When the Olympic flame went out, the 32nd Modern Summer Games officially ended on Sunday.
Before the graduation ceremony in the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, the last medal decisions were made in eight sports. Among other things, in the marathon, which is always a highlight in athletics in addition to the 100-meter sprint.
The last Austrians
The last two Austrians were at the start on the 42.195-kilometer route in Sapporo. Lemawork Ketema had to give up early because of muscle problems. Austria's record holder Peter Herzog crossed the finish line in 61st place. The Kenyan world record holder Eliud Kipchoge was best able to deal with the hot and humid conditions. At 27 degrees and 77 percent humidity, Kipchoge reached the goal with a time of 2:08:38 hours. For the 36-year-old, it was the second Olympic victory after the 2016 Games in Rio de Janeiro.
125 years before him, the Greek Spyridon Louis became the first marathon winner at the Olympic Games.
Last surprises
The women's track cycling competition caused a sensation: shortly before the end of the scratch race, nine female riders were involved in a mass crash in the Omnium. The crash was triggered by a contact between the Italian Elisa Balsamo and the Irish Emily Kay. One person was slightly injured at the edge of the track.
The three-time German track cycling world champion Emma Hinze lost her sprint race for bronze and was more than disappointed. “My legs have never hurt so badly. I couldn't even come down the stairs after the run, ”says Hinze.
There was another surprise in rhythmic gymnastics, where the Israeli Linoy Ashram in the individual all-around competition and the Bulgarian team in the group competition abruptly ended the predominance of the Russian gymnasts.
In handball, France secured both gold medals for the first time. The women defeated the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the dramatic final on Sunday by 30:25.
Mass fall during the scratch race at the Izu Velodrome in Shizuoka, Japan.
Final decisions
As expected, the USA dominated basketball. After the men's gold success, the women also fought for the seventh gold in a row against a strong Japanese team. In the audience sat soccer star Megan Rapinoe, who cheered on her fiancée Sue Bird. For Japan it was the first medal in Olympic history in basketball.
On the final day of the competition, the women from the USA and the men from France also won gold in volleyball, and in boxing, Kellie Harrington, Lauren Price, Andy Cruz Gómez and Bahodir Jalolov won the last precious metal.
