. as we take a step back and reflect on these past two weeks, these olympic games have been anything but normal. virtually no spectators allowed to a

we'll head to tokyo where blake essig is substantial doubting -- standing by. highlights and how the people of japan are now feeling that the games are over. >> you know it's been a tale of two cities and it hasn't changed. the health and safety concerns that lead to the unpopularity of tokyo 2020 really truly have not gone away. in fact, people were still protesting and calling for the games to be cancelled, even while the closing ceremony was underway last night. that being said, there was a noticeable shift in the mood once competition got underway. we saw people constantly gathering outside of competition venues alongside race routes and here outside the national stadium to take pictures with the olympic rings. it's still the case. there are hundreds of people lining up. it's been the case all day. i imagine it will continue to be the case as long as these rings are here. of course, winning could help change attitudes and generate excitement. we saw lots of wonderful moment during competition. japan did extremely well at these games. tokyo 2020 is officiall

brake blake essig is tracking this for us. why are those coaches being expelled now? >> reporter: yeah, we learned about it in a tweet, the ioc announcing that it is removing these coaches for their roles in the alleged forcible removal of dress tina from the village. it all happened last sunday, the sprinter was supposed to be preparing to make her olympic debut in the women' 's 200 mete sprint and instead she pleaded for help saying that she was removed from competition given one hour to pack her things in order to fly back to minsk. this is after she criticized her coaches a few days earlier on social media for being included to run an event which she hadn't prepared for. while at the airport, she asked japanese police for protection and has since flown to poland fearing that if she returned to belarus, she would likely be arrested. here is what she had to say once she arrived in poland. >> translator: my parents looking at all this concluded that upon my return home, i'd either face a psychiatric unit or prison. we know such situations do happen in our country. th

blake essig is live outside the gymnastics site. i got the alert that the balance beam final has begun. what do we know? >> reporter: simone biles' quest for gold is happening. the balance beam final is taking place as we speak right behind me. and of course the eyes of the world will be watching as simone biles arguably the greatest gymnast of all-time returns to the mat after admitting to struggling with mental health issues earlier in the games. she last competed during the women's team final and withdrew herself after stumbling on the vault. she said that she was struggling with the twisties. as a result she withdrew from an additional four competitions at these games. but fair to say that they have not gone the way anyone thought she would. while she doesn't need to quwin anymore gold medals to cement her legacy, putting her mental health first will likely mean so much more to her legacy. no question that the impact and influence that she's had on people around the world and right here in japan. one young woman waited for sever

blake essig is live in tokyo for us. >> reporter: once the olympics are over, the people here will haveal with the consequences. and in tokyo and across the japan, the infection rate is surging at a record-setting pace and because of the olympics, it is about to get a whole lot worse. prrt b he is bringing the funk and there is not an empty seat in the house. about you tonight is not normal. >> translator: it was a really hard year and i didn't have work. i didn't know what to do. >> reporter: that is because each of the first three times the government declared a state of emergency in tokyo and asked bars and restaurants to close early and not serve alcohol after 7:00 p.m., and so he complied. >> translator: i was listening to what the government was saying that it was confusing. all right a . >> reporter: and cases have skyrocketed, record high case counts were reported four different times gjust last week. and this doctor says the current surge is fueled by the delta variant. and he says the olympics are indirectly related to the rise of covid-19. >> translator: the government's deci

blake essig is live in tokyo for us. who are these guys and what is the ioc doing about this?y the ioc announced that it has stripped the accreditations of two coaches for their role in the forced removal of krystsina tsimanouskaya. it happened when the sprinter was supposed to be preparing to make her olympic debut the following day. instead the 24-year-old posted a video to social media pleading for help, she said that she was removed from competition given one hour to pack her things in order to fly back to minsk immediately. this is after she criticized coaches a few days earlier on social media for being included on a list to run an event which she hasn't prepared for. while at the airport the sprinter asked the japanese police for protection and has since been flown to poland and offered humanitarian visa. she did that because she fears if she returned to bella rurks s belarus, she had likely be arrested. her grandmother had told her not to return because it is not safe for you. the imen mentioc has set up a c to look into the incident. the coaches will have an opportuni