08/08/2021 8:12 AM
Clarín.com
sports
Updated 08/08/2021 8:12 AM
In a battle that dragged on
until hours before
Sunday's
closing ceremony
, the United States
held sway in the Olympic medal table
against China at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, while host Japan and Brazil
broke all-time records.
The United States finished in the first place of the medal table of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)
with 39 golds and a total of 113 medals
(41 silver and 33 bronze), against 38 golds and 88 medals (32-18) of its Asian rival .
The victory of the North American women's volleyball team against Brazil broke the tie with China in the number of gold metals.
Anyway, once the US caught up with the Chinese, it was already enough to win for the total number of medals, a tiebreaker if there is equality of gold medals, which
are the ones that define the placement in the medal table
in the first instance. .
Without the impulse of some of its most emblematic figures
, anyway, the North American delegation lost steam in Japan with respect to the
46 golds
that it added both in Rio 2016 (121 medals in total) and in Beijing 2008 (104).
In their first Games without the legendary Michael Phelps in the past 20 years, American swimming golds
fell from 16 in Rio to 11
in Tokyo while
athletics dropped from 13 to 7.
China, on the other hand, showed an
upward and threatening
trend
:
it rose from the 26 golds and 70 medals in total that it pocketed in Rio 2016 to these 38 and 88.
China's Liu Shiying, Olympic javelin throwing champion.
Photo EFE
The host
Japan
, although it did not have the support of its fans due to the coronavirus pandemic,
also made a great jump
from 12 golds (41 medals in total) of Rio 016 to 27 (58) of its Games, where it stayed with the
third place.
Great Britain slipped
into fourth place
at Tokyo 2020
at the last minute
with 22 golds, five less than in Rio, and 65 medals in total.
The Russian athletes, who competed under the name of
the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) for the sanction of the country for doping
, finished in fifth place with 20 golds (70 in total).
The top 10 places were completed by Australia (17 golds), which in the run-up to these Games was commissioned to
organize the 2032 Games in Brisbane,
followed by four European nations: the Netherlands (10), Germany (10), Italy ( 10) and France (9).
Spain remained at 17 medals but its three golds fell from Rio's seven, dropping from 13th to 22nd place in the table.
The first Latin American country in the Olympic classification was Brazil, in twelfth place, which after its own appointment of the five rings achieved
the best performance in its history
in Asian lands
.
Brazilian Rebeca Andrade, winner of two medals.
EFE / Enric Fontcuberta
If in Rio they left 19 medals at home (7-6-6), in Tokyo they captured
a record of 21 (7-6-8)
, enjoying stellar moments such as the gold and silver of Rebeca Andrade in gymnastics or the triumph in men's soccer.
Cuba (14th place) also obtained seven golds,
the highest since the nine in Athens 2004
, and a total of 15 medals.
Ecuador (37th place) also had
a memorable performance by
winning
two golds
in cycling and weightlifting, when in all its Olympic history it only had one, and also added one silver.
Venezuela (46th) achieved the third gold in its history with the prodigious
Yulimar Rojas
in triple jump and also reached three silvers, and Puerto Rico (63rd) also added a shining gold with Jasmine Camacho-Quinn in the 100 meter hurdles.
Although they did not climb to the top of the podium, other Latin American countries also got medals, such as Colombia (four silvers and one bronze), Argentina that
finished in 72nd place
(one silver and two bronzes thanks to Las Leonas, Los Pumas and the National Team volleyball) and Mexico (four bronzes).
AFP.
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The United States secured the victory of the medal table thanks to the historic Olympic gold of women's volleyball