Thank you for reading
Right, it is time to extinguish this live blog which, like the Olympic flame, has been burning brightly since 23 July. Thank you to everybody who has contributed to it – both here at the Guardian and to those of you reading wherever you are in the world. We hope you enjoyed the coverage and that the posts struck the right tone throughout what has been a unique Olympics during a pandemic. If you like what we do you can consider supporting our journalism here. The sporting action is not over in Tokyo, however. Put a date in your diary for 24 August, when the Paralympics opening ceremony begins. I will leave you with Martin Belam’s Tokyo 2020 Olympics briefing. As Martin says, farewell and arigato.
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I will be shutting down this liveblog shortly but before I do have one last peek at the medal table. Eighty-six nations won medals and each athlete took some recycled mobile phone parts home with them, as you can see in this video.
We have another belting gallery here, which sums up the lengths to which athletes went to get in shape for the Olympics while often being restricted to training at home during various Covid lockdowns. There’s also a reveal on whether their creative training methods paid off.
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Thanks to those readers in Japan who have emailed in to offer opinions on the Tokyo Games. Rebecca King is another who has summed up her thoughts on the subject very well.
Was that success - and the effect it had on the nation – worth it?
“Obviously, that question can’t be answered yet. The ‘Japanese athletes winning’ snippets will be on TV endlessly from now until, well, at least Paris. But the buzz will fade and the bills have to be paid. Fortunately, I do think the bubbling of the athletes and personnel seems to have worked. Bach did piss everyone off beforehand by saying there was ‘zero risk’, which was a stupid thing to say. However, coronavirus cases were already rising as the State of Emergency declarations are toothless and many people are back in the office and many unvaccinated people are going out to eat and socialise. Trains had already started to fill up again.
“Having said that, the decision to hold the Games has led to the public getting even more complacent and there was a report of a game of golf with a lunch party held by some members of a board of education whose excuse was: ‘The Tokyo Olympics is being held by implementing thorough infection prevention measures. We decided that if we also took measures, we could play golf, which is also a sport.’
“Colleagues have commented on the lack of spectators in the stadium, but that spectators are allowed to the national high school baseball contest. There has been a general lack of social distancing throughout the pandemic anyway – although most people wear masks in and outdoors – so some people, not just the IOC, thought spectators should be allowed. Mainly people with tickets, no doubt! Of course, doctors were saying it should not be cancelled. As were most of the public, and there were quite a lot of angry voices until Japan started doing so well. The idiom ‘change one’s tune’ came up in one of my uni classes and I gave the example: ‘Last week - “It is a terrible idea to hold the Games”; this week - “Wow! Gold rush! The Japanese athletes are great!”
“I did think the event should have been cancelled even though I had three tickets. My velodrome one was still valid – I hadn’t asked for a refund just in case. My Japanese partner was adamant he was not going. Until a couple of days into the Games, that is. Then he got all excited and said, ‘Shall we go?’ So we did. I am fully vaccinated but I’ve not told many people I attended an event as I’m not sure how that will be viewed.
“It was sad seeing the volunteers still trying to be upbeat outside the station and venue when there was no one to help. It was weird not being able to cheer, and there was not much of an atmosphere in the velodrome as it was only about 15% full. I have really enjoyed the last two weeks and it was so nice having something else to think about and read about aside from coronavirus. I’m not looking forward to going back to the real world. I’m biased, as I’ve always loved the Olympics and I attended an event, but I’m glad they went ahead. I certainly changed my tune.”
A legacy of the Tokyo Games will be the light that has been shone on the mental health of athletes amid the intense pressure they are put under when scrutinised by peers, judges, the mainstream media and those on social media. In Tokyo, where competitors were isolated amid the pandemic, that burden of expectation seemed greater than ever. Barney Ronay wrote very well on the subject. In case you missed it, this piece is definitely worth a read and applies to other young people in sport away from the Olympics.
So many athletes emerge from an industrialised version of their sport, a system that isn’t play or enjoyment, but a machine designed for winning. How is that supposed to play out at the current Olympics when athletes have been isolated, unable to train, and asked to emerge suddenly into the light and perform?
Another view from Japan: “Being in Tokyo I feel incredibly conflicted,” writes Andrew Wolff. “I have an Olympic gold medalist grandfather and I’m a natural fan of the Games who was originally very excited about them going ahead. On the one hand they have delivered a great sporting spectacle and have not been the superspreader event once feared. On the other hand, outside the Tokyo bubble we have 150 Tokyoites on ventilators fighting for their lives and our highest caseloads yet by a large margin. The Olympics definitely set the tone that it was OK for people to let their guard down and I find that difficult to reconcile.”
I love this. Emerson Andrade, the brother of Brazil’s gold and silver-winning gymnast, Rebeca Andrade, describes managing to be a considerate neighbour even while dealing with the whirlwind of emotions he was feeling while cheering his sister on at 5.30am in Brazil.
We didn’t want to scream too loudly because of the time of day … We were over the moon but we had to control ourselves because of the neighbours.
You can read more about what it was like for family members left behind as they tuned in to watch their loved ones compete at Tokyo 2020 here.
Let’s throw things forward three years then shall we? I think the Olympics have benefited from the inclusion of surfing, BMXing and skateboarding even though these sports provoked much tutting when first announced. You may disagree, but I think they have helped connect a younger audience to the Olympics and shown the world that those who compete in these sports make just as many sacrifices and work every bit as hard as more regular athletes do to perfect their skills. And in Paris we will see breakdancing join the show.
Paris 2024 organisers say the Olympics will “set a new standard for inclusive, gender-balanced and youth-centred games” and adding breakdancing is part of the expansion of the so-called “urban” programme. Equality will play a key role in 2024, too, with Paris aiming to be the first Games to reach a 50% split between male and female athletes, edging Tokyo which managed 48.8%.
William Fotheringham has penned his thoughts on the performance of Team GB’s Olympic cyclists in which the Kennys remained the golden couple of British cycling – but I particularly like this line:
The plethora of BMX metalware could hardly have been predicted, but will give huge impetus to a discipline which is the best entry-point to bike racing for most urban-dwelling youngsters.
A view from Japan
Trevor Kew has emailed in with his thoughts – and they’re very interesting too. “For most people here in Japan, the Olympics have been a TV show just like in other countries, albeit with some familiar scenic backdrops. Obviously almost all people here agree that these Games should never have gone ahead, but at least there was something exciting and distracting on TV for a couple of weeks. But I don’t think many people here will really remember these Games as the Japanese Olympic Games or Tokyo Games.
“I live near many of the Olympic venues, many of which are perched out on artificial islands in Tokyo Bay, which kind of reminded me of the tiny Dutch outpost of Dejima off of Nagasaki, which was the only place foreigners could visit in Japan between 1620-1853 (Japanese were forbidden from leaving Japan as well). Some foreign journalists’ articles about Japan during the Olympics kind of reminded me of some of the diaries I’ve read written by the insular denizens of Dejima … so close to Japan and yet so far.
“What a shame that visitors to this wonderful country couldn’t experience it and even more so that the Japanese people and we foreigners who live here and are proud to do so weren’t even able to attend our own party. These Olympics might as well have been played on the moon.”
Thanks Trevor.
The Olympics always give us wonderful images and I think photographers have scaled new heights at these Games as they got creative and found new ways to make shots interesting in the absence of crowds. This gallery is a case in point.
“Show a photographer a reflective surface – be it water, glass, a screen or a visor – and they’ll show you a striking image”
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If you’re wondering how the BBC followed coverage of sport’s greatest show on Earth. Well, with Money for Nothing of course! The show in which Sarah Moore renovates old tat for a profit. I miss Lutalo Muhammad. I could listen to his cool, calm voice all day. He’s therapy in taekwondo pundit form. Here he is speaking to Sachin Nakrani in an interview from last week:
Not everybody in a big British sport admin role is feeling happy after the Olympics, mind. UK Athletics’ Christian Malcolm has been forced to defend GB’s athletics performance. GB’s athletics team failed to win a single gold medal for the first time since Atlanta in 1996. His predecessor, Ed Warner, stuck the boot in when he said:
The last time GB came away from a Games without a gold medal was 1996. Twenty-second place overall is grim and compares with third, eighth, fourth and sixth over the past four Games. Even if Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake had held on for gold in the sprint relay, Britain would only have bumped up to 13th spot.
Here’s the full story:
I’d be interested to get a few views from Japan on what you made of the Tokyo Olympics now they have come and gone. Japan performed incredibly well, finishing third in the medal table with 27 golds, 14 silvers and 17 bronze medals. Was that success - and the effect it had on the nation – worth it?
Team GB’s chef de mission, Mark England, has been lavishing praise on his young team to the extent that he believes their performance was the greatest ever by a British Olympic team.
For this team to deliver 65 medals is absolutely extraordinary. The team has made history on the back of the most complex, challenging and most difficult environments that we will ever face, certainly in my lifetime. And I can say that because I’ve been involved in five or six summer Games.
Here’s a composite image of every Team GB medal winner at Tokyo 2020.
And here’s Sean Ingle’s story:
But it’s not quite the end. “Arigato,” is the message displayed on the giant electronic board at the Olympic Stadium as 1,072 fireworks blast off from the roof and create a spectacle of light, sparks and no little smoke. And that really is the end of the closing ceremony, which got the tone just right I think.
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There’s time for a bit more performative art, though, in which I think we’re taken forward to a vision of the future in which children are taught the lessons learned at the Tokyo Olympic Games and the legacy they left the people of Japan. I’m taking a punt on the meaning here, though. I think that’s right. The Olympic cauldron, which so far has represented the sun, is now cast as the moon. It’s metallic casing shifts shape and extinguishes the flame. And then all is dark.
The End.
'I declare the Games of the 32nd Olympiad closed'
Thomas Bach officially closes the Tokyo Olympic Games but not before a little pat on the back. “We did it! Together!”
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Thomas Bach, the IOC president, speaks:
Athletes went faster, went higher and were stronger because they all stood together in solidarity. You inspired us with this unified symbol of sport. And it was even more remarkable because of what you faced in the pandemic. For the first times since the pandemic the world came together. People were united by emotion, sharing moments of joy and inspiration. This gives us hope, this gives us faith in the future. The Olympic Games of Tokyo were the Olympic Games of hope, solidarity and peace. You the Japanese people can be extremely proud of what you achieved. On behalf of all the athletes we say thank you Tokyo, thank you Japan.
Bach continues to pay tribute to the volunteers who made the Games happen and the Japanese authorities who made Tokyo 2020 happen. “Thank you for staying with us on the side of the athletes who were longing for these Olympic Games. Nobody has ever organised a postponed Olympics.”
The Tokyo Olympics organising committee president, Seiko Hashimoto, speaks now to pay tribute to those who made the Games possible and to the Olympic spirit displayed by the athletes, whether experiencing the joy of glory or the bitter pain of defeat. She believes the power on display at Tokyo 2020 will keep the Olympic spirit alive all the way through to Paris 2024. She says Tokyo now can’t wait to host the Paralympics.
We’re on to a montage of various landmarks around Paris that will be used to host events ending, of course, with the Eiffel Tower, where many spectators have gathered to cheer heartily as the Patrouille de France fly by. The plan was to fly the largest ever flag from the tower this afternoon but it was too windy so, alas, that particular stunt will have to wait. Emmanuel Macron greets the world from atop the tower in quite some show. Paris have pulled out all the stops here.
It’s a version of La Marseillaise that has been pre-recorded in various locations around Paris and is slightly quieter then you might expect with plenty of strings. In fact, it sounds like it could have been a Lucasfilm production played over the end credits of Star Wars. Oh, and it ends in space, with Thomas Pesquet playing the saxophone on the international spacestation.
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And now the Olympic flag handover session begins to backdrop music that could easily have been plucked from 50 Chillout Lounge Classics. Bach passes the Olympic flag to Hidalgo, who waves it around heartily to applause from the athletes in the stadium. That flag will now be taken to the town hall in Paris, where it will stay for the three years in the leadup to the Games. And now time for the French national anthem La Marseillaise. And who hasn’t got time for the French national anthem?
The first female mayor of Paris, Ana María Hidalgo, is introduced alongside the IOC’s head-honcho Thomas Bach, for the passing of the baton as the focus shifts to the French capital for the buildup to the 2024 Games. But first, the Olympic anthem is sung with gusto by an opera singer is an eyecatching huge electric blue costume. In case you’re not familiar, here it is:
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Right, we’re back to some performative dance now, first in the stadium and then a cut away to Hokkaido, in northern Japan, for some traditional dance by the Ainu people. It’s a beautifully shot video and the landscape in Hokkaido is jawdropping, with mountains blending into sea. We’re then taken thousands of miles south for the Eisa dance in the Okinawa islands, a jauntier style in my humble opinion, and then back through central Japan where we’re treated to a snippet of the Awa Dance Festival.
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There is a ceremony now to present the athletes who were elected to the International Olympic Committee’s Athletes’ Commission: Pau Gasol, Maja Wloszczowska, Federica Pellegrini and Yuki Ota were voted on to the commission by fellow athletes. Their role is to act as a bridge between athletes and the IOC. Gasol isn’t there but Pellegrini, Wloszczowska and Ota play a role in presenting gifts to volunteers to say thank you for their huge contribution at these Games in which they have put themselves at risk during a pandemic to make Tokyo 2020 happen.
The medal ceremony for the men’s marathon is taking place. Kenya’s Eliud Kipchoge stands proud atop the podium wearing his gold medal and outstanding tracksuit (and a huge smile beneath the mask, I hope). He absolutely bossed the race, finishing in 2:08.38 and over a minute ahead of the rest of the field. He’s 36. Will he, at 39, defend his title for a third time at Paris 2024?
Hello, Gregg here. I’m just back from the skatepark, where my daughters have been trying to do tricks and flicks having been inspired to do so after watching Sky Brown. The Olympic Effect, right there. Thanks to Daniel for guiding us through the majority of the closing ceremony while reviewing the trackies on offer. I’m here to take on the last leg and guide these Games home. Let me know what your highlight was? Mine? Probably Kye Whyte and Beth Schriever being brilliant on their BMXs.
But that’s it for me and these Games – thanks all for your company and comments, it’s been an absolute joy. Here’s Gregg Bakowski to see us home.
We now have the medal ceremony for the women’s marathon, won by Peres Jepchirchir of Kenya. But let’s not forget to congratulate whoever designed her team’s stash, which is absolutely banging.
Time for the Greece anthem and raising of the flag. There’s one pole left, which I assume is for the tricolore. Personally, I’d pick Claude Leclochard to perform that part of the ceremony.
Overheard someone on train mention La Rochelle and 13 year old me thinks "c'est une ville a l'ouest de la France" #Tricolore 🇫🇷 pic.twitter.com/Yo9JMHkzcp
— David Wilding 💙 (@drwilding) July 5, 2017
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It’s big-band Ode to Joy next, the aforementioned Tony Blair’s favourite song (when he thought the audience wanted to hear it was that, on a different occasion it was Sympathy for the Devil). But, as I type that, in comes the accordion, which I imagine, sets up Paris as the host in 2024. Surely we’re getting some Jean-Michel Jarre for the closing ceremony of that.
Right about now, on the wheels of steel, someone say hello to the DJ Matsunaga. He plays looking away, scratches with his elbow and that kind of palaver, then disappears as soon as he arrived, as Milet comes on to cover Edith Piaf’s Hymne à L’amour. Great stuff.
“On the subject of athletes cameraderie,” says Jerry Spring. “Maybe not so many people caught the women’s podium for the combined climbing final. I’d love it if you could share that in the blog ... It still brings tears to my eyes for the love, joy and respect between those three wonderful climbers.”
That’s lovely.
Oh my gosh, I’ve just seen one of the great rugs, owned by someone playing in the horn section accompanying the current japery. That with the Nigeria trcky, and we’re really talking.
By the road, it’s raining in Nottingham, where a superb first Test might just be petering out.
“As you mentioned Chris Hoy’s shoes,” says Nick Marshall, “it’s definitely worth referencing Alex Horne and the Horne Section’s ‘Chris Hoy loves a Saveloy’.”
We’ve all our athletes with us now – well, all those still in Toyko, and a light show is underway. It’s pretty spectacular I’ve to say, beautiful colour cascading like waves then waterfall. Then it all comes together into Olympic rings and my seven-year-old bursts in to declare “Wow, that is so pretty, did they make all that just now.” No, I did it earlier,” I assure her. “Daddy, you’re the greatest,” she assures me.
OK, we’ve a new leader. This is the best I’ve seen and by far.
Great Britain, meanwhile, look an absolute mess, you’ll be shocked to learn: shorts with a belt and a miserable white polo shirt with what looks like a bad tatt on the shoulder but is some kind of flag design. Absolute dizgraze.
Japan’s massive are wearing identical trainers, a kind of hot red, which match their jackets. I don’t like the round neck, but the colour is extremely arresting.
“I see some mingling,” says Andrew Cotter, as Australia come in wearing, let’s be real, an absolutely dreadful green and gold polo shirt and white-shorts combo. No.
Here come USA, bouncing about in white trackies. Must do better - when you’ve got blue and red to play with, you’ve got much more scope to do something good – these are too plai.
These Jamaica tracksuits are tremendous – so much so that the team are wearing them as they come in, though it’s a zillion degrees in Toyko,
“The mournful music you mentioned,” begins Xu Yun Liang as I realise I’ve announced a gaping hole in my general knowledge to the world. “That’s the theme from master Ozu’s opus Tokyo Story. I guess it might be equivalent of DJ playing Star Wars theme 7 years later in Los Angeles?”
Fantastic, thanks.
Here come the athletes, some kind of big-band show-tune playing. I daresay some will have taken drink in keeping with ancient tradition, though the customary adult gymnastics may be compromised by the pandemic.
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Instead, we get another montage, and my eyeballs are a-sweatin’.
In case you’re wondering, the flag-marching is still going on, representatives of every country emerging to stand in a circle around a rostrum. More news as I get it. I reckon someone should grab the mic, give it “I said a hip-hop, the hippie, the hippie, to the hip, hip-hop and you don’t stop the rockin, to the bang-bang boogie, say up jump the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie, the beat”, then see what happens next.
“What’s struck me about these Games,” says James Taylor, “has been the great camaraderie between the athletes and the sheer joy of them being able to compete at an event they must have thought may never happen. It’s been such a difficult 18 months for everyone but I can’t imagine the commitment to train for something that was always in doubt. It’s also been striking for the awareness It’s raised over mental health and the pressure these athletes are under. The human side of sport has really displayed itself at its best.”
Yup, can’t argue with any of that – I can only imagine the terror of thinking they were gone and relief that they weren’t.
Laura Kenny has the union flag, and that seems a solid decision to me – her joy is so compelling and infectious.
Here’s my song of the summer is this – and it’s one for the fantastic Alex Scott. Yes, I’m calling that a segue.
When's Professor Green on?
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) August 8, 2021
Here come the flag-bearers of each nation...
Japanese anthem time. Kimigayo is the world’s shortest, and the flag is raised alongside one baring the Olympic rings.
Mournful music plays, and the Japanese flag is carried to the stage by various uniformed, marching types taking tiny steps in what I assume is military style.
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Here come the dignitaries and flag-bearers...
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Apologies: when discussing my favourite moments, I neglected to mention the stupefying Yulimar Rojas.
Yulimar Rojas became the first female Venezuelan Olympic gold medallist in stunning style as she shattered the 26-year-old women’s world triple jump record with her final jump – and then thanked Facebook’s algorithm for connecting her with the coach who guided her to glory.
Rojas, who is also a proud lesbian and prominent LGBT activist, jumped 15.67m to beat the previous world record of 15.50m, set by Ukraine’s Inessa Kravets in 1995 in Sweden.”
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One of the great things about the Olympics is how people of whom you’ve never heard become global celebrities for a moment. Which is a long-winded way of saying that I’ve just remembered Dean Boxall.
Our narrators for the ceremony are Hazel Irvine and Andrew Cotter, both of whom have had terrific Games.
In the BBC studio, Chris Hoy notes how polarised the world is, and that it’s good to see people brought together, and Michael Johnson notes that the pandemic is the first thing in a long time to affect all of us in it. I think Hoy is wearing red suede shoes.
The closing ceremony is almost upon us...
I absolutely love this column from Caroline Dubois, in which she explains how it felt to lose a medal she thought was hers.
You then endure the agony of waiting for the verdict. When they said “Blue”, which meant Seesondee had won a bronze medal, she sank to her knees. She covered her face with her hands and sobbed in relief. I walked around the ring in a daze. I was thinking: “Fucking hell – what’s happening?” In that terrible moment I was so upset and frustrated. I could hardly believe it.
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In the changing room I kept saying: “I don’t know what to do … I don’t know what to do.” I was crying and it just felt like everything had been a waste of time. I’ve been fighting since I was nine years old, when I had to pretend to be a boy called Colin so that I would be allowed into a boxing gym. I’ve wanted to go to the Olympics since London 2012. I was 11 years old then, so I’ve been dreaming of these Games for nine long years. My tears fell because it felt like I had wasted my time. There was no consoling me in those lonely moments.”
Definitely make time for the rest, here.
This is an interesting angle.
We’ve done a lot of Kellie Harrington this morning and rightly so, but a search through our photo library has bestowed this upon me and of course, it’s incumbent upon me to share. There’s a Hebrew word, kavanah – it means intention, sincerity and focus, tall mixed. This is that.
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As the montages start, a classic piece of trivia from early in the Games...
[emerging from Olympic swimming research laboratory] slightly off topic, but Gary Hall Jnr owns a painting that William S. Burroughs created with his own blood. pic.twitter.com/mfqdPKi1jJ
— Russell Jackson (@rustyjacko) July 25, 2021
“Can’t believe it’s all coming to an end,” tweets Guy Hornsby. “Despite the unique backdrop it’s still provided some incredible moments and stories. My favourites: Daley’s gold, BMX, Muir and Bleasdale’s medals, skateboards, the Kennys, but really it’s scratching the surface. Three years....”
I’ve had this open in a tab for nearly four hours now, so let’s go...
GB's Charlotte Worthington has smashed her second run in the women's BMX freestyle final out of the park! 👏👏
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 1, 2021
She scores a HUGE 97.50 🙌
📺 Watch live on @BBCiPlayer and @BBCOne
📲 https://t.co/tRBaftzxWl #bbcolympics #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/EuxH6mNxWf
Eurosport cut to the Olympic Stadium for the closing ceremony, where Greg Rutherford is enthusing in characteristic style. Meantime, Pat Wilson gets in touch with her own contribution to the Games.
The final countup! Wool Done @TeamGB an astonishing performance. So sad it’s over. My crochet 🥇🥈🥉#olympicresultstable has been a big hit in @Deal_Town. pic.twitter.com/0v8JEQTqpo
— Pat Wilson (@twittingneedles) August 8, 2021
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And as for Tom Daley!
Tom Daley: “there are some beverages with my name on them”
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) July 26, 2021
Also Tom Daley: "I feel incredibly proud to say I am an Olympic champion and a gay man"
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) July 26, 2021
It is kind of something that Tom Daley is saying this at a table sat between Chinese and Russian athletes, being watched by their media. He is talking about his husband and child. As i understand it, neither would be permitted in China
— Barney Ronay (@barneyronay) July 26, 2021
“The women showed up,” Felix said. “I think we’ve been showing up on the track, off the track, in all of the ways. So to me I loved it, I love seeing it. It’s been a really special Games for women, in our sport, outside our sport, it’s been really inspiring for me to see performance after performance, women out there getting it done. Obviously I think there’s still a lot of work to do in a lot of areas but we have momentum, we’re moving in the right direction, not just from a performance standpoint but by changing industry norms. And we’re going to continue to push that.”
This is true. Legends like Felix, Naomi Osaka and Simone Biles - for example, and only for example – are changing the global conversation and setting the global agenda. I’m in awe of their strength and dignity, and grateful to them for taking many for the team.
Sifan Hassan, though. I just keep looking at the words, which I can understand but cannot grasp.
But sport being sport, we can’t flag that without flagging this.
Oo remembers, er, Magic Monday? I absolutely loved Adam Peaty’s interview with Eurosport after he’d calmed down:
He’s proud to become the first Brit to defend an Olympic swimming title, but it won’t sink in until he’s home. The gold, he reckons, goes to all his family and his team, and he’s looking forward to the relays.
As for the race, he says you touch the wall and generally you know if you’ve won. He’s feeling a lot of relief, but the moment when you win, you release all the frustration of the five years leading up to it, a mixture of elation, adrenaline and pride. Talking about how hard he worked to make it happen, he says that “there’s not a tangible word for the amount of investment that’s gone into this swim,” and “if you think you’ve emptied the tank there’s another tank to empty”. He talks about a lot of bad moments getting ready for the Games, when he didn’t want to push further, but he did, then explains that having a son gave him a new perspective on the world. He’s a very emotional person and cried the second his wife gave birth; now he hopes his son can learn from him “to be resilient, to be committed, to take the emotional intelligence that sport provides”.
Swimming has taken a lot out of him – he’s not lost a race in seven years – so now he wants to rest and enjoy life. But he’s not yet swum the perfect race, so that’s a target for him now.”
I daresay being second best at super-heavyweight boxing feels better than being second best in an argument about racism, and stomping off.
What a feeling … I now own an Olympic medal 🙏🏽
— Frazer Clarke (@BigFrazeBoxer) August 8, 2021
This is it, isn’t it? Let’s hope Paris is the party we deserve.
Feeling a touch melancholy in Tokyo today. Rain pouring down. A sense of an ending here. I'll miss this place; I'll always miss what might have been for this Games, but still, what a Games it has been. One of the best? No doubt.
— Scott Field (@scottjfield) August 7, 2021
I’ve looked forward to these every single day. Imagine having a snap like this with your significant other! Just look at their little faces!
Ouch.
The quality is uniform, these are just my favourites at this particular second.
Here’s a little digest of the beauty that’s sustained us these last couple of weeks.
The biggest story of the Games has probably been Simone Biles, and though things didn’t go as expected, she left an even bigger hero than she arrived – and what an accolade that is. Here are some reads on her.
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Another of my favourite details: Elaine Thompson-Herah’s gran watches her granddaughter win gold. Goodness me, what a feeling that must be.
Gloria Thompson, the grandmother of Olympic 100m champion @FastElaine, was ecstatic this morning as she watched the final of the women's 100m from her hometown in Banana Ground, Manchester. It's a win Thompson had predicted and she is looking for a repeat in the 200m. pic.twitter.com/VV6nJbVavF
— Jamaica Gleaner (@JamaicaGleaner) July 31, 2021
And here’s how Sean Ingle saw it.
Raven Saunders, what a hero.
X: "It's the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet". Raven Saunders ✊🏾 https://t.co/WuovgIeoMf pic.twitter.com/qEJyjVD93u
— Fabien Goa (@FabienGoa) August 1, 2021
This was something. Yesterday, Tareg Hamedi of Saudi Arabia knocked out Sajad Ganjzadeh of Iran in the final of men’s -75kg karate ... but Ganjzadeh won gold because if you kayo someone, you’re disqualified.
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This country.
Final day roundup:
– Jason Kenny defended his keirin title in masterful style, his gold his seventh Olympic medal. He now sits alone as GB’s most successful Olympian.
– Eliud Kipchoge retained his marathon title, absolutely dog-walking Sapporo conditions and the field. His winning margin, 1:20, is the biggest since 1972, when Frank Shorter of the USA led hom Belgium’s Karel Lismont by 2:12.
– Lauren Price won middleweight gold for GB.
– France beat “ROC” to win the women’s handball.
– Serbia beat Greece to retain the men’s water polo title.
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It’s fair to say that the selling off of playing fields began under Tony Blair, but I shudder to think at how much worse things are going to get. The thing is, sport isn’t just exercise or gold medals, but the entry into another world – of people, places, stories, hopes, joy and love. We need to do everything possible to make those things available to everyone.
After this week’s slate of less-than-perfect results, a few US athletes have expressed displeasure at the lack of an Olympic training camp and the tight turnaround between trials and the Games, byproducts of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. Officials barred athletes from moving into the Olympic Village more than five days before they competed, and the US elected not to set up its own camp for track and field athletes, which some other nations did. It was a decision made with athletes’ health and safety in mind, but it may also have bungled training and athletes’ acclimation to a foreign country.”
Joan Nielsen investigates something that even now seems hard to believe.
I absolutely loved this.
.@TheKoriMonster and @natashahastings' reaction to THAT 400m hurdles race is all of us rn.
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 4, 2021
🥇 51.46 – @GoSydGo 🤯
🥈 51.58 – Dalilah Muhammad 🤯
🥉 52.03 – Femke Bol 🤯
Still live on #WAInsideTrack trying to comprehend what just happened: https://t.co/G8W3jF2IDw pic.twitter.com/mt2I9cqTWI
Peep our medals table.
And this is great too.
"This inner city for the last 2 or 3 yrs, after being in the gutter we were. Look around, go around to Portland Row. Look at the spirit. The spirit of the inner city people. She's after doing all this"
— Rob O'Hanrahan (@RobOHanrahan) August 7, 2021
The power of Kellie Harrington 🥊🇮🇪@VirginMediaNewspic.twitter.com/PyJbqgSXLI
Back to today and Kellie Harrington, this is what it’s all about. We’ve missed our stadium celebrations, but these community ones are banging too.
From Portland Row to Tokyo.
— Rob O'Hanrahan (@RobOHanrahan) August 8, 2021
The Harrington family celebrate a GOLD MEDAL. #Olympics pic.twitter.com/ky5RPbyRab
“Stop the funeral, we’ve found the body!” cries Thomas Callaghan. “Is it a miracle? British cycling tops the Tokyo medal table. Can this be true? The Guardian’s esteemed cycling columnist solemnly declared the death of British track cycling on 4 August. W-H-A-T-S G-O-I-N-G ON?”
I’m no expert, but I do know that what William Fotheringham doesn’t know about cycling isn’t worth knowing. I guess he was saying that the age of dominance was over, not that GB don’t have good cyclists anymore.
“Personally I’m most excited to see what Liberia will be wearing at the closing ceremony,” emails Kári Tulinius. “Their opening ceremony outfits were amazing.
Team Liberia dressed in Telfar Global at the opening of the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo 🇱🇷🙌🏾
— The Liberian Influence (@thelibinfluence) July 23, 2021
📷: @elboww_knee#TheLibInfluence pic.twitter.com/fAg28anRs4
This is and was a favourite...
THIS is what the @Olympics means!! Friends & family of @ClubMaidenhead swimmer @tomdean00 cheer the new 200m Freestyle #Olympics CHAMPION home! GOLD!!! GOLD!! GOLD!!! #Tokyo2020 @BBCSport #Swimming @BBCSouthNews pic.twitter.com/wBtpR7Yba1
— Lewis Coombes (@LewisCoombes) July 27, 2021
The closing ceremony, by the way, will begin at 8pm local time, which is 12pm BST, 7am ET and 10pm EST.
What a shot this is!
🥇 x 8 pic.twitter.com/W8m7nWUv8p
— Michael Cherry ♨️ (@MCJR__) August 7, 2021
I guess it’s time to look back at stuff we particularly enjoyed. This, for example – and feel free to send in your favourites too.
.@TheKoriMonster and @natashahastings' reaction to THAT 400m hurdles race is all of us rn.
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) August 4, 2021
🥇 51.46 – @GoSydGo 🤯
🥈 51.58 – Dalilah Muhammad 🤯
🥉 52.03 – Femke Bol 🤯
Still live on #WAInsideTrack trying to comprehend what just happened: https://t.co/G8W3jF2IDw pic.twitter.com/mt2I9cqTWI
“The opening ceremony of the games of the XXXIIIrd Olympiad are two years 11 months two weeks and four days away,” says Kurt Perelberg. “July 26.2024 in Paris, France.”
We’ll be there!
Water polo: The Greece squad are in the water like it’s the end of We Are the Champions and Ron Pickering has said “Away you go!”
Gold! Serbia beat Greece 13-10 to retain the men's water polo title!
And that, my friends, is Toyko 2021!
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Water polo: Greece are doing their best, ploughing forward, but they know it’s gone, and the defending champs have done it again. Savour these last few seconds people, because this is it for
four
three years.
Water polo: On the side, the Serbia players celebrate – with 90 seconds to go and a three-goal lead to enjoy, they know it’s over.
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Water polo: But Greece have a player advantage and are on the attack – they have to score here, you’d think ... and Mitrovic saves! Serbia are nearly there!
Water polo: Serbia are pulling away now – it’s 13-10 – and they’ve earned it. You can only come from behind so many times, and Greece have trailed for pretty much the whole match.
Water polo: It’s still a one-goal ball-game, Serbia leading 11-10 ... and Jaksic leaps to gather then finish from close range! Greece now trail 10-12, and with five to go they’re looking strong.
When this is over we’ll be bringing you the closing ceremony, also known as the biggest mass sesh on the planet. Not gonna lie, I’m buzzing for sportswear – though not sure if anything will beat Ghana and Fila’s big coat with kente trim from PyeongChang.
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Walk like a champion….Talk like a champion (buju voice) pic.twitter.com/LH1xs6XdCJ
— Elaine Thompson Herah (@FastElaine) August 8, 2021
Water polo: Greece are back chasing again, trailing Serbia 9-10 at the end of the third quarter. This is set up for a finish.
This made me laugh.
The new @TeamGB @ParalympicsGB x @adidasUK #Tokyo2020 kit is 😍🔥. With the away kit all set, our Dreams team have assembled in their home kit, ready for some serious sleep training 💤 ahead of the Games 🙌 https://t.co/yc8FQjrR0L pic.twitter.com/sVmGBr4H86
— Dreams Beds (@Dreams_Beds) May 6, 2021
Water polo: It’s now 9-9 and Greece are on the attack, the Serbia keeper facing the ball onto the bar and away. We’ve 1.37 to go in the third, and really people, let’s savour this because it’s all we got, but also because it’s great.
Basketball: Seven golds on the spin is ridiculous. Will we ever get a miracle on hard maple?
Water polo: With 5.12 left in the third, Serbia lead Greece 9-8.
I talked about buzz-harshing, so let’s get the party started again.
Water polo: We’re set for a serious finish, to the match, the tournament and the Games. At half-time, Serbia lead Greece 8-7.
“I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the Tokyo Olympics with my son who is now of an age (9) for whom they will be memorable and not just because of the amazing athletic feats we have witnessed,” says Lisette Blower. “Somehow, refreshingly, it has not just been about gold medal winners – I have been just as moved by those who have fought intensely for and been deliriously happy with silver (Laura Muir) and bronze medals (Holly Bradshaw, Team GB women’s gymnastics, Indian men’s hockey) and we have also been unexpectedly rooting for countries and sports that I might not have predicted we would be – Fiji rugby sevens and Greek men’s water polo! All in all the sight of athletes cheering for each other, the camaraderie between them, especially in the wonderful mixed relay events, and the fact that they made it to Tokyo at all, has been truly uplifting.”
Agree on all counts – everyone has a story, and the Olympics allows them to be told to us. It’s the beautiful chaos of humanity incarnate. And as a kid there’s nothing like it – my first Games was LA in 84, but there was something about getting up at three and four in the morning to watch Seoul 88 that was special.
“As long as I live, I’ll never forget being there in Nagano to see Japan win the large hill team jump,” emails Heather Howard. “Four years earlier, disaster had struck for Japan; they lost the gold medal with a terrible final jump. The final Japanese jumper took off in Nagano. He flew through the air, he flew, he flew, he came down, and the eyes of everyone in the stadium, myself included, turned to the scoreboard. When that ‘1’ flashed up next to Japan’s name, the crowd erupted! Pandemonium as people screamed, jumped up and down, and hugged each other in utter delirium.
The emotion, the explosion of joy in that place – it was the most powerful sports-related moment I’ve ever experienced.”
Great stuff. Sport, eh?
Water polo: Greece have closed, trailing Serbia 7-6 ... and now it’s 7-7, a shot skidding along the surface of the water into the corner! The skill deployed is not unlike that deployed by Luke Shaw when scoring for England v Italy.
That buzz-harshing I mentioned: have more!
It was a rough week for Britain’s Tom Bosworth, who came 25th in the 20km race-walk. He called it his “worst performance in a British vest”. He also became a target on Japanese social media after complaining about being fed “cold slop” in the Sapporo athletes’ village, which felt like “a prison”. This didn’t go down well with locals who have had to cancel plans because rising Covid cases mean the local government is advising against travel in and out of the city. Comments on Twitter included: “We’re not going to be lectured by a Brit about shit food.”
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Water polo: At the end of the first quarter, Serbia lead Greece 6-3 and off we go again!
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The answer to the question of whether anti-virus measures and sport, much of it exhilarating, have combined to form a successful whole depends on who is being asked.”
Sunday morning buzz-harshing your thing? We got you.
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Boxing: Could do with an Olympic champions from my ends, if anyone who lives round my way and fancies the job happens to be reading.
The moment when she was named Olympic champion! 🤩
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 8, 2021
🎥: @YeSecondPostpic.twitter.com/7lHiCj5TQV
Water polo: Serbia have stamped on it, a little flick at the post diverting a shot home for a 5-2 lead over Greece, with 2.52 left in the first quarter.
Effort.
Water polo: No! The ball hadn’t fully crossed the line, then Greece score, and we’re go waselves a 2-2 game.
Water polo: This looks like being a high-scorer, Serbia now 3-1 in front pending a VAR check.
Water polo: We’re away in the final event of the Games, the men’s water polo final, and Greece have taken the lead, holding a 1-0 advantage over Serbia ... who’ve now equalised. Swimming and ruckusing are very strange disciplines to marry, but it makes for compelling spectacle.
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Handball: The France team are going to have a night tonight, you can so see it. They’re already starting the party, dancing and celebrating in front of their teammates in the arena, and how much it means to them is moving, brightening up a rainy, grey summer morning in north London. Great stuff.
Gold! France beat ROC 30-25 to win the women's handball!
That was a magical second-half performance. They stamped on the gas and were far, far too good, so Les Bleus take the men’s and women’s titles.
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Handball: Inside the last minute, France lead 29-24. They’re going to win goal, and there’s another goal on the counter!
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“The weather was OK,” said Kipchoge, with a stoic’s resolve. “I can’t complain. We were all on the same frying pan. And today I lived my Olympic dream.”
Obviously Eliud Kipchoge is just rrrridiculous. And what a line! “We’re all on the same frying pan” – yeah, but someone is the oil that heats and burns everything therein.
And here’s Tumaini Carayol on Lauren Price – plus bonus Kellie Harrington, who won gold for Ireland.
Jason Kenny, what a hero.
Handball: With nearly 25 minutes gone in the second half, France lead Aissur 27-22.
And if we’re looking back at British performances, I think it’s important to note that the whole world has had the pandemic issue, and I’d also like to point out attention towards Galal Yafai and Lauren Price, gold medal winners in the ring. We’re going to be hearing a lot, lot more about them.
As sports fans, we’re always feeling kind of reflective because that’s what sport does to us: it reminds us of ourselves, so when we look back at it, we’re looking back at us. But it’s time to be particularly reflective now, so send in your memories of another great Olympics. Because that’s the thing, isn’t it? Whatever else is going on around, above and below sport – all that stuff – sport is the best, which is why we put up with it.
Now that you ask, I don’t know if I can look beyond Sydney McLoughlin and Karsten Warholm for my performances of the Games.
“This has been an absolutely superb performance by Team GB,” says Des Brown. “Considering that for much of the last 16 months, the country has been locked down and the athletes been without competition, the results – incredibly – have been a succession of firsts and records.Jason Kenny has become the most decorated British Olympian ever. Laura Kenny became the most successful female track cyclist in Olympic history. The Boxing team winning the most medals since Antwerp 1920. Adam Peaty becoming the first British swimmer to successfully defend an Olympic gold medal. Duncan Scott becoming the first Briton to win four medals at a single Games. Katie French and Joe Choong winning Golds in the women and men’s modern pentathlon – the first time both titles have been won by the same country. Sky Brown becoming the youngest Team GB medalist ever.
And the unforgettable images. The sheer joy and exuberance of Sky Brown on a skateboard. Charlotte Worthington’s 360 degree jump on a BMX. In the men’s kierin Jason Kenny shooting out on front at the start and staying there. The look of delight on Keely Hodgkinson’s face when she realises she has won silver in the Women’s 1500 meters. And Tom Daley knitting.
When Daley Thompson won his second decathlon gold at the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, Time magazine ran a feature about him titled ‘Call this Briton Great’. In 2021, of the 65 medal winners, Call these Britons Great.”
Watching Tom Daley grow from boy to top man has been an unbelievable pleasure, I must say.
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Handball: France are absolutely basing R-SIA now, 22-16 in front! Out of nowhere, this has become a serious doing.
Cycling: Jason Kenny, GB’s most decorated Olympian, tells Eurosport that he didn’t want to break when he did but in the end he decided to go for it. Before the race, he was feeling kind of tired, but now he can’t wait to go again – whether he does or not, who knows. He seems extremely sound.
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Handball: France are pulling away now, scoring again for a 19-16 lead despite being a player down.
Boxing: Lauren Price, what a superstar. She’s just enjoyed her medal ceremony, and I cannot wait to see what she does next.
Hello! Choking up here! And thanks Jonathan. In the time it’s taken to hand over, France have scored twice, leaving the opposite of Russia 18-16 behind.
Women’s Handball - With about 20 minutes left Russia-ish have levelled at 16-16 with France.
To see you through the conclusion of the penultimate gold medal on offer I shall hand you over to Daniel Harris. Thanks for your company these Games, it’s been a blast.
Before I sign off, a quick shoutout to everyone below the line. Thanks for the positive reinforcement, and well done for creating a community down there to share in the Games.
Just two events remaining: the second-half of the women’s handball final, then the men’s water polo decider between Greece and Serbia. Soak it up.
Women’s Handball - Half-time in the gold medal match between The Artist Formerly Known As Russia, and France, and the French have snuck out to a slender 15-13 lead.
Gold! Boxing Men's Super Heavy - Bakhodir Jalolov (UZB)
Both men left it all out there, but Jalolov was too big, too rangy, too powerful. A very game Richard Torrez Jr (USA) has to accept silver.
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Boxing - Jalolov has taken control of this Super Heavy bout. Both fighters landed some decent shots in round two but the big lad from Uzbekistan has the gold medal in his grasp.
Boxing - The judges are split 3-2 in the American’s favour after the opening round of the Men’s Super Heavy gold medal clash.
Boxing - The Final Countdown blares from the Kokugikan Arena as the fighters emerge for the last bout of the Games. It’s the Men’s Super Heavy (+91kg) gold medal clash between Bakhodir Jalolov (UZB) and Richard Torrez Jr (USA).
Team GB are now guaranteed fourth place on the overall medal table. Another successful Games.
The most successful British Olympic boxing team since Antwerp 1920.
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 8, 2021
🥇🥇🥈🥈🥉🥉#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/cZMs1YV4FX
How are you all feeling? Are you getting the last orders blues? That melancholy of the final Sunday of the school summer holidays? The tinny refrains of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believing as The Sopranos finally draws to a close?
All good things must come to an end.
Women’s Handball - A quarter of the way into the gold medal match between Russia Not Russia and France, and scores are tied 7-7.
More fantastic artwork celebrating Team GB’s Games.
.@JPHowcroft I’ve been making a medal moments mural down at Carnaby Street! #Olympics #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/ecdZDbwl8H
— Ben Mosley (@BenMosleyArt) August 8, 2021
Boxing: Lauren Price, what an athlete. Gold medalist in the ring, Welsh international footballer, champion kickboxer and Taekwondo champion as well for good measure. Bringing Team GB’s medal haul at these Games to a brilliant conclusion.
Gold! Boxing Women's Middle - Lauren Price (GBR)
A composed, strategic, tactical masterclass form Lauren Price. Gold for Great Britain, silver for China’s Li Qian. Price won 14 of the 15 rounds on offer. Winner by unanimous decision.
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Boxing - Another dominant round from Team GB’s Lauren Price. She just needs to stay out of trouble in the final round and the gold medal is hers.
If you’re just waking up in the UK, the morning headlines are dominated by the history making Jason Kenny.
Women’s Handball - The gold medal match between Vlad P’s ROC Nation and France is underway.
Boxing - The opening round of the women’s middle (69-75kg) final was a strong one for Team GB’s Lauren Price. She was awarded the round on every judge’s card. Big task now for Qian Li of China.
Gold! Women's Volleyball - USA
Three comprehensive sets: 25-21, 25-20, 25-14. A dominant gold medal display from the USA. Brazil settle for silver.
Boxing - Up next is the women’s middle (69-75kg) final. Team GB’s Lauren Price is in this one, taking on Qian Li of China.
Men’s water polo - Hungary have had enough of tying with Spain so they’ve broken clear in the second-half to lead their bronze medal match 9-5 with only a few minutes remaining.
Magnificent.
@JPHowcroft here’s my woolly @TeamGB medal table in @Deal_Town! pic.twitter.com/5wHPPWwEBw
— Pat Wilson (@twittingneedles) August 8, 2021
“Karch Kiraly is a Olympics legend he has won gold medals in indoor volleyball and beach volleyball and is well on his way to winning a gold medal as a head coach in women’s volleyball.” Yes, Kurt Perleberg, yes he is. Back when I used to play a little he was always held up as the technique to emulate.
Huge shout-out to @karchkiraly:
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 8, 2021
🏐 Los Angeles 1984 🥇 (player, indoor)
🏐 Seoul 1988 🥇 (player, indoor)
🏐 Atlanta 1996 🥇 (player, beach)
🏐 Tokyo 2020 🥇 (coach, indoor)
Just incredible! pic.twitter.com/jYdpGxh1dh
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Gold! Boxing Men's Light - Andy Cruz (CUB)
That was anyone’s guess, and a split decision justifies how close the contest was. The Matador gets it though, with all judges giving him the final round.
Women’s volleyball - After dominating the opening set the USA have scorched to the second 25-20. The gold medal is in touching distance.
Boxing - After two rounds in the men’s light final it’s all to play for. Four judges have even cards. The Businessman (USA) has a chance against The Matador (CUB).
@JPHowcroft Seriously? I'd go for the Matador on that one. It reminds me of certain matchups in the NHL, like when the Sharks play the Ducks or the Penguins. In nature, there's no doubt who's winning...
— Leo Addor (@LeoAddor) August 8, 2021
Boxing - In the second final of the session it’s the men’s light (57-63kg) featuring Keyshawn Davis (USA) AKA The Businessman, against Andy Cruz (CUB) AKA The Matador.
Men’s water polo - Hungary and Spain still cannot be separated. It’s 5-5 at half-time in their bronze medal match.
Gold! Boxing Women's Light - Kellie Harrington (IRL)
Delight for Ireland! Harrington swept the board in rounds two and three to win by a unanimous 5-0 decision.
Boxing - Ferreira (BRA) was the aggressor, dominating the centre of the ring, but Harrington (IRL) was sharp, picking her shots, choosing her targets with fast hands. We await the raising of the referee’s hand...
Boxing - Another even round, but all the judges have gone Harrington’s way! The Irish fighter now leads Brazilian Ferreira on two cards, and they’re level in three.
Boxing - After the first round Ferreira (BRA) is up 3-2 on the scorecard over Harrington (IRL).
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U.S. will finish the Olympics with 66 medals in women's events, the most ever for any nation. And 41 medals in men's events, the U.S.' fewest since THE 1896 ATHENS GAMES. There are a record 339 medal events this year. In 1896, there were 43 medal events (all men). (Olympedia)
— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) August 8, 2021
Boxing - Kellie Harrington (IRL) makes her way into the ring for the first of the day’s gold medal bouts. Beatriz Ferreira (BRA) awaits.
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Women’s volleyball - The USA have taken the opening set against Brazil in their gold medal final 25-21.
Men’s water polo - Hungary and Spain are tied 3-3 at quarter-time in their bronze medal match.
Boxing: The first gold medal to be handed out today in the ring is for the women’s light (57-60kg) category. It features Ireland’s Kellie Anne Harrington against Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira.
Niall O’Keefe has emailed in offering Harrington his support.
“Much has been written of her long shifts as a cleaner in a Dublin hospital, and steering clear of drugs in the inner-city of Dublin where plenty were available when she was growing up. But she is a class act who is both respected and liked by her opponents in the ring. And already a hero in Ireland.”
“I doubt I will ever follow the sport but the kids in the skateboard and BMX competitions were seemingly having amazing fun as they did amazing things with their bodies. Maybe it was because they were too young to realize the Olympics are supposed to be life and death battles to the end but they seemed to take pleasure in watching their opponents do well. It was refreshing.” Agreed Mary Walz. I expect there were plenty of sceptics about such “youth” sports entering the Games, but they delivered in spades.
“And since I am an American with Norwegian roots the men’s 1500 race was exciting. The expression on the winner’s face was priceless.”
“Enjoyed most?” asks Ben Tuff: “Probably seeing my son get involved. After the horrible start times of the Euros, it has been great to have something he can watch in real time. He’s enjoyed a bit of everything although gets horribly conflicted about who to support when it is Team GB and China in the same event!”
First Games are great aren’t they? Mine was Seoul 88 and names like Heike Drechsler and Jackie Joyner-Kersee are embedded deep in my brain.
“But was it worth it? Perhaps, but only for the efforts of the athletes who are all incredible and not the egoistic hubris of the IOC and its leadership who I am sure will try to take all credit, leaving an huge and overdue acknowledgement to and of the people of Japan who have hosted in the most horrendous of circumstances. I fear it will not come.” Hear hear.
One thing I head the other day that really resonated was how at these Games the athletes seemed largely to have competed with one another, not against one another. It’s a subtle, but crucial difference, and I think will be one of my main takeaways. Camaraderie has prevailed over rivalry with competitors recognising the oddity of the situation and embracing a more universal spirit that perhaps previously. Clearly events like skateboarding have jollied this vibe along, but beyond that, there has been a level of warmth and grace I can’t recall.
“They said it would never happen but it was a miracle the Tokyo Olympics happened. As Al Michaels said do you believe in miracles? Yes we do.” Thanks Kurt Perleberg. Who knows what the various short-medium-long term implications will be for these Games, Tokyo, and Japan more broadly? And it remains debatable whether the Games should have gone ahead to begin with. But we can look back on a couple of weeks of stunning competition.
Michael Ireton has emailed his thoughts all the way from Canada. “Even though there are so many reasons to hate the Olympics as an institution (countless billions that should be spent on far more pressing matters, environmental impacts, IOC corruption, etc, etc) the people, the events, the stories, and the drama suck me in every time.
Highlights: As a Canadian, I have to be excited at Canada’s record medal total, but also Hassan doing the 1,500, 5,000, 10,000 triple, the men’s high jump, the Japanese brother and sister winning judo gold on the same day, the incredibly young skateboarders - and their joie de vivre and camaraderie, the women’s cycling road race being won by a math PhD in a solo breakaway (even if it was down to a lack of race radio and some confusion). That’s a few. I’m sure I’ve missed a lot!”
Great, isn’t it, how someone’s list can provoke so many terrific memories, and yet only a couple might make your own top ten. Thanks Michael.
Not a lot left to go in Tokyo 2020, but still to come this afternoon we have:
- 1.30pm Volleyball – The women’s final featuring the US and Brazil 🥇
- 1.40pm & 4.30pm Men’s Water polo – Hungary v Spain for bronze, then Greece v Serbia for gold 🥇
- 2pm-3.15pm Boxing – today’s session consists of four finals bouts – women’s and mens light, women’s middle and men’s super heavy to round it off🥇
- 3pm Handball – France v Not Russia in the women’s final 🥇
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Not bad...
These two legends have now won 5⃣ consecutive Olympic gold medals!
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 8, 2021
🐐🐐 pic.twitter.com/lGhqhchhFx
Mudit Sharma kindly emailed me to let me know those two quick golds to the USA have put them back on top of the overall medal table ahead of China. Both superpowers have 38 golds, but the US lead the overall medal count 110 to 87.
A not unwelcome lull in proceedings. A chance to catch my breath and ask you to tell me what your highlights of the Games have been? Has it defied expectations? Was it worth it? Who or what caught your eye unexpectedly? Are you leaving with a dedication to following or learning a new sport? Send me your thoughts via email or tweet me.
Gold! Women's basketball - USA
The likeliest gold medal of the games has arrived. The USA have defeated Japan 90-75.
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Gold! Rhythmic Gymnastics Group All-Around - Bulgaria
Gold to Bulgaria, silver ROC Nation, bronze Italy. Zero insight to offer, sorry.
Gold! Women's omnium - Jennifer Valente (USA)
Valente (USA) rode an excellent defensive race, recovering from her early fall to win from Kajihara (JPN) - who also survived a dismount - and Wild (NED). Laura Kenny (GBR) claimed a leading 24 points in the final race but had too much ground to make up, and finished sixth.
Women’s omnium - 10 laps to go. Everything has bunched up and slowed down following that 25 or so laps of frenetic chasing.
Valente (USA) leads from Kajihara (JPN) and Wild (NED). Dideriksen (DEN) down to fourth, Kenny (GBR) is still seventh.
AND Kajihara is down! Huge fall. Ran into the back of Wild. Can she recover in time?
One sprint remaining, and it’s worth double.
Women’s omnium - 20 laps to go. Valente (USA) leads from Kajihara (JPN) and Dideriksen (DEN). Kenny (GBR) is up to seventh. It’s becoming very very scrappy and Valente, having fallen, is hanging on.
Women’s omnium -Laura Kenny (GBR) picks up another five points, and at the back of the peloton Jennifer Valente (USA) takes a tumble, colliding with a back marker! She’s back up on her bike but this sets up a wild closing 25 laps.
Women’s omnium - Amalie Dideriksen has made a huge burst, putting daylight between her bike and the peloton to hoover up a stack of points and climb from fifth into third. Kirsten Wild (NED) joins her eventually, dragging the rest of the field with her as the top four begins to bunch up with Jennifer Valente (USA) continuing to lead.
Women’s omnium - Laura Kenny (GBR) picks up the second lot of five points on offer. She’s in ninth, still a long way off bronze. Jennifer Valente (USA) continues to lead. Kirsten Wild (NED) is almost into the medals.
Gratuitous Jason Kenny appreciation post:
🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥇🥈🥈@JasonKenny107 our greatest Olympian 🇬🇧
— Team GB (@TeamGB) August 8, 2021
More medals and golds than any other British athlete in history.#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/rtbi9KjK9i
Women’s omnium - Jennifer Valente (USA) takes the first five sprint points on offer to strengthen her grip on gold. Kirsten Wild (NED) took second to add three points to her total and move up to fourth place.
Women’s omnium - This final race is an 80-lap, eight-sprint points race. There are opportunities for riders like Kenny to make up ground, especially later on in the race.
Women’s omnium - The final race of the women’s omnium is underway. The gold and silver look to be between Jennifer Valente (USA) and Yumi Kajihara (JPN). Laura Kenny (GBR) is a long shot for bronze.
Handball - Bronze for Norway’s women. They led throughout and hammered Sweden 36-19. It’s a seventh Olympic medal in eight appearances for Norway’s handball team.
Updated
Rhythmic Gymnastics - Bulgaria lead from ROC and Belarus after the first rotation in the final of the Group All-around.
Women’s basketball: The USA are over halfway through their quadrennial gold medal procession. Enjoy the last buckets over here...
Water polo - Croatia have defeated USA 14-11 in the fifth-place schedule filler.
I’m delighted this performance hasn’t been lost to the graveyard shift back in the UK. That was a blistering race. Jason Kenny deserves every accolade for that bravery and his record breaking success. We might be well into the final day of competition at these Games, but that was one of the moments of the Olympics.
Men’s keirin - Seventh gold medal for Kenny.! Awang (MAS) takes silver, Lavreysen (NED) bronze. Glaetzer (AUS) came home fifth.
That was a standout moment of these Games for Team GB and Jason Kenny. Stunning, stunning, ride from a living legend. Most British golds in history (7), most medals in British history (9).
An unbelievable race from defending champion Jason Kenny earns him gold in the men's keirin at #Tokyo2020!
— Olympics (@Olympics) August 8, 2021
It's a SEVENTH career Olympic gold overall.@UCI_Track #CyclingTrack @TeamGB pic.twitter.com/0llNk2tFkQ
Updated
GOLD! Men's keirin - Jason Kenny (GBR)
Jason Kenny sprints very very early - with three laps to go! HE HAS DEMOLISHED THE FIELD! What a race! Wow! that was spectacular. What a rider. What a family.
Updated
Men’s keirin - We’re into the gold medal race now. Defending champion Jason Kenny goes for Team GB, Matthew Glaetzer for Australia.
Handball - Norway are spanking Sweden in the women’s handball bronze medal match. They’re up 23-10 early in the second half.
Water polo - Croatia are up 11-8 over the USA into the final quarter of their battle for fifth place.
GOLD! Women's sprint cycling - Kelsey Mitchell (CAN)
Kelsey Mitchell controlled that final from go to woah. She’s only been riding seriously for four years, now she’s an Olympic champion. Olena Starikova (UKR) has to settle for bronze.
Women’s sprint - Bronze for 34-year-old Wai Sze Lee (HKG). She defeated a pretty flat Emma Hinze (GER) who lacked pep in her final race after missing out on gold.
Women’s basketball: In the foregone conclusion stakes, the USA leading at QT would be pretty short odds.
Score update. We're up 9. #TokyoOlympics
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 8, 2021
End 1Q
🇺🇸 | 23
🇯🇵 | 14 pic.twitter.com/jQfIEsBAHR
Follow the coronation here:
Women’s omnium - Heading into the final points race Valente (USA) has the overall lead by two points from Yumi Kajihara (JPN). That pair are in a race of their own for gold. Laura Kenny (GBR) is down to ninth and a long shot for bronze.
Women’s omnium - Valente (USA) continues her superb omnium with her third strong result of the event, coming in fourth. Clara Copponi (FRA) held off Yumi Kajihara (JPN) in the final sprint.
Women’s omnium - And now Kenny’s gone! Huge upset for the British Olympic legend. It was tight on the line between her and Stenberg (NOR) but it went against Kenny, and her medal hopes have taken a huge hit. But only two laps later Wild (NED) is out. This is a crazy race. Jennifer Valente (USA) is sitting pretty in the race, and the overall.
Women’s omnium - Disaster for Annette Edmondson (AUS)! Second eliminated and her chances of a medal have been crushed. Such a strong opening race led to hopes of a medal, but two shockers have ended her dreams.
Women’s omnium - Back to the omnium, and leg three, the elimination race. This is where the rider at the back of the field is dropped until there are only two riders remaining.
Women’s sprint - Kelsey Mitchell (CAN) wins the first leg of the gold medal race against Olena Starikova (UKR). Wai Sze Lee (HKG) defeated Emma Hinze (GER) in the first race for Bronze.
Men’s keirin - The second semi was a cracker. Awang (MAS), Levy (GER), and Lavreysen (NED) are all through to the final where Kenny (GBR) and Glatezer (AUS) await.
Men’s keirin - Kenny (GBR) rode a superb race to nick the semi on the line. Glaetzer (AUS) defended his place well throughout to come second. Both progress into the final. Carlin (GBR) misses out in fourth.
Men’s keirin - Semi-final time for the men’s keirin. Up first we have Glaetzer (AUS), Carlin (GBR), and Kenny (GBR) gunning for a spot in the top three in a field of six.
Women’s basketball: The gold medal match between the USA and Japan tips off shortly. Follow all the action here:
Women’s sprint - Kelsey Mitchell (CAN) will race Olena Starikova (UKR) in the final of the women’s sprint. The Canadian defeated Emma Hinze (GER) in their decisive final semi-final race. The German moves on to take on Wai Sze Lee (HKG) in the bronze medal race.
Women’s omnium - Superb comeback from Laura Kenny (GBR)! After falling in the opening sprint race she rode superbly in the tempo to make up plenty of lost ground. She won the most sprint points (7) and was part of the leading group of seven that established lap points. She moves up to fifth overall, chasing Valente (USA) and Wild (NED). Edmondson has dropped back into the pack.
Women’s omnium - Seven riders, including Kenny (GBR), Wild (NED), and Valente (USA) have been awarded 20 lap points. Edmondson (AUS) was in the wrong group and will suffer greatly in the final classification.
Women’s omnium - Leading riders Kirsten Wild (NED) and Jennifer Valente (USA) are both hoovering up points.
Women’s omnium - Annette Edmondson (AUS) is also in the sprint points, backing up her strong finish in the first race.
Women’s omnium - Laura Kenny (GBR) is up and riding after her crash earlier, and she has collected a couple of early sprint points. Hopefully she’s not expending too much energy to disadvantage her later in the race.
Women’s omnium - the second event in the women’s omnium is underway. This is the 30-lap, 26-sprint tempo race.
Water polo - At the end of a gruelling competition, exactly what you want is a battle for seventh place that goes to penalties, isn’t it? Well, that’s what the men of Italy and Montenegro endured, with the Italians coming out on top 4-3 following a 14-14 draw.
USA take on Croatia for fifth, soon.
Women’s sprint - Starikova’s final opponent is yet to be decided. Mitchell (CAN) and Hinze (GER) are locked 1-1 with a deciding race to come.
Women’s sprint - Olena Starikova (UKR) has cruised into the gold medal race with a race to spare following a 2-0 semi-final victory over Wai Sze Lee (HKG).
Men’s keirin - Glaetzer (AUS) controlled the early stages of the third quarter-final from the front, but then he found himself boxed in as the attacks came from the outside, and did well to force his way into fourth position and qualify for the semis.
Men’s keirin - Another Team GB rider, Jack Carlin, is through to the semis.
Matthew Glaetzer (AUS) is up next.
Updated
Women’s basketball:
We go for gold in 1 hour.
— USA Basketball (@usabasketball) August 8, 2021
📺 NBC
🕥 10:30 PM ET pic.twitter.com/eITvMp6qAY
And we’ll be dedicating a separate liveblog to cover all the action.
Men’s keirin - Kenny (GBR) is safely through to the semis but Richardson (AUS) finished fifth and is out. The Aussie found himself boxed in when the push came on the outside and he didn’t have enough time to make up the deficit.
Updated
Men’s keirin - Quarter-final time for the men’s keirin, and in the first heat we have Jason Kenny (GBR) husband of Laura in action, as well as Matthew Richardson (AUS).
Women’s omnium - Valente (USA) collected 40 points for winning the scratch race. The good news for Kenny (GBR) is because so many riders were collected in that huge stack she picks up 16 points despite a DNF. It’s still a lot of ground to make up, but it could have been much worse.
Volleyball - Serbia have destroyed South Korea 3-0 in the women’s bronze medal match. Brazil take on the USA for the gold medal in around three hours from now.
Women’s omnium - That was like watching ten-pin bowling. Bikes and riders strewn all over the track. About half the field went down.
Italian rider Elisa Balsamo caused the crash, bringing down several riders; Laura Kenny had nowhere to go but down on the track. Fell heavily on her right shoulder and then received medical attention. She got back on her bike but we don't know yet how much damage that has caused https://t.co/5bAQMFPjhi
— Rob Maul (@Rob_Maul) August 8, 2021
Women’s omnium - Disaster for Laura Kenny in that first race. Firstly - let’s hope she’s ok (she appears to be). Secondly - let’s hope that doesn’t end any hopes she carries of another medal.
Big crash in the women's omnium, Laura Kenny came down seriously heavy there. Treated by medical staff at the finish line. She's sitting up and on the bike again. Even the track official taken down there. #CyclingTrack #Tokyo2020
— James Toney (@jtoneysbeat) August 8, 2021
Women’s omnium - Laura Kenny hit the front around 5 laps to go as the jostling began in earnest. Kirsten Wild, then Annette Edmondson, followed, then there were two separate crashes with bikes strewn all over the track!
Jennifer Valente (USA) timed her run to perfection, getting her wheel across the line first, Yumi Kajihara (JPN) second, Edmondson (AUS) third. Kenny was unfortunately caught up in the second of those stacks.
Women’s omnium - The first event in the women’s omnium is a 30-lap first past the post scratch race. At the halfway stage it’s a leisurely cruise, building up to a massive bunch sprint, no doubt.
Thank you very much Tom - see you in Paris.
Ok, one final leg for me in this epic Guardian Sport relay. My attention will begin in the velodrome where the women’s omnium is about to get underway. Team GB record breaker Laura Kenny goes for a seventh medal today, while Australia has interest in London bronze medalist Annette Edmondson, and the USA have team pursuit bronze medalist Jennifer Valente.
A reminder the omnium is four separate events that combine to create one medal. We’re underway in the first of those four, the scratch race.
I’ll hand over to the capable hands of Jonathan Howcroft now. Thanks for reading during the Olympics and see you for Paris 2024 (sudden firing notwithstanding).
Indoor women’s volleyball: Serbia’s Tijana Bošković can hit serves as fast as 62mph. With that kind of weaponry at their disposal, it’s little wonder her team are now 2-0 up in sets after they won the second 25-15 against South Korea. They’re one set from a bronze medal.
Updated
Like photos of very fit people doing very impressive things but with excellent lighting and shot composition? Then why not peruse our gallery of the best images from Day 15:
Women’s indoor volleyball: It’s South Korea v Serbia for bronze. Serbia won the first set and are 4-2 up in the second. Serbia were silver medalists in 2016, so have some pedigree.
One striking thing from the end of the marathon was the (small) crowd on the streets of Sapporo cheering Kipchoge and Co home at the end of their heroic efforts (everyone I could see was wearing a mask). It was lovely to hear the athletes get the cheers they so richly deserve but there was also a melancholy at what could have been if this Games had taken place in Normal Times.
Men’s marathon: USA’s Galen Rupp, the 2016 bronze medalist, finishes in eighth. A great effort - and it also means the US men’s track team will finish without an individual gold for the first time since 1980.
Men’s marathon: Now an actual race is on for silver and bronze. The Netherlands’ Abdi Nageeye sprints away for silver and Belgium’s Bashir Abdi stays with him for bronze. Lawrence Cherono looked like he was going to make it a Kenyan 1-2 but his legs betrayed him at the last.
Eliud Kipchoge retains his Olympic marathon title!
What a race and what a champion. He’s just the third athlete to defend the men’s marathon title. He stayed with the pack for most of the race and then drifted off to the horizon when he wanted to – and no one was catching him. The heat was intense today but he doesn’t look in the least bit tired after a marvelous 26.2 miles. He wins by more than a minute over a field of the best runners in the world. His winning time is 2hr 8min 38sec. Wow.
Men’s marathon: We pass the two-hour mark and Kipchoge runs through the shady lanes of the Hokkaido University campus. He has 2km to go and his lead is up to 1min and 17 seconds.
Men’s marathon: Two miles to go. What a shame Kipchoge won’t be rewarded for this wonderful performance by the roar of a packed stadium. There are, at least, a scattering of cheers from the people of Sapporo as he glides through the streets.
Updated
Men’s marathon: Kenya’s Lawrence Cherono, Belgium’s Bashir Abdi, Spain’s Ayad Lamdassem and the Netherlands’ Abdi Nageeye are still bunched tight in the chasing pack. I think there’s going to be a sprint for silver and bronze. Suguru Osako of Japan is making a move from behind though, and could maybe grab a medal.
Men’s marathon: I’m going to risk this and say Kipchoge is the nailed on champion. It’s maybe the least risky statement I have ever made. The 36-year-old is around 5km from becoming a double Olympic champion and looks very, very comfortable. The interesting part will be who finishes in silver and bronze.
Updated
Men’s marathon: 7km to go and Kipchoge’s lead is now 28 seconds ahead of the pack. He ran the last 5km in 14min and 28sec. The previous one was around 15 seconds. Yikes. The chasing pack now consists of Kenya’s Lawrence Cherono, Belgium’s Bashir Abdi and Spain’s Ayad Lamdassem. The Netherlands’ Abdi Nageeye is a few seconds back from them and still in with a chance of a medal.
Men’s marathon: It must be so demoralising to run at this pace, in that heat and then just see Kipchoge accelerate off into the distance. He grabs some ice from the cooling station, dabs himself down and scampers away from his competition.
Men’s marathon: Eliud Kipchoge, the world record holder and reigning Olympic champion and all-around superhuman, has basically said: “Nah, let’s get this nonsense over with,” and accelerates away from the pack looking very comfortable. What a superb athlete. Everyone else looks like they are hurting. Kipchoge looks like he’s nipped out to get some bread (the shop must be very far away). His lead is 14 seconds and growing with 10km to go.
Updated
Men’s marathon: If you’re wondering how the Aussies/Brits/Kiwis/Canadians/Americans are doing (I’m just doing our biggest markets, we love all marathon runners) then here you go. At 18 miles, USA’s Galen Rupp has just dropped off the leading pack, NZ’s Zane Robertson is 19th around a minute off the leaders, Canada’s Ben Preisner is 50th, GB’s Callum Hawkins is 57th and Australia’s Liam Adams is 46th. There are other runners from each of those countries but they’re further back. Basically none of those runners will will gold.
Men’s marathon: For the first time since 1980 (and they didn’t participate then so had a good excuse) the US men’s track team has failed to win an individual Olympic gold (they did win in the 4x400m replay). Their last chance is in this race in the form of Galen Rupp. He’s in the leading pack but I’d be very surprised if he won a medal, let alone gold.
Men’s marathon: Brazil’s Daniel do Nascimento, who was at the front of the pack for a long time, stumbled and fell and looked like he was in trouble. But he’s got up and is running again. I hope he’s OK and isn’t ploughing on when he needs medical help. And he’s stopped again. The right decision to stop and medics quickly attend to him.
Men’s marathon: A reminder that the race is being run in Sapporo, 500 miles or so north of Tokyo to avoid the capital’s brutal heat. Current temperature in Sapporo: 26C. Current temperature in Tokyo: 24C. In fairness, weather is hard to predict (although the word on the street is the long-term trend is WARM). In other news, the New York Mets, are being destroyed by the Philadelphia Phillies. Again. What are we going to turn over to in disgust now the Olympics are (all but) over?
Men’s marathon: We’ve reached the halfway point and Stephen Mokoka of South Africa leads. But it’s a halfhearted-yeah-whatever kind of lead of two seconds and the pack soon gobble him up again. Still about 30 athletes within a few seconds of each other.
Preamble
Hello! And bad news for fans of 24-hour liveblogs of quadrennial multi-sport events because it’s our last one of the Games. But the good news it’s the Summer Olympics again in three years! And the Winter Olympics in, maybe ... two months? I dunno, around then. I think the World Cup is next week.
Anyway, on to Day 16 of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics! The marathon is currently being run, but here’s what else is on today courtesy of my colleague Martin Belam:
All events are listed here in local Tokyo time. Add an hour for Melbourne, subtract eight hours for Cardiff, 13 hours for Albany and 16 hours for Seattle.
- 9am and 1.30pm Volleyball – the women’s bronze medal match is up first, Serbia v Not Russia, with the women’s final at lunchtime featuring the US and Brazil 🥇
- 9.30am-4.30pm Water polo – after two ranking matches and then the battle for the bronze, the final is at 4.30pm 🥇
- 10am-12.25pm Track cycling – the medal races start from 11.45am and feature the women’s sprint, the men’s keirin, and the women’s omnium points race concludes at all at 12.25pm 🥇
- 11am Rhythmic gymnastics – it is the group all-around final. There are two rotations before the medals are determined 🥇
- 11am and 3pm Handball – it is the sharp end of the women’s tournament. The bronze medal match between Norway and Sweden first and then the 3pm final featuring France and Not Russia 🥇
- 11.30am Basketball – it’s the women’s final, where Japan face a US team who have won their last 54 consecutive matches at the Olympics 🥇
- 1.40pm and 4.30pm Water polo – Hungary play Spain for the men’s bronze, and then it is Greece v Serbia for men’s gold 🥇
- 2pm-3.55pm Boxing – today’s session consists of four finals bouts – women’s and mens light, women’s middle and men’s super heavy to round it off. Team GB’s Lauren Price fights at 2.45pm 🥇
- 8pm closing ceremony – don’t dream it’s over.
You can find our full interactive events schedule here.
As it stands
Here’s how the emoji table stands with one day to go:
1 🇨🇳 China 🥇 38 🥈 31 🥉 18 total: 87
2 🇺🇸 USA 🥇 36 🥈 39 🥉 33 total: 108
3 🇯🇵 Japan🥇 27 🥈 12 🥉 17 total: 56
4 ◽️ Not Russia 🥇 20 🥈 26 🥉 23 total: 69
5 🇬🇧 Great Britain 🥇 20 🥈 21 🥉 22 total: 63
6 🇦🇺 Australia 🥇 17 🥈 7 🥉 22 total: 46
7 🇩🇪 Germany 🥇 10 🥈 11 🥉 16 total: 37
8 🇳🇱 Netherlands 🥇 10 🥈 11 🥉 12 total: 33
9 🇮🇹 Italy 🥇 10 🥈 10 🥉 19 total: 39
10 🇫🇷 France 🥇 9 🥈 12 🥉 11 total: 32
