When the Tokyo Games began, nobody could be certain how they would come off with no fans in the stands and strict COVID-19 protocols. …
When the Tokyo Games began, nobody could be certain how they would come off with no fans in the stands and strict COVID-19 protocols. But after 339 events in 33 sports and more than 11,000 athletes getting their shot at glory, the 32nd Summer Olympics have concluded. Here are the highlights from all 17 days: A most unusual opening ceremony took place under the specter of COVID-19, with no fans inside Olympic Stadium but several protestors outside. Though the show contained many of the hallmarks of opening ceremonies past – the parade of nations, the musical numbers, the dance routines – it was a scaled-down event that was more somber in tone. Naomi Osaka was the first tennis player ever chosen to light the cauldron. Prior to the ceremony, competition got underway in archery, rowing and shooting. Softball and soccer began play earlier in the week. The Russian women’s team beat Japan 21-18 in the Olympic debut of 3×3 basketball. The U.S. team would win two of its first games in the pool round,17-10 over France and 21-9 over Mongolia. Swimmer Emma Weyant won her heat in the 400 IM by a whopping 1.73 seconds, easily beating the two-time world champion and 2016 Olympic champion Katinka Hosszu as well as Mireia Belmonte, who won bronze in the event in Rio. Iranian Javad Foroughi won the men’s air pistol gold and became his country’s first medal winner in a shooting event. But the win came with controversy. Foroughi was subsequently reported to be a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which has been labeled a terrorist group by the U.S. government. The U.S. earned its first medals of the Games with Chase Kalisz and Jay Litherland finishing 1-2 in the men’s 400 IM. Overall, the U.S. won six medals in the pool across four events, which USA TODAY Sports columnist Christine Brennan called the best opening day ever for USA Swimming. The U.S. men’s basketball team lost to France 83-76, breaking a streak of 25 consecutive Olympic wins. Lee Kiefer, a 27-year-old medical student and fencer from Kentucky, became the first American to win gold in women’s foil. Skateboarding made its debut at the Olympics and Jagger Eaton won bronze for the U.S. in men’s street while Nyjah Huston, the highest-paid skateboarder in the world, finished seventh. Competing under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee due to sanctions against the country’s doping program, the Russian team won the gold medal in men’s team gymnastics for the first time since 1996. One of its members, Artur Dalaloyan, competed despite tearing an Achilles just three months earlier. British star Tom Daley, competing in his fourth Olympics, finally gets his first gold medal in the 10-meter synchronized platform diving. Teenagers swept the podium in the women’s street skateboarding final, with 13-year old Momiji Nishiya of Japan taking the gold. Australian swimmer Ariarne Titmus out-dueled American star Katie Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle, inspiring her coach Dean Boxall to a hip-thrusting celebration that became a viral sensation. Reigning women’s all-around champion Simone Biles delivered a huge jolt to the Games when she pulled out of the women’s team final after one rotation on the vault, citing a case of the “twisties” and sparking a broad conversation about athletes and mental health. Meanwhile, Russia scored a big upset to win the gold medal, ending the U.S. dominant reign since 2012. In the first softball gold medal awarded since 2008, Japan beat the U.S.2-0. The U.S. was introduced to a new swimming star in 17-year-old Lydia Jacoby, who upset reigning Olympic champion Lilly King in the 100-meter breaststroke. Videos from her hometown of Seward, Alaska, where residents watched the race became a sensation. Naomi Osaka lost a shocker in the third round to Marketa Vondrousova,6-1,6-4, deflating a lot of the hype around the women’s tennis event. The U.S. took the first women’s 3×3 basketball gold medal, defeating the Russians in the final 18-15 and the French team 18-16 in the semifinals. All four players on the team are on WNBA rosters. Japan’s Daiki Hashimoto became the youngest winner of the men’s gymnastics all-around at 19, carrying the torch from two-time gold medalist Kohei Uchimura.
