Tokyo 2020 mascot Miraitowa poses with the Olympic Rings
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The lack of a dominant figure like Usain Bolt left a “slight sense of emptiness, of absent spectacle”, in the track and field events at Tokyo 2020, said Barney Ronay in The Guardian. It’s more the human-interest angle that has captured attention.
In the men’s high jump, Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi took athletics’ first shared gold since 1912, after the best friends tied with each other jump for jump and declined a “jump-off” to separate them. And on Sunday another Italian became the first man from his country not just to compete in the 100m, but to win it, said Ben Bloom in The Daily Telegraph.
Lamont Marcell Jacobs was born in Texas, but has lived in his Italian mother’s homeland since he was a baby. He hadn’t got to know his dad until shortly before this Olympics – a reunion that inspired him to victory, he says. Until 2019 he was best known as a long jumper, and before this May had never run under ten seconds. To call his victory unexpected “is an understatement of epic proportions”.
The race itself wasn’t that special. Although Jacobs’s time of 9.80 secs was a European record, it was still way off the world (9.58) and Olympic (9.63) records. By contrast, the women’s final was the “greatest women’s 100m race” ever, said Sean Ingle in The Observer. As in Beijing 2008, it finished with three Jamaicans on the podium. Former Olympic champion Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce had “detonated” off the blocks to take the lead, but with 30m to go, teammate Elaine Thompson-Herah “burned past her” to break the Olympic record with the second-fastest time in history. “It was a stunning moment in a breathtaking race.” But again the personal angle came to the fore. The two women are locked in a bitter feud and it was the frostiness between the pair after the race that caught the eye. And as she’d done in Rio, Thompson–Herah went on to win the 200m – a historic “double-double” in track.
After the completion of the Olympics, Tokyo will host the Paralympic Games from 24 August to 5 September.
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Tokyo medal table: the top six nations
The United States finished top of the Tokyo 2020 medal table with 39 golds. China were second with 38 and hosts Japan were third with 27. Team GB finished fourth in the medal table with 22 gold, 21 silver and 22 bronze.
Jason Kenny won gold in the men’s track cycling keirin final
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Team GB’s medal winners in Tokyo
After 16 days of sporting action Team GB finished the Tokyo Olympic Games fourth in the medal table with a total haul of 65 medals: 22 gold, 21 silver and 22 bronze. This matches the overall total from London 2012 and makes Tokyo 2020 Britain’s second-most successful overseas Olympics behind Rio 2016, where they won 67 medals.
On the final day in Tokyo Jason Kenny became Team GB’s most successful Olympian of all time with the seventh gold medal of his glittering career. Kenny - who was level with Chris Hoy on six golds and Bradley Wiggins on eight medals - defended his keirin title to become the first Team GB athlete to win nine Olympic medals.
Team GB secured another gold medal on the final day with boxer Lauren Price beating China’s Li Qian in the women’s middleweight final. British boxers have won two gold, two silver and two bronze medals in Tokyo, making them the most successful British Olympic boxing team since Antwerp 1920.
There were more than 11,000 athletes from 205 nations competing at Tokyo 2020. As well as the national squads there were also 20 athletes which formed the Refugee Olympic Team (EOR).
Team GB had its largest ever delegation for an Olympic Games on foreign soil: 376 athletes and a further 22 reserve athletes competing across 26 sports. For the first time at a summer games Team GB also had more female than male athletes, with 201 women (53.5%) and 175 men (46.5%).
The Tokyo Olympics featured 33 sports and 339 medal events. Baseball/softball returned to the games after last appearing at Beijing 2008 and four new sports - karate, skateboarding, sport climbing, and surfing - made their Olympic debuts.
The opening ceremony was held on Friday 23 July at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. While there were no fans in the stands due to the Covid-19 state of emergency, there were around 1,000 VIPs and delegates, including Japan’s Emperor Naruhito.
Laura Kenny and Katie Archibald won gold in the madison
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Tokyo 2020 closing ceremony: Laura Kenny named Team GB’s flagbearer
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games end on Sunday 8 August with the closing ceremony at the Olympic Stadium. Coverage on BBC One begins from 11.55am (BST).
Laura Kenny has been named Team GB’s flagbearer for the closing ceremony. She was given the honour after confirming her place as Team GB’s most successful ever female Olympian. Kenny and Charlotte Dujardin both sit on six medals but Kenny has five golds and one silver, with Dujardin on three golds, one silver and two bronze.
“It’s an absolute honour to be selected as the Team GB flagbearer for the Tokyo 2020 closing ceremony, and it rounds off my games experience,” Kenny said. “The past 18 months have been tough for everyone, and I really hope me and my Team GB teammates have given the nation something to celebrate. It hasn’t quite sunk in that I am now Britain’s most successful female athlete, all I know is that I’ve worked so hard to be here and I couldn’t have done it without the support of my family, friends and everyone at British Cycling.”
