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Top 10 Moments at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics

After spending a lot of time watching and admiring these games, I share the top moments that I feel were the most impactful at the Tokyo Olympics.

By Alejandro MelgarPublished 3 years ago 22 min read
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Top 10 Moments at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Photo by Ryunosuke Kikuno on Unsplash

I never expected to enjoy the Tokyo 2020 Olympics during the time of COVID-19, but it has been a pleasant surprise to say the least. The Canadian Olympic team (my home country) has shown some impressive resolve in certain competitions, like with women’s soccer, or the 10-person rowing.

I have also heard the stories that spoke of resilience during COVID, a time where many athletes didn’t have the means to touch or connect like they would normally. Erica Wiebe, gold medalist from Canada, could not touch or spar with people like normal; instead, had to rely on shadow wrestling, which is wrestling by imagining an opponent in front of you (she lost in the opening round in an upset). The Philippines weightlifter, Hildilyn Diaz, used water bottles and bamboo sticks to train when she was stranded in another country for half a year. Those stories were inspiring to hear, and it reminded me of the blessing of time that was brought on by the confusion of COVID.

It was a regular thing for our family to sit around the TV and watch the Olympics growing up, with athletes like Simon Whitfield, the Canadian triathlete that won gold in the Sydney 2000 Olympics, providing inspiration for us. It was great to see, and even though I have grown older and less enthusiastic about the Olympics, especially knowing about the disparity that some countries have faced after the Olympics have come and gone, I was excited to watch and see all these athletes show the world what they can do.

The Olympics were a spark of hope for me, and I feel inspired and hopeful for our youth and our future in camaraderie, so here is my list of my Top 10 moments at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

10. Childhood friends defeat China in badminton final

Gold medalists Lee Yang and Wang Chi-Lin of Taiwan pose with their medals after their badminton doubles gold medal match against China at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics inside the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Tokyo, Japan on July 31, 2021. (Contributor: REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger and Alamy Stock photo)

This match was interesting to me because of the meaning behind it. Taiwan, who were there as the Chinese Taipei at the Tokyo Olympics, seek independence from China, while China continues to seek the unification of other regions, including Taiwan.

Defeating China on the world stage was a marvel. Seeing the Taiwan players, Lee Yang and Wang Chi-lin, watch the white flag rise while listening to the Taiwanese anthem play was marvelous, it must have been a sight for sore eyes for them. They defeated the top two teams in the world after barely making it out of the group stages in order to accomplish the difficult task.

The Chinese team of Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen proved a challenge for sure, but not enough as Taiwan walked away with it's first medal in badminton at the Olympics.

Childhood friends working together to achieve gold? That's a story in itself. Yang and Chi-lin joined forces in 2019, but their history of being friends has been since their junior high days.

9. India wins first medal in Athletics in 121 years with a gold

Neeraj Chopra about to throw a javelin during 22nd Asian Athletics Championships in Bhubaneswar on July 9, 2017. Chopra would go on to win India's first gold medal in athletics in 121 years. (Photo by the Athletics Federation of India - Odisha2017.games, supplied by Wikipedia Commons)

I couldn’t believe it when I saw it, and the length of time as well. 121 years.

Neeraj Chopra won gold in the Javelin Throw competition with his second throw. Man, two attempts were all it took, and he nailed it. He is also the youngest-ever gold medalist for India, along with achieving this in his Olympic debut no less.

The last gold medal India won was from Abhinav Bindra in the 10-metre air rifle at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Otherwise, India has only collected two other medals in athletics, both from the same person: Norman Pritchard, who won two silver medals in the 1900 Paris Olympics. This medal also marks the first athletics medal for India since their independence from the United Kingdom.

With the farmers protest and the atrocities of that event, seeing India accomplish a feat like this is remarkable, and I say this because inspiration and hope are most likely needed in a time like this since the awareness around the farmer’s protest is not that high. Over 400 farmers have died as a result of the protests, and there isn’t a lot of progress in the talks with the agricultural bill.

An Indian win like this helps put India in the spotlight, and I think it can spring that awareness forward for the farmers.

8. Women's skateboarding achieves critical mass

Philippines' Margielyn Didal and U.S.'s Alexis Sablone compete in the final during the Tokyo Olympics Skateboarding Women's Street at Ariake Sports Park in Tokyo, Japan on Monday, July 26, 2021. Didal was going around cheering everyone up during the final that saw two 13-year-olds competing for the gold medal. (Photo by Keizo Mori/UPI Credit: UPI/Alamy Live News)

Skateboarding made its debut at the Tokyo Olympics this year, starting with street skating on the second day. I missed the men’s competition, but the women’s I was able to watch, though there were hardly any women in this competition; instead, the top eight contained many teenagers, with one athlete being in her thirties from the U.S. The first U.S. non-binary athlete, Alana Smith, also competed in the event; however, they did not qualify for the final round.

Alexis Sablone, 34, has competed in skateboarding at the X-games since 2009, and is a veteran in the sport. Her challengers are Rayssa Leal and Momiji Nishiya, both 13-years-old. Sablone is old enough to be their mother no doubt.

Leal might be familiar for some as Tony Hawk shared a video of her skating around in a pink dress when she was 10 years old. Sablone finished in fourth place, but she had a great chance to win it with a double kickflip grind, which saw the judges award those that accomplished the trick with big points. It was the trick that brought her to the final. However, Sablone dropped it on her last attempt unfortunately.

The younger athletes were amazing, with Leal exhibiting no fear with her level of skill. It could have gone to her or Momiji really, but Momiji was exceptional as well, with flawless execution during her landed attempts, earning her the gold medal. Japan had a large presence of skateboarders throughout the games, with the 16-year-old Funa Nakayama, the top qualifier, placing third in the event. Japan won three gold medals in the skateboarding events.

Speaking with reporters after the event, Sablone said, “For a long time, there were way fewer females doing this. It's taken until now to get enough people to pay attention, to get enough eyes on it, to inspire girls around the world to start skating,” adding, “So you can get that freak of nature I'd say — you can get someone like Rayssa, who is exceptional. It's wild to see.”

I also must give credit to Margielyn Didal, 22, of the Philippines for her amazing resilience and positivity. She fell during most of her attempts in the final, with the first one looking to really hurt her. But every time she fell, she would pop up, show off that large, beautiful smile, and just take it on the chin. I don’t know why, but I think that resilience was for the people of the Philippines since there was a monsoon that flooded parts of Manilla a couple days before the event. She was also going around hugging all her competitors, particularly Aori Nishimura, the world champion, who was unable to lift herself out of eighth place and you could see that she was upset, perhaps feeling like a let down for not living up to her world champion status.

For a competitive event, I wanted all of them to win and succeed, and they were all so close and wanting each other to succeed as well. This sport showed me what the Olympics was about, so it’s about time that skateboarding appeared on the ticket.

7. Philippines wins first gold medal

Hidilyn Diaz of Philippines competes in the women's 55kg weightlifting event, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Monday, July 26, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, supplied by Wikipedia Commons)

What a story here. I didn’t know this was the case, but I was happy to hear it. Hidilyn Diaz of the Philippines won the gold medal in the 55 kg weightlifting event. She lifted 224 kg, or 493 lbs for the imperial crowd, total, lifting 97 kg in the snatch, and 127 kg in the clean and jerk, the latter being an Olympic record.

Diaz had to overcome incredible odds to even get to the Olympics. She had to train with bamboo sticks and water bottles when she was stranded in Malaysia because of the COVID-19 pandemic. She shared the feat in a video on Instagram. She also suffered mental distress during that time since she could not travel, but her sports psychologist and therapist helped her overcome the ordeal.

The Philippine anthem was heard for the first time at the Olympics, and winning also awarded Diaz with some cash, a house, and a lot.

6. An Underdog story in the pool

Tunisia's Ahmed Hafnaoui celebrates winning gold in the Men's 400m Freestyle at the Tokyo Aquatics Centre at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Japan on Sunday July 25, 2021. (Photo by Adam Davy, PA Images / Alamy Stock Photo)

Ahmed Hafnaoui, 18, swam into a strong lead, along with a couple other swimmers, with a couple hundred metres to go in the 400-metre freestyle race.

I was watching this on CBC, the Canadian network that shows the Olympic coverage, and the commentator said something along the lines of “Hafnaoui is turning it up, looks like he can get a medal out of this, but we’ll see if he can hold on.” Man, he certainly ate those words.

Hafnaoui kept it up and finished strong, passing the powerful U.S. and Australian swimmers, Jake McLoughlin, and Kieran Smith.

After finishing, the camera panned to a lone Tunisian who watched the race. He was cheering and shouting with joy.

It was interesting how the commentators didn’t care about Hafnaoui and what he was doing, but were so focused on McLoughlin and Smith, telling the viewers to watch out for them while they swim. It was only after Hafnaoui won that they gave him any credit or attention. Even the camera continued to pan to Smith and McLoughlin throughout the race, ignoring the fact that Hafnaoui had one of the top three times after each lap.

Still, this was a feat for Hafnaoui, with him saying that he wanted to beat his personal best times and go for a medal in 2024. The underdog story of the pool this year, and nobody thought he would do it, nor gave him the time of day. He even did this from lane eight, a historically difficult lane to win from, making him the third Olympic swimmer to win a gold medal from that lane in the history of the sport.

5. Canada wins gold in women’s soccer

The Canadian women's soccer team stand atop the podium after they defeated Brazil for the bronze medal at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Canada defeated Sweden at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to win gold after claiming bronze two games in a row. (Photo by Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil, supplied by Wikipedia Commons)

A bit of bias, yes indeed, but this was the fourth medal that Canada won in a team sport at a summer Olympics, with wins in lacrosse and soccer in 1904 at the St. Louis Olympics, and another lacrosse gold in the 1908 London Olympics. This was also the first team sport gold medal for a Canadian women’s team during a summer Olympics.

The match was a little tense as Canada was down in the second half against the second-place finishers of the Rio 2016 Olympics, Sweden.

Christine Sinclair, the Canadian captain and record goal scorer – man or woman – in international soccer history, was hit in the penalty area in the 67th minute, which then saw Canada awarded with a penalty kick. Jessie Fleming, the same player that scored against the U.S., scored to tie the game. After two overtime periods of no action, the game went to penalty kicks.

The penalty kicks saw Sweden go first and score with ease, with Canada following up, tying it 1 – 1. After a miss from Canada, Sweden scored to take the lead 2 – 1. After both teams missed, with both goaltenders making spectacular saves, the Swedish captain Caroline Seger was up in the fifth round. A successful shot from Seger would make Sweden the gold medal winners; however, she sent it over the crossbar, which I imagine was just devastating for her. Deanne Rose scored in the fifth round to tie it up 2 – 2 and took the penalty kicks to sudden death.

Sweden was up first and was stopped by who I think was the MVP, Stephanie Labbe. Julia Grosso went up next and shot to the bottom left side, with the Swedish goaltender just getting a piece of it with her glove, but not enough to stop it. With that, Canada changed their medal from bronze to gold.

Sweden was rightfully devasted afterwards, with many players in tears. The gold was within their grasp, but it wasn’t meant to be. This is the second time that Sweden finished second at the Olympics for women’s soccer.

Quinn, a player on the Canadian women’s team, is the first non-binary transgender athlete to win a medal, a gold medal at that. It’s an amazing precedent for sure, with them saying to CBC, “Soccer is such a joy in my life, and I hope that people see they can be themselves and continue to play sports and there's a place for them.”

4. A bump in the road is just another obstacle to overcome

Sifan Hassan celebrating her victory at the 2019 IAAF World Championships in Doha on September 28, 2019. Hassan would complete a treble of the distance events at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, winning two gold and one bronze. (Photo by Filip Bossuyt, supplied by flikr and Wikipedia Commons)

Siffan Hassan of the Netherlands has a lot to be proud of at these games, but the event that really showed me the spirit of the games was not during a final, but during a heat that she ran in.

Hassan was running in the semi-final of the 1500 metre event, sitting back and far from the pack on the last lap, when the Kenyan runner fell in the same event, causing Hassan to fall as well. However, she popped right up and sprinted the final leg of the race to win, passing everyone with ease. It was almost like the fall didn’t happen. Hassan went on to win a bronze in the 1500 metre.

Hassan went on to claim gold in the 5000 metres, and finally, after experiencing all sorts of physical pain and stress from the amount of running she had done over the past few days (three 1500 metre runs, two 5000 metre runs, and one 10,000 metre run), she won the gold in the 10,000 metres, completing the treble of medals, a difficult task no less.

She ran a combined half-marathon over the course of a couple days, exerting 100% for all her runs. As a former distance runner that still enjoys running, this is an incredible achievement and very difficult on the body. Her resilience was incredible, and an achievement to be proud of.

3. Simone Biles puts her mental health first

Simone Biles at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics. (Photo by the Argentina sports secretariat and ministry of Tourism and Sports, supplied by Wikipedia Commons)

Simone Biles, 24, is a U.S. gymnast with an impressive 30-medal-collection from the world championships. She won four gold medals from the Rio 2016 Olympics, and 23 gold medals from the world championships. In other words, she is an extremely decorated gymnast and has proudly represented the U.S.

With that said, she experienced dismay in the vault of the team competition, performing one less twist and nearly falling afterwards. She left the stadium for a moment and then came back to withdraw. Her mental health was the reason for the withdrawal. She also withdrew from the individual all-around competition, which she qualified first in all events. And finally, she withdrew from the vault and uneven bars finals. She later came back to compete in the balance beam finals, winning the bronze medal.

It was a surprise to say the least, but not unfounded. Athletes face a lot of pressure and stress from competition, and the U.S. exhibits extreme amounts of pressure to their athletes, which is shown in Michael Phelps’s documentary The Weight of Gold.

While I was watching the swim finals of multiple events, I noticed that when the Americans lost, it was a depressing moment for all of them, especially when compared to a country like Canada, like the women’s team that won silver in the 4 x 100 metre freestyle, who were jumping for joy and were happy with their silver, proud of their accomplishment.

I’ll admit, I don’t understand American culture all that much at times, but the common theme of being the best in the world at everything can really leave a person devastated when they aren’t doing that well. For Biles to say something and point out this distress, it humanized the U.S. Olympic team, her specifically. Maybe this will push the U.S. to consider how they coach and train at the Olympics and other events. Maybe being the best isn’t necessary to being worthy of love and admiration.

The world watched Biles as she chose her health, and the world understood and supported it. Seeing some Americans hold disdain shows me the trouble with that need to be the best, sacrificing everything and everyone to do so. It’s a sad thing really, because a humans worth goes beyond physical accomplishments like doing a flip. Biles said that she initially performed this for her own love of the sport, but the pressure from her country, her coaches, and the U.S. Olympic committee robbed her of that joy, and now it is something she does for others, not for herself. There is a fine line with that I think but being a husk and following orders without any joy or real autonomy is a shame if you ask me.

Simone Biles won a lot at these games, she won autonomy and freedom from the U.S. competitive hivemind, and she won the hearts of many by bringing awareness to this lack of discussion around mental health.

2. A shared gold medal shows the spirit of the Olympics

Gold medalists Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar (right) and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy, stand on the podium at the awards ceremony for the Men's High Jump at the Athletics competition at Olympic Stadium during the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Japan on Sunday, August 2, 2021. Barshim and Tamberi ended in a tie and the Gold medal was awarded to both. (Photo by Tasos Katopodis/UPI Credit: UPI/Alamy Live News)

Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy found themselves in a tie at the high jump, clearing 2.37 metres, a first at the Olympics.

Barshim and Tamberi maintained a perfect record as the bar continued to rise to 2.39 metres, but everyone, including them, failed to make the height. So, it went to sudden death.

However, instead of proceeding to a jump-off, Barshim asked if they can both have gold. The organizer said it is possible, but it needs to be agreed upon. Barshim looked at Tamberi with his hand extended and said, “History my friend,” and adding, “Olympic champions.”

Tamberi embraced Barshim and shouted with joy. Barshim said, “It’s over,” and shouted for joy himself.

Tamberi was riddled with injuries prior to the Olympic games, and to even be able to do the high jump was short of a miracle. He continued to express his happiness and joy throughout the track, and same with Barshim, who was crying tears of joy with his friends and his Qatar team.

Tamberi said this after the event, “This night is memorable. We make our dream come true. We are Olympic champions together. It’s means everything to me. I put my life on this. I was crying watching these guys in 2016 and it was so frustrating back then.”

It was a touching moment at the Olympics, and like the female skateboarders, to support each other and want each other to succeed made this one of the highlights of the games.

Honourable Mentions

Spc. Benard Keter advance to the finals after he competed in the first round of men’s 3,000 meter steeple chase at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games July 30, 2021. Keter is Soldier in the Army’s World Class Athlete Program. (Photo by Brittany Nelson and supplied by the U.S. Army and Wikipedia Commons)

There were so many stories and events at the Olympics that it is hard to put it all into a top ten, let alone a mention, but I have a few to think of.

The U.S.’s Allyson Felix, 35, became the most decorated female Olympian in track and field with a total of 11 medals throughout her career. She won a gold and bronze at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, and she became the most decorated American track and field athlete ever, surpassing Carl Lewis. She also accomplished this feat as a mother for the first time.

Australia’s Emma McKeon, 27, was a bullet in the pool this year. She claimed medals in seven different events, the most any female swimmer has ever won at a single Olympics and is the most decorated at the Tokyo Olympics. McKeon is tied with Maria Gorokhovskaya of the Sovet Union for the most medals a female athlete has won at an Olympics. She won four gold medals and three bronze medals.

San Marino has amazing odds of success with their medal count. Sending five athletes to the games, they walked away with three medals, two silver and one bronze. If you think about it in terms of the percentage won, San Marino would be the country with the best record, just a thought.

Elain Thompson-Herah, 29, saw only the gold of her flag and the gold around her neck this year, continuing the streak she had as the gold medalist in the 100 and 200 metre events in Rio 2016.

Thompson-Herah won three gold medals, a better achievement than the silver she won in Rio for the 4 x 100 metres relay. She is the first ever female to win back-to-back golds for the 100 and 200 metres at the Olympics. Seeing her finish and win the medal with such ease, and then to point at the time in an iconic manner was awesome. She is fast, and she owns it!

The greatest runner of all-time, Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya retained the marathon crown with a time of 2:08:28, far ahead of the rest of the pack by 80 seconds, a first in 49 years of the Olympic marathon. He is the third marathoner to win gold back-to-back. The weather was also a challenge as many athletes dropped out of the race, unable to bare the humidity and heat, but not Kipchoge. It is undeniable that Kipchoge, 36, is the greatest marathoner to live, with his impressive wins in multiple marathons around the world.

Canadian Damian Warner, 31, won gold in the decathlon, crossing the 9000-point barrier, only the fourth athlete in the history of the decathlon to do so. Prior to the Olympics, he trained in a heated ice rink when he was unable to go anywhere, even setting up enough tarps to a metal frame to stop a javelin.

In an interview with the Toronto Star, Warner said, “People kept asking me about how it felt to be a gold medallist, and the thing that I kept thinking back on, and when I was running down the last 100 metres of the 1,500, you’re thinking back on those tough moments that you had.

“And when you finally get to go out there and compete and live your dreams that you’ve had, and you think back on how you got there, that makes it that much more special. So, I think that the struggle that we went through definitely made these Games that much more special.”

1. The Tokyo Olympics survived scrutiny and COVID-19

Yoshihide Suga, Prime Minister, attended the closing ceremony of the 2020 Summer Olympics at Japan National Stadium in Shinjuku Ward, Tōkyō Metropolis on August 8, 2021. (Photo by 首相官邸ホームページ, and supplied by Wikipedia Commons)

It’s a miracle the Olympics happened at all this year. With many people saying it shouldn’t happen because of the risk of COVID-19, protestors that were shouting against the Olympics at the opening ceremony (easy to hear with nobody in the stands), and things like a typhoon going right through the games, it was a bit of a gamble to host for sure, but it was a success.

There were barely any spectators at these games, and nobody could travel to Japan to watch the games live. While the notion of many countries coming together to celebrate their achievements in sport is always a great opportunity to recognize what other people from various countries can do, the lack of any association with spectators and fans reaching out to touch anyone, or the rule on any event that finishes must see the athletes leave and fly home, at the most, 24-hours after the event is over.

Still, seeing so many triumphs (and many loses) were inspiring. A CBC commentator said that his favourite moment was when the Canadian women lost in beach volleyball to a stronger team. He said it was hard to watch, but it reminded him that being the best is a hard road to travel, and the athletes that we cheer for aren’t invincible, but we should love and support them anyway.

I was happy to see skateboarding receive recognition as a sport, especially after facing scrutiny and stigma from generations past that suggested that skateboarders were lazy stoners. I suppose the same could be said about surfers, as this is the first Olympics that featured it as a sport. Karate as an Olympic event was also a first in Tokyo, with a win even coming from a man from Okinawa, the origin of Karate.

It was also the first Olympics with openly transgender athletes, with Quinn of Canada being the first winner of a medal as a non-binary transgender. While transgender athletes have appeared at the games since 2004, it was the first with declarations of openness and acceptance. Speaking of equality, the games saw 49% of the athletes from all countries being women. Heck, the Canadian team had nearly 100 more women than men on their team, even claiming 18 of the 24 medals that Canada won.

Mental health was a talking point during these Olympics with Simone Biles withdrawing from several events because her mental health was wanning. The pressure athletes face had been center stage as of late with the American Japanese tennis player, Naomi Osaka, speaking at a press conference about the media pressure earlier this year. Biles’ notable exit was a step toward recognizing that athletes have a lot to overcome to appear on the big stage, especially when one such as Biles has won as many medals as she has to be considered one of the greatest gymnasts of all-time. That message was that even the greats need to step back and prioritize their health, and mental health is just as important as physical health. She is quoted saying, “To have mental health be talked about more in sports is really nice because at the end of the day, we are humans before athletes.”

Staff Sgt. Naomi Graham, Soldier in the Army’s World Class Athlete Program, boxed in the women’s 75kg weight class at the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, July 28, 2021. Graham fell to ROC in the round of 16 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Brittany Nelson, and supplied by the U.S. Army and Wikipedia Commons)

Were the games a success? I suppose that is an answer that will vary from person to person, but seeing how much the athletes had to overcome with restrictions on their training, and the extra year of anticipation and waiting because of COVID-19, it gave hope to all of us for the future.

Photos are fair use through Wikipedia commons, or were bought for commercial and editorial uses through Alamy.

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About the Creator

Alejandro Melgar

Alejandro Melgar is a former fitness professional turned journalist. In his early thirties, Melgar has worked various vocations throughout his twenties, and is now cultivating his writing through fiction while continuing to write news.

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