The 2020 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Tokyo, Japan, from 23 July to 8 August 2021. Some of the preliminary events of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics began on July 21.
It was originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020. The event was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mascot:
The mascot of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was ‘Miraitowa’. It was styled with the Ai (indigo blue) Ichimatsu pattern from the Tokyo 2020 Games emblem. The name MIRAITOWA is based on the Japanese words “mirai”, meaning “future”, and “towa”, meaning “eternity”.
Slogan:
The slogan of the 2020 Summer Olympics torch relay was “Hope Lights Our Way”. Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka lit an Olympic cauldron at the end of the torch relay.
Sports:
The 2020 Summer Olympics saw 339 events in 33 different sports, covering a total of 50 disciplines.
Karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding made their Olympic debut, while baseball and softball also made a one-off return to the Summer Olympics for the first time since 2008.
Indian at the 2020 Summer Olympics Tokyo
Flag-bearer:
Multiple-time world boxing champion and Olympic medallist MC Mary Kom and men’s hockey team captain Manpreet Singh were the flag-bearers at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics on July 23. Wrestler Bajrang Punia was the flag-bearer for the closing ceremony.
Ranking Table:
In Tokyo 2020 medal count table, a total of 93 nation teams won medals, with the United States finishing first with 113 medals, while the last 8 nations finished 86th with one medal each.
India finished 48th in the ranking table with 7 medals including 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 4 Bronze. This year, India has won the highest number of medals in the Olympics so far.
Indian Medallist:
Gold:
Silver:
Bronze:
Highlights:
Neeraj Chopra:
Haryana’s 23-year-old Javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra won Gold medal in men’s javelin throw. Chopra gave his best throw of 87.58 to bag the gold medal.
Subedar Neeraj Chopra, of Southern Command, became the first ever Indian athlete to win a track and field Gold at Olympics. With this, he became India’s second ever individual Olympic gold medalist, after shooter Abhinav Bindra, who won the gold in Beijing 2008.
Mirabai Chanu:
In Women’s Weightlifting, 49kg Category:
26-year-old Mirabai Chanu of Manipur won the silver medal. Chanu lifted a total of 202 kg including 87 kg in Snatch and 115 kg in Clean and Jerk. China’s Hou Zhihui won the gold medal while Indonesia’s Windy Cantika Aisah won the bronze.
Mirabai Chanu joined the legendary Karnam Malleswari to become the only second weightlifting medallist from the country and the very first weightlifter to win the silver medal.
Ravi Kumar Dahiya:
Wrestler Ravi Kumar Dahiya won silver medal in men’s freestyle 57kg category. Russian two-time World Champion Zaur Uguev won the Gold medal.
The 23-year-old from Haryana became the second male wrestler to win a silver medal for India in wrestling at the Olympics, after wrestler Sushil Kumar.
P V Sindhu:
Indian shuttler P V Sindhu won the bronze medal in women’s single match. Sindhu defeated He Bing Jiao of China by 21-13 and 21-15 in the bronze medal match.
Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win two Olympic medals. Sindhu won silver at Rio 2016. Wrestler Sushil Kumar is the first and only Other Indian to win two Olympic medals.
Indian Men’s Hockey Team:
Indian men’s hockey team won the bronze medal. India defeated Germany with 5-4 in the bronze medal match. It is the first Olympic medal wins of Indian men’s hockey team in the last 41 years.
Belgium defeated Australia to win the Olympic men’s hockey gold.
Lovlina Borgohain:
Lovlina Borgohain won Bronze Medal in Boxing. Lovlina Borgohain, 23, from Assam, emerged as the third Indian boxer to win an Olympic medal, with Mary Kom and Vijender Singh being her successful predecessors.
Bajrang Punia:
Wrestler Bajrang Punia won the bronze medal in the men’s freestyle 65 Kg category. Punia defeated Kazakhstan’s Daulet Niyazbekov 8-0 in the bronze medal match.
Others:
» Bhavani Devi became the only fencer from India to make it to the Olympics since the sport was introduced.
» Nethra Kumanan became the first female sailor from India to qualify for the Olympics.
» Aditi Ashok finished 4th in golf and registered the highest-placed finish for any Indian in the sport at the Olympics.
Next Olympics Games:
The next two Summer Olympic Games will be hosted in Los Angeles 2028 and Paris 2024, the United States and France respectively.