Hi 👋, Shubham here.
Today we are doing a special edition on the Tokyo Olympics🎯
After being postponed for a year due to the pandemic, Tokyo 2020 Olympics concluded recently.
Like any other Olympics, it was suffused with surreal moments.
There were several eye-catching highlights and we'll be looking at a few of them.
Let's begin.
Friendship Goals🤟
In men’s high jump, Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar were locked in the first place. Both of them hit 2.37 meters (about 7.8 feet) on their first try. But when the bar was raised to 2.39 meters — the Olympic record — they failed on all three attempts.
The two athletes were then given the option to settle matters with a jump-off, Barshim instead asked, “Can we have two golds?” and without uttering a word, Tamberi and Barshim broke into a hug.
Both of them ended with a Gold 🥇medal in Tokyo Olympics.
Tamberi suffered a career-threatening😱 injury before Rio Olympics 2016. After making his comeback in 2017 he was struggling, that’s when Barshim approached him and helped him through a tough time. They have been friends ever since.
To my friends, who are reading this, we need to up our game guys🤭
True Sportswomanship
Sara Slott Petersen(34) of Denmark, the silver🥈 medalist in Rio 4 years ago, stumbled in the women's 400m hurdles semi-final.
The fall didn’t curtail her spirit. She got up knowing well she wouldn’t qualify for the finals and still completed the race🏁. #Respect
However, what she did afterward won her many hearts ♥
She went to Ukrainian Viktoriya Tkachuk, who was anxiously looking at the big screen to know whether she qualified for the final or not.
Initially, Sara was consoling her but when they found out Viktoriya had made it to the final, both started celebrating together.
Sara’s gesture highlights what sports are all about. She must have sensed Viktoriya’s uneasiness, and comforted her despite her own setback.
Let’s Not Waste It
Indian women hockey🏑 stunned the whole world when they defeated World No.2 Australia in the quarter-finals.
Unfortunately😟, they finished without a medal to show for their valiant efforts.
In a country where girls still deal with sexism in day-to-day life, one’s got to admire what Indian women's hockey has achieved.
One can only imagine the struggles which the players went through.
Rani Rampal, our captain, said she found a broken hockey stick on the field and began practicing with that. She didn’t have training clothes, so she used to run around in salwar kameez.
Savita Punia told that in her training days, she was harassed by roadways bus conductors for carrying two kits.
Nikki Pradhan started playing hockey with tree branches.
The list goes on and on, I assume you get my point.
We all are touched by these stories and feel this is the new era of Women’s hockey. But we are being myopic here.
In the 2002 Commonwealth Games, the Indian Women Hockey team won Gold🥇. Everyone assumed this was the advent of something big in women’s hockey.
However, all the excitement faded with time, and women’s hockey crept back into the shadows.
Let’s hope, this time it’s different🤞
Age Is Just A Number
Spain’s Sandra Sanchez Jaime won the first-ever Olympics games karate🥋 gold medal in Tokyo. She became her country's oldest ever Olympian at 39 years and 323 days.
She celebrated the gold medal and a wedding anniversary with her husband-coach on a historic day.
These guys are setting some serious relationship 💑 goals!
Having a bland anniversary dinner🍝 was a little too old-school for them.
Simone Bile’s Stand
Simone Bile withdrew from several events due to mental health issues.
She received harsh criticism for abandoning her squad at the last moment, but many supported her in highlighting the issue.
I completely support💁♂️ her and admire her courage. Opening up at such a crucial moment knowing the consequences must have been hard.
The Unsung Hero
Aditi Ashok🏌️♀️ finished fourth in the women's golf event.
Now, I will present you with some stats to justify the significance of her feat.
Nelly Korda world rank 1 won the Gold, Mone Inami world rank 28 won the Silver, and Lydia Ko world rank 11 won the Bronze.
Any guesses on what Aditi's rank is?
Her world rank is 200🤯
The Elusive Gold
The penultimate day of the Tokyo Olympics gave what a billion Indians yearned.
A gold medal😍, and Indian National Anthem being played on the big stage.
23-year-old Neeraj Chopra won gold in Men's javelin throw. India’s first gold medal in a track and field event.
Take a bow, Sir🙇♀️
An overweight kid who went into athletics to shed a few kilos ended up as a legend.
If you are having an off day, just watch the below video👇
Final Words
Tokyo Olympics 2020 will be remembered for several reasons.
Medals were made from recycled smartphones and laptops, the games were delayed due to pandemic, they were conducted in 2021 but are addressed as Tokyo Olympics 2020, they were conducted without fans, the shared gold medal, true sportsmanship, few heartbreaks, and much more.
United States topped with 39 gold🥇 medals, followed by China with 38 gold🥇 medals, and host Japan came third with 27 gold🥇 medals.
This was India’s most successful Olympics. We ended 48 with 7 medals — 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze.
A proud moment, yet we’ve got to question why a nation with 1.3 billion people doesn’t produce more world-class athletes?
Until next time, Houdoe! 🙋♂️
In case you missed the previous newsletter, check it out.
PS: If anything from today’s letter resonated with you, and you would like to share your views, mail me at shubhampcvn@gmail.com. We might include it in the upcoming letter.