Image courtesy of The New York Times
The 32nd Olympics are well underway in Tokyo, Japan, this summer. Anticipation for the global event has been building since its cancellation in the Summer of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This time, the Olympic village hosts over 11,000 athletes from 206 countries, competing in 50 sports. Included in that list are the EOR (Refugee Olympic Team) and the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee).
The EOR was founded by the International Olympic Committee for displaced athletes. One such competitor is Syrian swimmer Yusra Mardini, who fled Syria and swam from Turkey to Greece, pulling a raft filled with refugees. The ROC was founded after Russia was banned from all international sporting competitions over a doping scandal. It allows Russian athletes to compete, even though their country cannot be represented in this Olympics.
In the past week, the games have featured historic firsts and accomplishments. Here are the highlights so far:
Swimming
Team USA brought their A-game to the pool this week, blasting the competition out of the water. Paving the way, Chase Kalisz won Team USA’s first gold medal of this Olympics in the men’s 400-meter individual medley.
Widely considered the greatest female swimmer of all time, Katie Ledecky has won six Olympic gold medals and fifteen world championship gold medals in her career. She continued this streak in Tokyo, winning gold in the women’s 1,500-meter freestyle and the 400-meter freestyle.
Caeleb Dressel won the men's 4x100 meter freestyle relay with Bowen Becker, Blake Pieroni, and Zach Apple. Proving that he is a powerhouse in his own right, Dressel later won the men’s 100-meter freestyle, setting an Olympic record of 47.02 seconds. In the men’s 100-meter butterfly heats, he set another record of 50.39 seconds.
Lydia Jacoby, Alaska’s first Olympic swimmer, won gold at the women’s 100-meter breaststroke, beating her teammate and reigning event champion Lilly King.
South Africa’s Tatiana Schoenmaker won silver in the women’s 100-meter breaststroke and earned the country’s first-ever Olympic medal. In a historic upset, she later won gold in the 200-meter breaststroke and set a world record of 2:18:95.
Team USA’s Erica Sullivan won a silver medal in the first women’s 1,500-meter freestyle and reflected on her identity in an interview afterward. She pointed out the increasing diversity in Team USA, using her own experience as an example. “I feel like I am the epitome of the American person. I’m multicultural; I’m queer. I’m a lot of minorities in that sense, and that’s what America is. America is, to me, not being a majority… Just me getting to be on the podium, in Japan, as an Asian American woman… as someone who likes women and who identifies as gay - it’s so cool.”
Gymnastics
After Simone Biles withdrew from the women’s team gymnastics event, the ROC had enough points to win gold and push Team USA down to silver. The ROC also won gold in the men’s team gymnastics event - Nikita Nagornyy, with a strong performance, helped them win over Japan by only 0.103 points. Unfortunately, the USA men’s team did not win a medal, finishing in fifth place as it has in the last two Olympics.
Suni Lee won the women’s all-around gymnastics championship after a spectacular performance. Rebeca Andrade of Brazil earned a silver medal in the same event; this historical win marks Brazil’s first women’s gymnastics medal.
Japan’s 19-year old Daiki Hashimoto of Japan won gold in the men’s all-around gymnastics championship, bringing great pride to the hosting country.
Men’s Basketball
The USA lost their first game against France 83-76 in a highly disappointing performance. However, they bounced back with a 54 point win against Iran and a 35 point win over Czech Republic.
Anything short of a gold medal would be seen as a massive disappointment for this group. However, it must be noted that the USA team is without star players LeBron James, Steph Curry, and James Harden. The biggest threat to stopping the USA’s search for a gold medal is Team Australia, as they have gone 3-0 in their opening round games. Team USA boasts an impressive collection of NBA superstars and is led by the San Antonio Spurs Head Coach (Greg Popovich). It is essential to recognize that teamwork, effort, and discipline on the court will decide the Men’s Basketball tournament winner.
The tournament will not be “played on paper.” Despite America’s clear advantage in every position over its competitors, they will have to come together as a team each game to win gold. The loss against France was a clear display of a lack of unity within the team. Coach Popovich will now be on a mission to rally the team together with hopes of bringing home the Gold Medal.
Women’s Tennis
This year’s Women’s Singles Tennis Tournament was highly anticipated, with the second ranked globally, Naomi Osaka, representing Japan on home soil. Unfortunately, Naomi Osaka was upset in the third round by Marketa Vondrousova from the Czech Republic in straight sets. Previously, she sat out of the French Open and Wimbledon to preserve her mental health but made her return for the Olympic Games. At age 23, Osaka has enjoyed a remarkable career with many achievements. She was ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association, allowing her to be the first Asian player to hold the top ranking in singles. She is the reigning champion at the U.S. Open and the Australian Open and has won 4 majors already. Hopefully, she can get back to her winning ways. Nevertheless, fans must recognize that she must prioritize regaining her mental health, even if that means sitting out of the upcoming U.S. Open and other future events.
To conclude an exciting tournament, Marketa Vondrousova (the world’s 42nd ranked player who defeated Osaka) fell to Belinda Bencic from Switzerland on Saturday in the Gold Medal Match.
Women’s Soccer
The USA Women's National Team got off to a rough start losing their first match to Sweden 3-0. The USWNT came out a bit lethargic in their first match but responded with a 6-1 win against New Zealand and a 0-0 draw vs. Australia. A semi-final matchup with Canada will be a highly anticipated game to be played on Monday at 4am ET.
As the reigning world cup champions, the expectations are incredibly high for Team USA. The path to a gold medal is far from easy. Nevertheless, if the group can get it done, it would further cement the USWNT status as one of the greatest American sports teams of all time.
The quarterfinal match win against Netherlands in penalty kicks was a massive achievement, as the Dutch advanced from the group stage with an astounding +13 goal differential. Sweden’s impressive 3-0 rout was shocking, to say the least. Still, they could be an even bigger threat if they could advance past the Japanese in the quarterfinal. A USA v Sweden final on Thursday, August 5th, would feature an epic rematch.
Tae-Kwon Do
In a sport that Team USA does not usually dominate, our own Anastasija Zolotic won the women’s 57kg event. She became the USA’s first woman to ever win gold in this sport.
Triathlon
Bermuda won its first-ever gold medal, thanks to Flora Duffy, one of only two athletes that Bermuda sent to the Olympics.
Weightlifting
Hidilyn Diaz from the Philippines celebrated her win in the women’s 55-kg weightlifting match. In doing so, she earned her country’s first gold medal.
Turkmenistan won its first medal when Polina Guryeva finished with a silver in the women’s 59-kg weightlifting competition.
Shooting
San Marino became the smallest country in history to win a medal after Alessandra Perilli won bronze. The microstate has a population of roughly 34,000. For context, the least populated state in the USA, Wyoming, has a population about fifteen times greater.
Men’s Golf
The 2020 Olympics are being played at Kasumigaseki CC in a traditional stroke play format. American golfers competing include Justin Thomas, Xander Schauffele, Colin Morikawa, and Patrick Reed.
American golfer Bryson DeChambeau was slated to compete in his first Olympic event but was forced to withdraw due to a positive COVID-19 test. In addition, the world’s #1 player, Jon Rahm, was also forced to withdraw due to a second positive test.
Si Woo Kim (26 years old) and Sungjae Im (23 years old) are competing for South Korea. For both players, stakes are at an all-time high; they must enlist in the military for two years of service if they don’t earn a medal. Placing in the top 3 of this year’s star-studded field is not an easy task. Both players skipped out on this year's British Open at Royal St. Georges, declining a prestigious invitation to practice alone ahead of the Olympics. This will be Si Woo Kim’s last chance at earning an Olympic medal. Sunjae Im, however, will have one more chance before being required to enlist in the military. The last elite male golfer from South Korea to end his career and enlist, Sangmoon Bae, dropped 400 spots in world rankings and failed to revive his career after serving his term. Previously, Son Heung-Min earned Olympic exemption in 2018 at the Olympics, winning the gold medal for South Korea in the Men’s Soccer tournament. We shall soon see if Sunjae Im or Si Woo Kim can repeat this impressive achievement under pressure to avoid two years of military service.
This year’s Olympic Games have featured unprecedented scenes, with a host nation determined to allow the world’s top athletes to perform, despite the difficulties of COVID-19. Nevertheless, the talent and drama is at an all-time high in many events. There is about one week remaining of action, so make sure to set aside some time to enjoy this historic competition.