The first modern Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Games of the Olympiad, were first held in 1896 in Athens Greece and 128 years later were held in Tokyo, celebrating the 32nd Olympiad.
The Olympic Games were named for their location at Olympia, a sacred site located near the western coast of the Peloponnese peninsula in Southern Greece. Their influence was so great that ancient historians began to measure time by the four-year increments in between Olympic Games, which were known as Olympiads.
From 3 July to 8 August 2021, the Olympics were held in Tokyo and 11656 athletes from 206 nations competed this year. One of my personal favourites, Archery, took place from 23rd July to the 31st July for 8 days straight.
Archery: Wrap-Up from Tokyo 2020 Olympics
Led by the brilliant An San – a new member of the Korean national team, swept up three Gold medals for the first time in the history of Archery. South Korea’s archers also won the first Olympic mixed team competition on their way to four golds.
Women’s Individual Gold Medalist – An San
With one man and one woman in each team, firing two arrows apiece in each set, with a combined age of 37, An San and Kim Je Deok, cruised through to the final with comfortable wins over Bangladesh, India and Mexico in their first Olympic mixed team event.
An San and Kim Je Deok after their Gold at Mixed Team Event
Since team events were introduced to the archery programme at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games, South Korea’s women have never been beaten! After finishing well clear of the field in the ranking round, An, Jang Minhee and Kang Chaeyoung made light work of Italy in the quarter-finals. What makes this particular success all the more impressive is that all three were making their debut Games appearances. Having won two golds at her first Games, An San made it three in the women’s individual event as well. This was far from an easy feat with the 20-year-old, the only Korean who made it to the last four, having to win single arrow shoot-offs in both the semi-finals and final. She was also the first Korean to become a triple gold medalist at the Summer Olympics. Oh and Kim Woojin claimed their second Olympic gold medals in their men’s individual event, as did young, 17-year-old Kim Je Deok, who also won gold during the mixed team event.
Men’s Team Events Gold Medalists – Kim Je Deok, Kim Woo Jin and Oh Jin Hyuk
Wonderful Tokyo Paralympics 2020
Many people are not as familiar with the Paralympics as much as the Olympics, but I would like to introduce you to the wonderful Paralympics in Tokyo along with the Olympics. This event was ongoing for 12 days of exceptional athleticism, excellent skills and courage.
The Paralympic Games or Paraolympics, also known as the Games of the Paralympiad, is an international multi-sport event involving athletes with a range of physical disabilities. It provides sport opportunities for athletes with physical, vision and/or intellectual impairments.
The 9th International Stoke Mandeville Games, considered as the first Paralympic Games, took place from 18 to 25 September 1960 in Rome, six days after the Olympic Games. It featured 400 courageous athletes from 23 different countries. At the recent Paralympic in Tokyo, there were 4403 athletes from 162 nations who participated in this memorable event and the air was filled with their impressive performances.
Sources:
https://olympics.com/tokyo-2020/en/news/what-we-learned-archery-wrap-up-tokyo-2020-olympics
2020 Summer Olympics – Wikipediahttps://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › 2020_Summer_Olympics
–By Grace Lee
