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‘THIS IS IT’ - Domo Arigato Tokyo, Japan
Of all the Olympics ever held, these will remain the fondest for a long time.
These 32nd Olympic Games were long memorable before they even began, thanks to the impact of this virus disrupting the original plans. Slowly, the story of the Games morphed itself into one of resilience as the IOC, Tokyo Government, its people, and the athletes from around the world, fought to make sure that they could all be a part of history.
It is on that note then, that we really should begin to think about how we can thank the Japanese people; for the selfless sacrifices in ensuring these games take place; for lending us their communities so the best of the best could write their names on the history scrolls; and to the entire nation for loaning us their Games while they had to settle for home viewing, so close and yet so far from it all.
So, as the Games wrap up and the closing Ceremony marks the end to what has been an incredible 19 days of sporting greatness, here is my pick of 19 athletes who helped make these games memorable, beyond just the medals or results.
A triumph of sport and spirit.
SIMONE BILES
She took a stand at possibly the most vulnerable point of her career as an athlete, at an Olympic Games where an entire nation (America) and the rest of the world watched in great anticipation, hoping that she would deliver yet another gold and become her sporting code’s greatest.
It couldn’t have been easy to take the stand she did, for her mental wellbeing and the message she has sent to the rest of the watching world will change the course of mental health stereotypes among friends, families, and in the working place.
Biles’ absence from competition on the gymnastics floor sent a reverberating message of hope. One that said, it is okay to not feel okay and the best medicine is to acknowledge and work towards finding your healthy and happy self again. And winning bronze on that last event was the perfect sealing of the deal and the golden sign that affirmed that just because we feel as though we are lost, does not mean we will not be found.
She, of course, also won silver in the Women's artistic team all-around event, another subtle but yet so important message from these games. With the right people around, we surely will be okay. You surely will be fine.
SIFAN HASSAN
Her trip and fall during the heats of the 1 500m event will make it to many highlight reels of these Olympics and you can expect to hear about it and see that moment time and time again in motivational videos about keeping your eyes on the prize no matter what. Hassan would go on to win bronze in the final of that event.
She was not done, as the 28-year-old Dutch runner completed an unprecedented treble, adding two gold medals in the 10 000m and 5 000m competitions. The double gold was a feat previously achieved by her native track star, Tirunesh Dibaba of Ethiopia back at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
The manner in which Hassan won her medals - pulling away on the final lap - and the passion behind her efforts, definitely inspired one and all; and being overcome by emotion at the podium during her national anthem just told you everything about what she had to do to get into the shape worthy of winning three Olympic medals.
KATIE LEDECKY
Kathleen Katie Ledecky cemented her place at the top of the swimming honours board, becoming the most decorated female swimmer of all time as she won four medals at the games. The 24-year-old American earned gold in the women’s 800m and 1 500m freestyle event while taking silver in the women’s 4x200m freestyle relay and 400m freestyle events.
The current World and Olympic record holder’s feat in Tokyo fell just one medal shy of her 2016 outing in Rio where she also was the authority in the pool events.
FAITH KIPYEGON
Kenyan sensation, Faith Kipyegon, successfully defended her 2016 Rio crown and did so in fine style; setting a new Olympic record after Paula Ivan’s 33-year-old record stood since the 1988 games in Seol, South Korea.
What makes Kipyegon’s achievement more memorable is the field she ran against, including the in-form and determined Hassan, as well as Great Britain’s Laura Muir in hot, humid conditions that claimed many victims at the Olympic Stadium.
The Kenyan proved once again that she is the best in her discipline, shaving 16 seconds off her Rio gold-winning time, just a little over two years since giving birth and 21 months after running the fourth-fastest time in the distance during the 2019 world championships where she won silver for her 3:51.07s time.
At only 27, if everything goes well, we can expect to see her return in three years’ time to go for an audacious three-peat in the shorter distance as she plans to shift her attention to the 5 000m event after these games.
TATJANA SCHOENMAKER
Many will not understand what looked like a release of heavy/burdensome tears behind Tatjana Schoenmaker’s winning celebrations during the heats and the finals of the swimming events. That is mainly because one would assume winning gold or silver deserves anything but heavy tears.
Here’s the story that makes the double Olympic medalist’s story so inspiring.
A few years back, building up to the Rio 2016 games, she missed a place at the Brazilian games by 0.01s during the SA trials, bringing her to the verge of quitting the sport.
As a 19-year-old, the disappointment was just too much, considering that she had already posted a qualifying time outside of the trials. It took a career-defining meet with swimming coach Rocco Meiring that got her to where she is today. A gold medalist in the 200m breaststroke and silver medal holder in the 100m event of the same discipline.
Those tears were probably more a sigh of relief and affirmation that she is indeed where she belongs. Hers is a remarkable and typical South African sporting story, from despair to unimaginable joy.
CHRISTINE MBOMA
Namibia’s Chrstine Mboma has had a tumultuous 2021. In April, she and compatriot Beatrice Masilingi ran the world’s fastest times in the 400m event before the sport’s governing body, World Athletics removed their names from the list of eligible athletes for Tokyo, subsequently barring them from competition.
Mboma is suffering the same fate that has seen a gaping void left by the absence of Caster Semenya (a two-time Olympic champion in the 800m competition both in 2012 and 2016), Burundi’s silver medallist Francine Niyonsaba, and Kenyan bronze winner Margaret Wambui.
Nevertheless, the 18-year-old Mboma has shown great signs of mental prowess and opted to run the 200m event (currently allowed to run by the athletics body) and she stormed to a new under-20 world record as her 21.81s over the 200m course earned her a silver medal in Tokyo.
The emotional turmoil and public scrutiny around her abilities as an athlete are no small task to overcome, especially at such a young age, but she has done so with grace and elegance.
HUGUES FABRICE ZANGO
The bulky Fabrice Zango almost missed out on a podium finish with two faulty jumps to start his finals appearance. The 28-year-old gathered himself to an impressive third jump and from then onwards looked comfortable to stay on the podium, fighting for what type of medal he would be taking away from Tokyo.
In the end it would be bronze, but that all quickly became irrelavant because his West African country quickly realised that it had finally become an Olympic medal winning nation.
The engineering PhD scholar walks away from the games a little dissapointed because he was hoping for more than bronze, having jumped more than 18 metres indoors (becoming the first man to do so) and setting an African record outdoors heading into the Olympics. This will all go away though as soon as he lands back at home because he is a national hero and could very well be the African continent’s next sensation in the sport.
HIDILYN DIAZ
Hidilyn Diaz made history as she won gold in the women’s 55kg division, becoming the Philippines’ very first Olympic gold medalist in the process - accompanying the 10 medals her country has managed since its debut apperance at the 1924 games. Her gold is an improvement to her last Olympic outing, where she won silver in Rio back in 2016.
Her story leading into the games is less glamorous and ridden with sacrifice. The 30-year-old had to set up a temporary base in Malaysia for the last 18 months because of the pandemic. All in a bid to be ready for her fourth Olympic appearance, likely to be her last.
Diaz is only the second Philippine to win two Olympic medals after Teofilo Yldefonzo pulled a 200m breaststroke bronze swimming double back in 1928 and 1932.
GHANANIAN RELAY TEAM
When Emmanuel Yeboah, Joseph Paul Amoah, Sean Safo-Antwi, and Benjamin Azamati-Kwaku took to the starting lines, no one would have given them a chance but they etched their names in the history books, against all odds - qualifying for the men’s 4x100m relay finals for the first time since 1996. In the process, the quartert pipped the favourites, USA, in a new national record of 38.08s.
They may not have gone on to finish the final or take a place on the podium but their results in the heats and semifinals were the right message for the continent. More African nations can compete in this prestigious event and potentially go on to finish with a podium place.
ESE BRUME
Ese Brume stole a spot in all our hearts as she gave everything for a medal finish during the finals of the women’s long jump. The Nigerian impressed and for a while she sat aloft the leaderboard. In the end, she finished third and claimed her nation’s second medal from Tokyo. Her bronze was also Nigeria’s first track and field medal since the 2008 Olympics.
The 25-year-old could not manage quite the same result from Chula Vista earlier in the year where she set a personal best jump of 7.17m, which would have been enough for a gold medal. Nevertheless, she is an Olympic medalist and improved on her 5th place finish in Rio, a sign of better and golden things to come.
DAWID TOMALA
Poland’s Dawid Tomala impressed on his way to winning gold in the men’s 50km race walk. The 31-year-old led from the front and held his nerve in scorching heat on the streets of Sapporo, matching his countryman, Robert Korzeniowski, who won the event on three occassions.
What makes Tomala’s victory more impressive and memorable, is the fact that he came to the games having a previous best finish of 25 in the European Championhips in the 20km event and this was only his second finished race in the 50km event - doing so without a single warning.
This was also the 20th and last time that we would see the 50km race walk event at the Olympics since its inception at the 1932 Games. Tomala’s breathtaking and brutal attack off the field on the second half of the course made it the perfect send off for a discipline the Olympics has enjoyed over the last 89 years.
MARCELL JACOBS
Lamont Marcell Jacobs will own all the Olympic highlight reels and highlights on Italian television for the next three years. The 26-year-old became the first Italian to ever win the 100m dash while also becoming successor to Usain Bolt’s crown in some fine style.
Blitzing the field in a time of 9.80s, a European record, and in the process defying the odds stacked against him in a field that had its eyes on Akani Simbine and Andre de Grasse as the leading favourites for the Bolt-less throne.
The speed, composure, panache and picture-perfect technique in which the Rome resident executed his way to gold, will always be a memorable scene from these games. Just two years ago, Jacobs was finding his feet as a promising long jumper before making the switch to the 100m event. His victory not only blindsided the world but the rest of that final field too.
He would also go on to help inspire the Italians to another piece of gold in the men’s 4x100m relay event, capping what has been an iconic Track & Field Olympic outing for the European nation.
PERES JEPCHIRCHIR
Kenya's Peres Jepchirchir had to dig deep and find some self-inspiration as she ran alongside compatriot and current world record holder, Brigid Kosgei, deep into the women’s marathon.
With about four kilometres left in the race, Jepchirchir took the race by the horns and led from the front (as a small breakaway group) to build an 11-second advantage over the rest of the field. At the 2km to go mark, Jepchirchir and Kosgei pulled clear for the finish and at 1 000m to go, it was Jepchirchir who had legs with determination for gold and she won the event, leaving the record-holding Kosgei 16 seconds behind.
The gold meant that Kenya had successfully defended their Rio 2016 crown in the event and collectively won their seventh medal in the 10 marathons to have been hosted at the Olympics since the discipline’s introduction back at the 1984 Games in Los Angeles.
The 1-2 finish was also Kenya’s first gold and silver in a single Olympic marathon race. Historic!
LISA CARRINGTON
Lisa Carrington will look back at these games with the fondest of memories, having ammassed three gold medals in the three competitions that she was penciled into. The New Zealander took gold in the women's kayak single 500 and 200 metres events before partnering up with fellow countrywoman, Caitlin Regal, to storm to gold in the kayak double 500m crown.
The triple gold meant that the 32-year-old has now surpased fellow kayakers in Ian Ferguson and Paul MacDonald as well as equestrian Mark Todd - who all have five Olympic medals. Carrington narrowly missed out on another medal in the women’s K-4 500m dash, which would have seen her become the first athlete to claim four canoe sprint medals at a single Olympic Games event.
ANDRE DE GRASSE
Andre De Grasse finally became an Olympic winning gold medalist when he roared to victory in the men’s 200m event; achieving the feat in a personal-best time of 19.62 seconds and going down in the history books as the eighth-fastest man in the distance. The Canadian had long been in the shadows of Jamaican legend, Usain Bolt, but this time around the top step on the winners podium would elude De Grasse no more.
The 26-year-old had an impressive outing in Tokyo, adding bronze to his tally in the 100m event and another bronze medal in the 4x100m team relay event.
These Olympics were always clouded by the question of who would succesfully succeed Bolt and De Grasse answered this for the 200m discipline as did Jacobs in the 100m.
AHMED HAFNAOUI
Who would have thought and who could have imagined, in a pool full of far more capable swimmers - on paper at least - that a teenage Tunisian boy would go on to stun the world in an unbelievable display of great athleticism. On opening day of the swimming competition, Ahmed Hafnaoui became a national and continental hero in 3:43.36 seconds as he stormed to a golden finish in the men’s 400m freestyle event.
The 18-year-old had the slowest qualifying time and started the final on the outside lane but that did not deter him as he stunned the entire world to Olympic gold. Hafnaoui’s medal becomes his nation’s third in the swimming pool and fifth overall from the Olympics.
Undoubtedly, he leaves Tokyo as the biggest surprise star.
SHAUNAE MILLER-UIBO
Colourful, energitic and ever-smiling, Shaunae Miller-Uibo became the first woman in track & field to claim consecutive Olympic crowns in the 400m event since Marie-Jose Perec of France did so back in 1996.
The Bahamas track star pulled away from the rest of her field in her trademark style on the final bend, to claim gold in the event in 48.36 seconds. The fastest time this season for the event having set a fast 49.08 seconds over the distance back in April.
RICHARD CARAPAZ
Richard Carapaz is the winner that shouldn’t have been. A week after finishing third in the Tour de France, a tour that exposed his lack of form, Carapaz stormed the rest of the field to claim gold in sweltering and humid conditions on the Fuji International Speedway.
There were clear race favourites gunning for gold leading up to the event and Carapaz had shown a lack of consistent form compared to Wout van Aert, Tadej Pogacar, and Michael Woods. On the day, the 28-year-old attacked and cleared from the peloton. They watched helplessly as the inspired Carapaz pulled clear - leaving Van Aert and Pogacar to a sprint battle for silver and bronze.
La Locomotora, as Carapaz is affectionately known in the cycling world, etched his name in the history books. The Ecuadorian claimed his nation’s second ever gold medal at the games and only their third Olympic medal in total - 24 years later.
Just in 2019, he became the first man from his South American nation to win a Grand Tour when he claimed honors at the Giro d’Italia and this year’s third place podium finish on the Tour de France was a first for his nation in the history of the sport.
THE MOST DECORATED TRACK AND FIELD ATHLETE
It was the golden send off she deserved, on the podium as the Star-Spangled Banner played in the almost empty Olympic stadium, an icon of the sport had won gold on her final Olympic event.
Allyson Felix made history by becoming the most decorated United States track and field athlete as she walked away from Tokyo with two more medals next to her name. This brings her Olympic tally to an astonishing 11, surpassing track legend, Carl Lewis. Overall, Felix sits second on the most medals tally, one behind Finnish star and distance runner, Paavo Nurmi who amassed 12 medals between 1920 and 1928.
The 35-year-old Felix was making her fifth and final Olympic appearance and she enjoyed a fairytale bow as she won bronze in the women’s 400m event before she and teammates claimed gold in the women’s 400m relay event.
Bonus…
BATTLE OF THE HURDLERS
Both the men and women’s 400m hurdle finals were incredibly similar in how they turned out, almost down to the tee. There were speed, competitiveness, and smashed records as the hurdlers dashed for the finishing line.
The gentlemen’s run set the tone as Karsten Warholm of Norway pounced on the rest of his field to break his own world record as he became the first man to ever finish a 400m hurdles event in under 46 seconds. Warholm registered a blistering 45.94s, a time that proved impossible for even the great Edwin Moses, who so dominated the discipline back in the late ‘70s and ‘80s.
Fast forward 24 hours later and the ladies were ready to enshrine their names in the history books too.
Enter, one Sydney McLaughlin, who completely annihilated the rest of the field as she roared her way to a new world record and dethroned reigning world champion Dalilah Muhammad to a silver medal. McLaughlin’s run was so fast that she tugged along those behind her to continue breaking the world record that was.
Finally…
MUTAZ BARSHIM AND GIANMARCO TAMBERI
This will always be one of my favorite stories from the Olympics, for the next while I foresee. Why? Because it is such a feel-good story of overcoming and triumph with a twist. Not a bad twist but rather, a very rare twist of brothers in the same struggle, choosing to mark their complete return to the top in the wholesomness that is embedded in the Olympic spirit.
Qatar's Mutaz Barshim and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi were inseperable in the final of the men’s high jumping competition and in the end, decided to shake hands and share gold. A rare Olympic feat.
What makes their golden triumph the more remarkable is the return to the top of their crop having suffered potentially career-ending injuries. Barshim missed large portions of the 2018 competitive calendar because of a serious ankle injury while Tamberi severed his achilles tendon in 2016 (weeks away from the Rio games) which condemned him to competing with a cast on.
I am not sure that these two understand quit fully the significance of their actions in 2021. Living in a world where our kids are taught that winning and only winning alone is the best thing in the world. Perhaps, ten, 15 years down the line, this exemplary action will bear the fruits of a world we have hoped for but are still yet to see.
As they would say in France, Chapeau gentlemen!
Speaking of France, we certainly look forward to Paris 2024 and what that will bring for us in the sporting world. Perhaps, we are so looking forward to Paris because it is an opportunity for us to dream outside of the present and challenging world of masks and losing loved ones daily.
Paris, beyond its magnificent architecture and glorious lifestyle culture, looks for all intents and purposes, to be the future we imagine; a time where we can all gather at the stadiums, along the routes, and in the classic French restaurants as we share in the moments of the Olympics and embrace one another without the facade that is a mask.
Oh Paris, please may you be as glorious as we envision you to be, filled with nothing but pure magnificence, on and off the field. Above all, may we witness the coming together of people of all nations coming to soak in the magnificence of these games, live.
For now though, Tokyo and the people of Japan, Domo Arigatou - thank you, thank you very much.
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