Explained: How regardless of dipping gold depend, US pipped China in tightest Olympics medal race ever

In a closing day swoop at Tokyo 2020, the United States earned the bragging rights of Tokyo 2020 by transferring forward of China on the medal desk. The three golds that they clinched on Sunday simply put their noses in entrance on the end line, 39-38. The one in ladies’s basketball might have been on anticipated strains, however the ladies’s volleyball group profitable their first-ever gold drew them stage, and Jennifer Valente’s biking gold proved to be the clincher. The one-medal hole between the highest two is the closest ever. Before Tokyo, it was at Athens 2004 that the USA with 36 gold and China with 32 gold had been concerned in a decent race.
Top 10 international locations at Tokyo Olympics 2021. (Photo: Official Olympics web site)
The different attention-grabbing facet of the tally was the emergence of first-time medal winners. In what’s the largest listing of medal-winning international locations at any Games, 93 totally different nations earned a podium end. The variety of gold-winning nations at an version — 63 — additionally broke the file of 59 set at Rio 2016.
Just like in Rio, the place Jordan, Kosovo and Fiji medalled for the primary time, the Tokyo Games ended with three new international locations becoming a member of the medal desk – San Marino, Turkmenistan and Burkina Faso. The latest on the listing of gold-winning nations are Qatar, Bermuda and the Philippines.

The closing tally appeared unlikely with only a few days left when China had a major lead within the gold medal depend. Over the final a number of editions, the highest place on the gold medal desk has been the protect of the USA or China. In truth, the final Games the place a 3rd nation topped the standings was Barcelona 1992, with the ‘Unified Team’ of the erstwhile Soviet Union states securing probably the most gold medals.
Fluctuating fortunes
The US’s gold medal depend of 39 this time is down from the 46 golds they gained at Rio 2016 and London 2012 every. China, which dominated on house turf in Beijing 2008 with 48 gold, gained 26 gold in Rio 2016, only one behind Great Britain who completed second. In Tokyo although, the Chinese have equalled the gold medal haul they achieved in London 2012.

The American haul this time period dropped of their conventional strongholds like swimming (16 in Rio, 11 in Tokyo), athletics (13 in 2016 and 7 now) and gymnastics (4 and two). The retirement of Michael Phelps and the withdrawal of Simone Biles affected the tally. But the Americans nonetheless managed to realize new strides in different occasions – wrestling, capturing, golf, fencing, and the brand new 3×3 basketball and browsing occasions.
China in the meantime improved their already spectacular efficiency in weightlifting (seven gold medals this time in comparison with 5 in Rio) whereas matching the seven they gained in diving from 5 years in the past. Shooting was a profitable occasion, as they clinched 4 gold, in comparison with the solitary gold Zhang Mengxue gained within the 10m air pistol occasion in Rio.
They additionally tripled their gold medal in swimming to a few, however couldn’t defend their ladies’s volleyball title.
 New horizons
The Americans gained gold in Tokyo in a number of occasions not at all times thought of their strengths. Lee Keifer gained a person foil gold in fencing, Nevin Harrison gained in canoeing whereas Anastasija Zolotic triumphed in taekwondo’s featherweight class.
For China, gymnastics was a giant success with 4 gold medals (together with trampoline), whereas in Rio they didn’t win a single gold medal. They additionally secured high spots on the rostrum in sports activities like canoeing, fencing, rowing, crusing and biking.
India’s new excessive
With their best-ever tally (one gold, two silver, 4 bronze), India completed forty eighth on the desk — their highest place for the reason that 1980 Moscow Olympics which was boycotted by 66 international locations due to the Soviet-Afghan War. India completed twenty third in Russia, having gained simply the lads’s hockey gold. In truth, the forty eighth place in Tokyo is India’s greatest end at any Olympics the place they gained greater than two medals (they had been ranked twenty sixth with a gold and bronze at Helsinki 1952).

Golden dawn in Japan
Japan completed third – their greatest – within the general medal desk for the third time (after Rome 1960 and Tokyo 1964). The 58 medals they gained – 27 gold, 14 silver and 17 bronze – in 2021 make this their most profitable version.
A stellar efficiency in judo helped the hosts within the general rating. In London, Japan gained one gold medal within the sport and three in Rio. Over the 15 occasions in Judo this previous fortnight, they gained 9 gold, two silver and a bronze.
The Japanese additionally dominated the brand new skateboarding occasion, profitable three of the 4 gold medals on supply. They additionally maximised the return of baseball and softball to the Games’ line-up, taking each gold medals.

Different identify, comparable haul
Since the top of the Cold War, this was the sixth Olympic Games the place ‘Russia’ competed as a rustic. But they may not use their identify, flag or anthem based mostly on International Olympic Committee (IOC) sanctions because of the nation’s notorious doping scandal in 2014. Instead, the contingent glided by the identify Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).
This was additionally the second smallest contingent from the nation, 333 in comparison with the 282 that travelled to Rio.
In phrases of the entire variety of medals gained in Tokyo, the 71 (20 gold, 28 silver and 23 bronze) put ROC third on the leaderboard. But they had been fifth based mostly on gold medals – the official normal – behind the USA, China, Japan and Great Britain.

This was a greater efficiency from the ROC in comparison with the 19 golds every in London and Rio. The gold medal within the ladies’s group gymnastics occasion – their first ever as Russia – made the distinction.
The Olympic ‘Ashes’
A rivalry that transcends sports activities, Great Britain once more pipped the Australians within the gold medal tally, 22 to 17 to complete fourth and sixth respectively within the general tally, although the latter had a significantly better exhibiting this time – they gained simply eight golds in Rio.

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The Australians, courtesy Ariarne Titmus’ double gold over USA’s Katie Ledecky, gained 9 golds in swimming in comparison with the three from Rio. Meanwhile, the Brits continued dominating the biking occasion like solely the Brits can, profitable six gold, 4 silver and two bronze medals simply as they did 5 years in the past.