《TAIPEI TIMES》 US edges out China as Tokyo Olympics close

MAKING HISTORY: Japan finished third, with a record 27 golds, while Taiwan’s athletes also brought home a record medal haul, placing the nation 34th on the medal table

/ AFP, TOKYO

The US yesterday edged China at the top of the Tokyo Olympics medals table as the curtain fell on the biggest sports event since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

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The US started the day two golds behind China, but the women’s basketball and volleyball titles and US track cyclist Jennifer Valente’s omnium victory put them top of the final table, just one ahead of China.

The 339th and final gold medal went to Serbia’s men’s water polo team, capping a Games that were in serious danger of cancelation after they became the first postponed Olympics last year.

Thirty-three sports were contested across 16 days in largely empty stadiums, with fans barred due to COVID-19 risks and athletes living in strict biosecure conditions.

“Some were already speaking of ‘Ghost Games,’” International Olympic Committee （IOC） president Thomas Bach told an IOC session ahead of the closing ceremony on Sunday. “What we have seen here is that, on the contrary, the athletes have brought soul to the Olympic Games.”

The Olympics were plagued by low Japanese support over fears they would become a super-spreader event, but officials maintained that a record haul of 27 gold medals, putting Japan third on the table, has won hearts.

“We believe our athletes’ earnest spirit and all-out performance moved people,” said Tsuyoshi Fukui, chef de mission for the Japanese team.

The UK finished fourth with 22 golds and the Russian Olympic Committee, the team for Russian athletes after Russia was banned for doping, were fifth with 20.

Taiwanese athletes completed their participation in the 2020 Tokyo Games on Saturday with a record medal haul — two golds, four silvers and six bronzes — ranking 34th on the medal table.

Taiwanese athletes shattered the nation’s previous record of five medals — two golds, two silvers and one bronze — set at the Athens Olympics in 2004.

Sixty-eight Taiwanese competed in 18 sports at the Games.

Taiwan’s two golds were won by Kuo Hsing-chun （郭婞淳）, who dominated the women’s 59kg weight class, and world No. 3 badminton doubles team Lee Yang （李洋） and Wang Chi-lin （王齊麟）.

Yesterday’s closing ceremony was held at an Olympic Stadium empty of spectators, rounding off an extraordinary Games conducted mostly for a worldwide TV audience of billions.

At the closing ceremony, the Olympic flag was passed to Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo for the 2024 Games, but the Olympic circus is to reconvene in just six months when Beijing, faced with boycott threats, hosts the Winter Games.

Additional reporting by staff writer, with CNA

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES