Category: Sports

India finished 48th on the medal tally at the Tokyo Olympics 2021. This is the highest ranking in the last four decades. If you look at the total number of medals won by the country, India would have finished 33rd. However, the year ranking is done based on Gold medals won by the countries.

At the Beijing Olympics 2008, India ranked 51st, which was the country’s previous best where India won three medals which included shooter Abhinav Bindra’s gold medal. In the London Olympics, India finished at 57th even after winning more medals than Beijing as the medal table ranks countries by gold, silver, and bronze and India couldn’t manage the gold. Tokyo Games gave one gold, two silver, and four bronze in the country’s account. 23-year-old Neeraj Chopra won first athlete gold in javelin, 26-year-old Mirabai Chanu won silver in women’s 49kg weightlifting category along with Ravi Kumar Dahiya who won silver in men’s wrestling. Indian hockey team won bronze along with PV Sindhu for badminton, Lovlina Borgohain for Boxing, and Bajrang Puniya for wrestling.

It’s the country’s richest medal haul ever and the finest performance of all time at the Tokyo Olympics which ended on Sunday.

The new teenage sensation Quan Hongchan becomes the youngest athlete to represent China at Tokyo Olympics. Quan is only 14-year-old and won her first Olympic gold. Her overwhelming victory in the women’s 10m platform event stunned the world.

Quan was able to collect full marks for three out of five dives as China completed on 1-2. She finished with a lead of 466.20 much ahead of the world champion Chen who was at 425.40. 29-year-old Melissa Wu from Australia won the bronze for 371.40. Quan’s another gold gave China the pride to own all four women’s diving events at the Tokyo Games. In the first round Quan and Chen were on the same scoreboard but Quan’s perfect -10 score gave the lead to her in the second round. She received her 10 from all the seven judges. In her fourth round also she won her second set of 10 and in the final round she received 10 from six judges and 9.5 from one judge.

Surprisingly Melissa Wu won her first ever Olympic gold medal at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 when Quan was just eighteen months old.

A 41-year long wait for an Olympic medal in men’s hockey comes to an end after India won its bronze. Indian men’s hockey team defeated Germany by 5-4 in a close match which was a thrilling comeback win. The last medal won by the men’s hockey team by India was in the 1980, Moscow Games where India secured a gold medal.

Brace was scored by player Simranjeet Singh while Hardik Singh, Harmanpreet Singh, and Rupinder Pal Singh also had their names on the scoresheet for India, reported ny AsiaOne. In the 17th minute, Simranjeet Singh drew level at 1-1. At the end of the second quarter, Harmanpreet Singh was also seen putting on level terms. One goal was pulled back by Hardik Singh making India on a 2-3 score while Harmanpreet Singh had put India again on level terms. Asia One reported that, a penalty was given to Rupinder Pal and he made no mistake to give India a stunning 4-3 lead. Indian players defended stoically while keeping their one-goal lead intact.

Germany was awarded a penalty corner just seconds before the game could end. PR Sreejesh repelled the ball away from the goal. In the joyous moment, the players fell to the ground, finally ending their long wait for a hockey medal at the Olympics.

The latest study warns that athletes are asked more often to compete in environments that are becoming “too hostile” for any human body. The Olympics at Tokyo are considered as one of the hottest and most humid Games on record. The researchers are sounding concerned and alarmed over the health of the world’s top athletes amid the extreme heat.

AsiaOne reported that the daily temperature is expected to be as high as the 80s and low as 90s degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature with humidity feels like 100 degrees. The condition is said to be because of the “heat island” phenomenon where heat gets accumulated and trapped in the center of the city. This phenomenon results in higher temperatures in urban areas. Lack of green space in the center and the over usage of air conditioners and vehicles are also the main reasons for extreme temperatures on the island.

It is posing the athlete and Olympic staff in danger of dehydration, premature fatigue, and heat strokes. On Friday Asia News stated that Russian archer Svetlana Gomboeva fainted due to heat exhaustion during the qualifying round before the Games officially kicked off. World’s no.2 player of men’s tennis Daniel Medvedev said that this was the worst condition he has ever played in.

Karsten Warholm from Norway won the gold medal in a mind-boggling time of 45.94 seconds. Obliterating his a month-old record of 46.70 he ran faster than 18 of the 48 men who raced in the regular 400-meter dash.

The second position was taken by the American athlete Rai Benjamin who won a silver medal for his 46.17 besting the previous world record by more than half a second. Bronze was claimed by Brazilian Alison dos Santos for 46.72. It is hailed as one of the greatest Olympic races of all time. Norwegian was seen screaming in happiness after watching his clock just after crossing the line. In the winning speech he said he was not able to feel his legs in the last 20 meters and just ran for his life. Benjamin who stood second was scarcely a minute behind Warholm.

The race was quickly compared with Usain Bolt’s first 100-meter race in Beijing with a victory of 9.69 seconds which gave him global superstardom. Meanwhile, Warholm breaks Kevin Young’s 29-year-old world record which he just did a month ago. Warholm now has a gold medal, world record, and the title of Olympic Champion.

Simone Biles won her bronze medal in the beam final at the Tokyo Olympics in an emotional return to the Olympic gymnastics competition. It is her seventh medal in total at Olympics which makes her the most decorated American gymnast in history alongside Shannon Miller. Biles said she did not expect a medal but wanted to take part just for her mental peace.

Simone suffered from ‘twisties’, which in gymnastics means a kind of mental block. AsiaOne reported that Biles was pulled out of the all-around, vault, floor, and uneven bars. Simon returned for the beam on the final day of artistic gymnastics action. The finals were at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre. She received a warm reception as she stepped into the arena. She ended with a double backward somersault and double pike onto the mat after scoring 14.000 with a solid routine. It was a nervous wait which she faced before securing the bronze while being the third of the eight finalists. After her win, she hugged all her rivals and jumped up and down in celebration, Asia News reported.

She couldn’t believe she achieved that after what she has gone through. China’s Guan Chenchen scored 14.633 and won a gold medal while silver was given to Tang Xijing for 14.233

18-year-old Christine Mboma from Namibia won the first medal ever since 1996. She became the first woman ever of Nambia to win an Olympic medal. Mboma won a silver medal in the women’s 200-meter finals at the Tokyo Olympics.

Asia One reported that, she won her silver medal just weeks after being informed that she was restricted to compete in her preferred 400m. In July, World Athletic said its because of her high level of testosterone. She and her fellow Namibian athlete were asked to reduce their levels medically in a period of at least six months. 18-year-old broke the world under-20 record for the third time in Tokyo as she ran 21.81 in the final and was also the second Nambian woman to win a medal after Frankie Fredericks who won four medals during her career. She lost gold to Jamaica’s Elaine Thompson-Herah who retained her title, as stated by AsiaOne Magazine. Thompson completed the sprint double in Tokyo and ran the second-fastest time in history.

After the win Mboma expressed her happiness by accepting that she was not thinking about the medal, she was completely focused on her performance and came to the Games only for the experience. As a new athlete, she used to get nervous when she ran against the best ones but now she doesn’t feel nervous and very happy to win silver.

Canadian soccer star Quinn becomes the first transgender who won the Olympic medal in Tokyo. He was one of the three openly transgender and/or nonbinary athletes to compete in the Tokyo Games along with New Zealand weightlifter Laurel Hubbard and skateboarder Alana Smith from America.

Quinn and the Canadian team will play for the gold round against Sweden after beating the United States. This win assured a silver for them. Quinn played at Duke and for OL Reign and Washington Spirit earlier. He feels extremely happy that he is being recognized and can inspire people from his community to come out openly for sports. He often gets messages stating that they have never seen a trans person in sports before.

The Tokyo Games are the first to have the Pride House which has a more inclusive environment for Quinn and others. Tokyo’s Pride House has been officially recognized by the International Olympic Committee. They have at least 163 LGBTQ athletes participating by outsport’s count. This number is three times more than the Rio Games. Since 2004, transgender athletes are allowed to participate in the Olympics Games. The participants numbers are gradually increasing.

Indian badminton player won women’s singles bronze at the Tokyo Olympics 2020. PV Sindhu defeated He Bing Jiao of China. The clear win was dominated for 21-13, 21-15 by the player. Sindhu was beaten nine times so far in the last 15 meetings with the opponent. The game showed Sindhu’s determination and aggression to outplay Bing Jiao.

Sindhu becomes the country’s first-ever woman to win two Olympic medals in successive Olympic Games. Wrestler Sushil Kumar is the only player from the country to win two Olympic medals in successive years. PV Sindhu won many medals from each of the big-ticket events like Commonwealth and Asian Games and the BWF World Tour Finals in the previous five-year span. She is also the only fourth player to win two consecutive medals in women’s badminton single’s across Olympic History.

She said she feels extremely happy because has worked very hard for many years but at the same time, she has mixed emotions to be happy or sad for losing the opportunity to play in the final. Her defeat also shook the country with the disappointment of losing the semi-final to Chinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying on Saturday.

On Sunday, Australia’s Emma McKeon became the first female swimmer who won seven medals in a single Olympic Games. She is the second woman to claim seven medals in any sport to date.

She won four gold medals and three bronze medals at the Game. She won the sprint double with victory in the 50m freestyle after which she won another gold in the women’s 4×100 medley relay. Emma broke the Olympic record in the 50m heats in a time of 24.02 seconds and 24.00 in semi and easily steamrolled through the finals. In McKeon’s career haul, she earned five gold, two silver, and four bronze. Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz, and Matt Biondi are the other three swimmers with a history to win seven medals at a single. Michael Phelps holds the record for eight medals won both in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 for swimming.

The 27-year-old victory also gave Austrian swimmers eight gold medals in the Tokyo Olympics. This equals the nation’s best haul at an Olympic pool from the 1956 Melbourne Games.