By Adam Roberts – 8/9/2021
Yesterday the Olympic Torch was officially doused in Tokyo and the French flag was raised, signalling the end of a tumultuous at times Tokyo Games and beginning the preparations for Paris 2024. Let’s take one final look at how things shook out on the last day of the Games yesterday:
- It may have come down to the final day of competition, but the United States of America came away with the most gold medals at this year’s Olympics in Tokyo after edging out China by one medal with 39 total gold. The U.S. also dominated to the top of the leaderboard with 113 total medals which was 25 more than the next closest country.
- Baseball made its return to the Olympics for Tokyo 2020 and the United States made it all the way to the final game before falling to the host country of Japan two-to-nothing. It was the second time Team USA lost to Japan in the tournament after falling to them seven-to-six. The U.S. settled for the silver medal as Boston Red Sox prospect Triston Casas impressed at the plate with three home runs and eight RBI.
- It was the second straight Olympics the U.S. and Japan faced each other in the softball gold medal game and once again Team USA watched their opponents celebrate winning the gold. The U.S. settled for the silver medal after falling to the host country two-to-zero. Softball made its return to the Olympics for the first time since 2008, but is not on the program for Paris in 2024.
- Despite entering Tokyo 2020 on a 44-match undefeated streak the U.S. women’s soccer team fell in their opening game to Sweden three-to-zero. Team USA would battle their way back to the semifinals before a shocking loss to Canada, the eventual gold medalists. The U.S. found a way to leave the Olympics with some hardware after topping Australia to win the bronze medal.
- In boxing, the United States advanced to three gold medal bouts, but settled for the silver medal in each of them as the nation left Tokyo with four total medals in the event. Duke Ragan became the first U.S. pro boxer to win an Olympic medal after losing three-to-two to Albert Batyrgaziev of the Russian Olympic Committee in the featherweight gold medal match. Meanwhile, Oshae Jones was the lone U.S. women’s boxer to win a medal after earning the bronze in the female welterweight division.
Congrats to every athlete who competed in the 2020-21 Games!