Defying all the speculations, Tokyo has successfully hosted the Olympics. Although it happened one year later due to the pandemic, the greatest sporting event in the world did not disappoint.
The lack of crowd suggested that this Olympic might be a fading one. Besides, the absence of athletes like Michael Phelps, Usain Boult, Yelena Isinbayeva, Asafa Powell, Justin Gatlin, Missy Franklin, Mo Farah made it arguably one of the most glamourless ones in recent times.
But it’s the Olympics and it never fails to mesmerise, it never fails to create stars and most importantly, it never fails to create history; neither did Tokyo Olympics. We’ll look into the performances of the bests of this edition of Olympics who cemented their positions in the history.
Caeleb Dressel (5 Golds)
The American swimmer came to Tokyo Olympics with probably the responsibility of filling up the biggest shoes in the history of sports. Not everyone will be considered as a successor of 23 Olympics gold-winning athlete Michael Phelps, who literally dominated the pool throughout his career.
Dressel did not fail. In the 6 events he participated he had won 5 golds. And not only that, he did that in quite a style by breaking 2 World records and 2 Olympic records in the process.
With this, he has already put himself in the same line with the likes of Michael Phelps, Mark Spitz, Kristin Otto and Matt Biondi - all of whom won five golds or more in a single Olympics. Tokyo Olympics did miss Michael Phelps. But surely, Dressel did quite a job fulfilling that void.
Emma Mckeon (4 Golds, 3 Bronze)
Mckeon is another swimmer who shined the brightest in Tokyo and created history. The Australian Swimmer participated in 7 events and won at least a medal in all of them, making her the most decorated Olympian in Tokyo.
She broke 3 Olympic records in her way of glory. Also, she became the only female swimmer and the 2nd female athlete, after Maria Gorokhovskaya, who managed to stand 7 times on the podium in a single Olympics.
Kaylee Mckeown (3 Golds, 1 Bronze)
Australia ended their swimming Campaign in Olympics 2021 with a total of 20 medals, just behind the USA(30). And of course only one swimmer could not be responsible for all of this glory.
Emma’s teammate Kaylee Mckeown also had her fair share of glory standing on the podium 4 times. 3 times as a victor and once with bronze making sure to get a medal in every event she participated. She has two Olympic records besides her name… definitely not a bad Olympic debut!
An San (3 Golds)
Archery has always been a fortress for South Korea. They have been the masters of this event. Many legendary archers are provided by them and An San is just another one in the pile.
But what she has done is unprecedented. For the first time, mixed doubles were included in Archery meaning an Archer would have the chance to win 3 medals. And An San took that chance by winning gold in the Singles, Team and Mixed Doubles event. She became the first-ever archer to win three gold medals in a single Olympic.
Elain Thompson-Herah (3 Golds)
A Jamaican sprinter winning three golds in 100m, 200m and 4×100m - all these sounds familiar. Usain Bolt had done this for more than a decade. But this time, it was not him but his fellow countrywomen Elain Thompson.
She bagged the 100m gold in a clean sweep for Jamaica with an Olympic record. She went on to claim her gold in 200m then. And there was little doubt on who will get the 4×100m gold after what the world saw in the individuals.
Lisa Carrington
One of the best in Canoeist didn’t fail in Tokyo. Her triumph in the K-1 200 meters was her third consecutive Olympic gold medal in this event. She also won gold in K-2 500 meters with Caitlin Regal and individuals K-1 500 meters.
The author is currently an HSC graduate from Dhaka Residential Model College