The Tokyo Olympics is soon coming to close after two weeks of sports events highlighting the world’s best athletes.
Here’s a look at some of the Games’ notable moments:
- Simone Biles takes home the bronze: The US gymnastics star overcame mental health struggles to claim a bronze medal in the women’s balance beam final after withdrawing from the women’s team final. The 24-year-old then didn’t compete in four individual finals at the Tokyo Olympics — the all-around individual competition, the vault, the uneven bars and floor.
- Records shattered at the 400 meter hurdles: The six men and women who stood atop the podium after the men and women’s 400 meter hurdles all made history. Gold medal winners Karsten Warholm of Norway and Sydney McLaughlin each broke their own previous world records to win gold. Silver medal winners Rai Benjamin and Dalilah Muhammad each clocked the second-fastest times ever in the event to win silver. Women’s bronze winner Femke Bol of the Netherlands and men’s winner and men’s bronze winner Alison dos Santos of Brazil each ran the fourth-fastest time in history.
- Americans Ledecky and Dressel dominate: Caeleb Dressel looked the part of a worthy successor to Michael Phelps, finishing with five gold medals in Tokyo. Katie Ledecky continued to cement her legacy as the great female swimmer ever, taking home gold in the 1,500 meter and 800 meter freestyle race silver in the 400 meter freestyle and 4×200 meter freestyle relay.
- Making an impact: Canadian footballer Quinn made history at the Tokyo 2020Olympic Games by becoming the first trans and non-binary athlete to win a medal when Canada’s women’s football team won gold. New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard also made history as the first out transgender woman to compete in the 125-year history of the Olympics
- Big splash: China’s youngest athlete, 14-year-old Quan Hongchan, won a stunning gold medal in the women’s 10 meter platform diving on Thursday.
- Historic firsts: Skateboarding and surfing debuted at the Olympics in Tokyo. American Carissa Moore and Brazilian Italo Ferreira won gold in surfing, while Japan dominated skateboarding — taking three of the four golds up for grabs.
- Philippines’ first Olympic gold medal: Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz became the first athlete from the Philippines to win gold at the Olympics. The 30-year-old set an Olympic record, lifting a combined weight of 224 kilograms, to clinch the top spot in the women’s 55-kilogram class in Tokyo.
- US’ Allyson Felix becomes most decorated female track and field Olympian: Felix took home a bronze medal in the 400 meter race during this year’s games. Felix has 10 medals across five Olympic games, matching Carl Lewis’ US record.
- San Marino becomes the smallest country to win a medal: The tiny landlocked European country of just 34,000 people won its first-ever medal after shooter Alessandra Perilli — one of just five Sammarinese athletes at the Olympics — took bronze in the women’s trap.
- Indian men’s hockey team dedicates award to frontline workers: Amid the joy of the Indian men’s hockey team ending its 41-year Olympic medal drought by winning bronze, its players took time to reflect on the impact Covid-19 has had on the country over the past year. According to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering, there have been almost 32 million positive cases of Covid-19 in India, as well as 426,290 deaths.
- Venezuela’s Yulimar Rojas smashes world record: On her opening attempt, the Venezuelan jumper leaped 15.41 meters to break the Olympic record. On her last jump of the evening on Aug.1, she smashed the world record that had stood since 1995, jumping 15.67 meters to claim her first Olympic gold medal.
- China’s Shi breaks his own world record: China’s Shi Zhiyong put in a scintillating performance to break his own world record on the way to winning gold in the men’s 73 kilogram weightlifting event on July 28.
