Tokyo: The amazing stories of history being made during the Olympic Games
The Olympic Games are renowned for inspiring moments and Tokyo has been no exception. From the heartwarming to the awe-inspiring, these are the stories you should know.
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The Olympic Games are renowned for inspiring moments and Tokyo has been no exception. From the heartwarming to the awe-inspiring, these are the stories you should know.
YOUNGEST OLYMPIC ATHLETE STUNNED BY CHINA’S TOUCHING GESTURE
Syrian table tennis player Hend Zaza, the youngest athlete at the Tokyo Olympics at just 12, has been invited by China to learn from the undisputed masters of the sport, Chinese media says.
Zaza, who shot to fame overnight in her war-torn country last year by qualifying for Tokyo, was well beaten 4-0 by Austria’s Liu Jia in the preliminary stage.
That brought her Olympics to an early end, but now Zaza looks like she will be heading to China - who have won men’s and women’s singles gold so far in Tokyo - as early as next month for training.
Zaza was invited by the Chinese Olympic Committee, the country’s state broadcaster CCTV said, quoting her as saying: “I look forward to training abroad so that I can make continuous progress and realise my championship dream.
“Of course, first of all, I hope to reach the level of Chinese players. My dream is to be as strong as Chinese players and I look forward to going to China and receiving the same training as them.” Zaza had to overcome serious adversity to reach the Olympics, where she carried the Syrian flag in the opening ceremony.
Syria’s civil war has killed around 500,000 people, displaced millions, and ravaged infrastructure since it started in 2011 with the repression of anti-government protests.
“The conditions where I trained in Syria were a very hard thing to me, I wished for a different floor. We didn’t have such tables nor such preparations,” Zaza said previously.
Zaza was the youngest Olympian since 11-year-old Romanian Beatrice Hustiu competed in figure skating at the 1968 Winter Olympics.
‘POVERTY IS NO EXCUSE’: WHY THIS PHOTO HAS GONE VIRAL
This is the photo which shows it doesn’t take riches to build an Olympic dream.
An image of Indian weightlifter Saikhom Mirabai Chanu eating on the floor of her home in Manipur has gone viral after she returned home with a silver medal.
This feeling of meeting my family after a long span of 2 years is beyond words. I'm grateful to each one of you for showing faith in me and supporting me. Thank you Ema and baba for all the sacrifices you made for me to reach at this level. pic.twitter.com/RlXby6QoOv
— Saikhom Mirabai Chanu (@mirabai_chanu) July 28, 2021
Poverty is never an excuse for achieving one’s dreams. India's most loved Saikhom Mirabai Chanu at her humble home in Manipur after winning Silver Medal in the Tokyo Olympics. pic.twitter.com/dBdIZrUz28
— Rajat Sethi (@RajatSethi86) July 28, 2021
Actor R Madhavan said he was at “a complete loss for words” after seeing the image while Rajat Sethi said it showed “poverty is never an excuse for achieving one’s dreams”.
Mirabai Chanu finished second in the 49kg weightlifting, lifting 202kg to finish behind only Chinese athlete Hou Zhihui.
She was only the second Indian athlete to win an Olympic weightlifting medal.
CRAZY TRIATHLON LEADS TO HISTORIC GOLD
Australia’s Emma Jeffcoat called it “absolutely crazy” with the women’s triathlon throwing up heavy rain, multiple crashes and a historic gold medal victory.
Just over a third of the field didn’t complete the race which was won by 33-year-old favourite Flora Duffy who Olympic history, provided the tiny nation of Bermuda with its first ever Olympic gold medal.
Duffy’s success makes Bermuda the smallest nation in terms of population — around 70,000 — to ever win a medal at the Summer Games.
She had opened up a lead of almost a minute after the first of four laps and was never under threat from then on.
For 26-year-old Jeffcoat it was a strange Olympic debut – she finished 26th more than seven minutes behind Duffy – given she’d spent a lot of the lead-in preparing for Tokyo’s heat.
“Oh my God, who would have thought with the hours of heat work that we did that we’d race through a typhoon,” she said.
“It was absolutely crazy, I kind of feel ripped off with all the heat work I did and then for it to be actually cool.”
CHEESECAKE TREAT FOR PHILLIPINES HISTORY MAKER
Triumphant weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz will now forget the years of exile, sacrifice, training and nutrition that took her to the Philippines’ first Olympic gold by tucking into her favourite sweet passions, cheesecake and bubble tea.
“Yes I will eat a lot tonight,” she smiled as she told AFP of her plans after her final massive 127kg lift eclipsed China’s world record holder Liao Qiuyun in the women’s 55kg class and gave her country a first gold after 97 years of Olympic competition.
The 30-year-old who stands just 5ft 1in tall (1.58 metres), was already assured a place in her country’s sporting folklore, alongside the likes of Manny Pacquiao, as the only woman from the sprawling archipelago ever to win an Olympic medal when she took a surprise silver in the 53kg class in Rio five years ago.
Now all the hardship has been rewarded and she will be given a hero’s welcome when she returns to the Philippines.
“I don’t know if I’m a national hero,” she told AFP after winning her historic Olympic gold on Monday.
“But I’m thankful that God used me to inspire all the young generation and all the Philippines people to keep fighting during this pandemic.”
JAPANESE PAIR REVEL IN HOME GAMES GLORY
Japanese mixed doubles pair Jun Mizutani and Mima Ito claimed their country’s first ever Olympic table tennis gold medal on Monday, ending years of Chinese dominance with a comeback victory on home soil.
China had won every Olympic title in the sport since a men’s singles triumph for South Korean Ryu Seung-min in the 2004 Athens Games, but Xu Xin and Liu Shiwen blew a two-game lead in a thrilling final in Tokyo.
Liu and Xu, the reigning world champions, looked shocked by their defeat as their opponents embraced and celebrated a famous triumph.
“We had been defeated so many times by China at the Olympics and world championships, but we gained revenge at the Tokyo Olympics, I’m so happy,” said Mizutani.
TEENAGER SHOCKS WORLD IN SKATEBOARDING
Japan’s Momiji Nishiya became one of the youngest individual Olympic champions in history when she won the inaugural women’s skateboarding gold at the age of 13 years and 330 days on Monday.
Nishiya finished ahead of Brazil’s Rayssa Leal — who at 13 years and 203 days could have become the youngest ever individual Olympic champion — and Japan’s Funa Nakayama, 16.
Nishiya starred in the tricks section to score 15.26 and give the hosts a clean-sweep of the street discipline as skateboarding makes its Olympic debut.
“I’m so glad to become the youngest (Japanese gold medallist) at my first Olympics … tears came to my eyes,” Nishiya told reporters after receiving her medal.
“I was nervous on the first run but I was not nervous later,” Nishiya said, adding that she wants to claim a second gold at the Paris Olympics in 2024.
But first, to celebrate her victory, she will “go and eat at a beef barbecue restaurant”.
BRITISH STAR’S REMARKABLE COMEBACK COMPLETE
Tom Pidcock won Britain’s third gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, clinching victory in the men’s mountain bike race less than two months after being hit by a car in training.
Pidcock broke his collarbone and was rushed to hospital after he was crashed into at speed in the French Pyrenees in May.
His coach Kurt Bogaerts said Pidcock had been “catapulted over the car”, adding the rider was “lucky”.
But the 21-year-old completed an impressive turnaround to win gold in Japan and become the youngest Olympic mountain bike champion in history.
SIBLINGS WIN GOLD WITHIN AN HOUR OF EACH OTHER
Japan’s brother-and-sister judokas Hifumi and Uta Abe won gold medals within an hour of each other at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday, on a day of success for the host nation.
It made them unique in Olympic history as the first siblings to win gold medals on the same day in an individual sport. Both are also two-time world champions.
“We had a strong determination, that’s the reason,” Uta said. “This was our dream since childhood.” Hifumi said his sister’s success inspired him to victory.
Uta Abe was first to strike gold in the women’s under-52kg category, beating Amandine Buchard in the final.
The 21-year-old then cheered from the sidelines as her big brother beat Georgia’s Vazha Margvelashvili in the under-66kg gold medal fight.
BILES TURNS UP THE CHEER
Gymnast Simone Biles might have been on an Olympic event hiatus, but that didn’t stop her cheering on Team USA.
Biles’ withdrawal from several individual events gave her teammate MyKayla Skinner another chance to compete for a medal before her planned retirement.
She was pictured leading Skinner’s cheering section, and later shared some words of support on Instagram.
“I’m so freaking proud of you,” she wrote to Skinner, who ultimately took home silver.
Biles had withdrawn because she was struggling with the “twisties” — a condition where gymnasts lose the ability to orientate themselves in mid-air — but returned for the closing beam final, where she took home bronze.
EMOTIONAL END TO ATHLETE’S MEDAL DREAMS
Team Great Britain’s Adam Gemili was left in tears after a hamstring injury crushed his dreams of taking home a medal at the Tokyo Games.
The tragic twist occurred just before he went out for his 200m heat. After just a couple of strides, he then walked the rest and clocked a time of 1:58.58.
“Literally my last block start before I went into the cool room, I just felt my hamstring go,” Gemili later told the BBC. “I’m in so much pain but I said just strap it up and let me go out there and at least try.”
ATHLETES SHARE GOLD
Qatar’s Mutaz Barshim added Olympic gold to his world title as he shared the title with Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi in an unusual finish to the men’s high jump on Sunday.
Barshim and Tamberi recorded a best clearance of 2.37 metres while Maksim Nedasekau of Belarus also cleared that height to set a national record.
Nedasekau though missed out on a share of the gold due to an earlier failure.
Aussie Olympic hero drops massive news
Australian Olympic gold medallist Cam McEvoy dropped the massive personal news in a low-key post to social media.
Shock as Raygun rejects dance show offer
Breakdancer Rachael Gunn has pushed back on a lucrative TV deal claiming it’s not “aligned to her”.