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Tokyo has hosted record-breaking Olympics in many ways – from the start of new events, to gender equality in competitions, to the more than 1,000 medals awarded to athletes and winning teams.
While the top of the medal table is occupied by perennial powers (such as the United States, China, Great Britain and Japan), it is the length of the medal table that is in the news at the Olympic Games. 2020.
As Day 14 draws to a close, 88 different Olympic Committees have already stepped onto the podium – the largest list of countries to win any Olympic Games in history.
The same goes for gold medalists. With the number already at 63, the number of nations winning gold in a single year broke the previous record of 59 set at the Rio 2016 Games.
Here’s a look at some of the factors that led to the Olympics being “Emotionally United” … and also winning.
Return to greatness
Men’s field hockey once belonged to India, but over the past four decades other countries like Germany, Australia and Spain have dominated the discipline. At the 2020 Games, India returned to the field hockey podium for the first time since 1980, adding to its handful of medals won in Tokyo. Ghana’s only medal at the 2020 Games so far has been won by Samuel Takyi, who won his country’s first boxing podium since 1972 (and the first medal of any kind since 1992). Likewise, Namibian Christine Mboma brought her country her first athletics medal since the 1996 Atlanta Games. Performances like these have restored some nations as forces to be reckoned with in their sports historically. strong.
Creative coaching
It has been an exceptional year for the Philippines this year, as Hidilyn Diaz won her country’s first-ever gold medal setting a new Olympic record in the 55kg weightlifting category. She accomplished the feat with the help of her coaches, Gao Kaiwen from China and Julius Naranjo from Guam. Fiji remained golden in the men’s rugby sevens tournament thanks to their coach, Gareth Baber of Wales. India’s women’s field hockey team hope to replicate their men’s counterparts by participating in the bronze medal match, with Sjoerd Marijne of the Netherlands as the head coach. With many international icons crossing borders to cultivate talent, it’s no surprise that unexpected competitors reach new levels of success.
Revolutionary nations
You’ve seen the articles, tweets and announcements; San Marino, Turkmenistan and Burkina Faso won medals this year for the first time in their country’s history. This matches the newcomer tally of 2016, when Jordan, Kosovo and Fiji joined the medal table for the very first time. As for the golden nations, the most recent on this list are Qatar, Bermuda, and (as mentioned earlier) the Philippines. With the nine different nations winning their first gold medal in Rio, more than 100 Olympic committees have now climbed to the top of the podium. It’s exciting to see a nation win their very first prize on the Olympic stage, and it’s an exciting game to see which country will be next to do so.
Dynamic debuts
One of Venezuela’s four medals won in Tokyo comes from Daniel Dhers, who won bronze in his Olympic debut and the first of his event, the men’s BMX freestyle competition. South Africa clinched a silver medal in surfing’s long-awaited Olympic debut, thanks to the skills of Bianca Buitendag. The very first climbing competition on the Olympic stage saw Austria’s Jakob Schubert bring a bronze medal to his country. With new sports, new athletes and many new opportunities for countries to add valuable material to their medal collections.
Long-awaited success
Spanish canoeist Teresa Portela Rivas has competed in every Olympic Games since 2000, but had never won a medal – until now. Finishing second behind Olympic legend Lisa Carrington, Portela won silver in the women’s K-1,200m in Tokyo in her sixth Olympic appearance. In 2016, Kuwaiti shooter Abdullah Al-Rashidi won a bronze medal as an independent Olympic athlete at age 52. Five years later, the 57-year-old won another bronze medal – this time for his home country. If the old adage “try, try again” is any indication, it is only a matter of time until other longtime competitors finally get their podium moment.
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