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Olympic Moments

Photo: CNN


Week one of the Tokyo Olympics has ended and there have been so many amazing moments of triumph, determination and sportsmanship. In this blog post I am sharing a few of them.

Australian swimmers Emily Seebohm and Kaylee McKeown have been friends for many years and shared a touching moment after Saturday's 100m and 200m finals. Emily, who is a four-time olympian offered to present Kaylee with the gold medal because she wanted her to feel like she had a family member there with her, as athletes families are watchhing from their homes. After Kaylee received her medal, she surprised Emily by asking her to stay on top of the podium while the national anthem played. Beautiful gestures! Congratulations Emily and Kaylee, Australia is proud!

Kaylee McKeown and Emily Seebohm share the podium
Photo: ABC


New Zealand's Black Ferns Sevens rugby team won their final game against France and returned to Tokyo Stadium with the French and Fijian teams for the medal ceremony. Officials are prevented from presenting the athletes with medals by Covid restrictions so the teams presented each other with their medals and, after the three teams took photos, the Black Ferns Sevens put their medals on the ground in front of them and performed the haka. 

The Black Ferns Sevens perform the Haka
Photo: TVNZ



The men's high jump event was headed for a jump-off but, after speaking with an Olympic official, Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italian Gianmarco Tamberi agreed to share the gold medal. Gianmarco reacted by screaming and passionately embracing Mutaz. 

Two gold medalists
Photo: Eurosport



Skateboarding is new to the Olympics and is one sport that allows very young kids to compete. Momiji Nishiya from Japan is 13-years-old won the women's street skateboarding competition and became one of the youngest gold medal winners ever.  Another 13-year-old, Rayssa Leal from Brazil won the silver medal and Funa Nakayama from Japan received the bronze medal. 

Thirteen-year-old Olympic medalists 
Momiji Nishiya and Funa Nakayama
Photo: Newsweek


Ukranian gymnast Oksana Chusovitina has competed in eight Olympic Games and the Tokyo Olympics are her last. She is ending her sports career at the age of 46! Oksana received a standing ovation after competing in the vault event. When she realized she didn't qualify for the event finals, she emotionally waved to the small crowd and put her hands into the shape of a heart. It's amazing that she has been able to do gymnastics at this age. A few gymnasts who are in their twenties have said they are getting old and call themselves grandma! She's had a long and successful career and now she can relax. 

Photo: Yahoo


Gymnastics superstar Simone Biles withdrew from the women's gymnastics team final after one rotation, when she was unable to perform the skill she had intended on the vault. As she pushed off the vaulting table and flipped and twisted, she looked lost and shaken. She hurred out of the arena with a medical staffer and when she returned, she told her three teammates she was pulling out, saying she wasn't "in the right headspace." We later learned that Simone was experiencing 'twisties' which are a state of disassociation, leaving gymnasts disoriented, unable to coordinate themselves in the air and at risk of injury. She did the right thing by pulling out and taking care of her health and safety which is very important. Simone is called the greatest of all time (GOAT) and fans, the media and people expect a lot from her. I believe she truly is the GOAT, in more ways than one! 
Keep an eye out for my next blog post where I will be writing more about this.

Photo: Pop Sugar



Simone is taking time to take care of her mental health but still cheering on her teammates from the sidelines. She is a great friend, teammate and sport. Despite going through her own mental health issues, she is still there supporting her team.

Simone cheering her teammate with Jordan Chiles and Grace McCallum 



The American Gymnasts won the Silver medal for the team final. Congratulations girls!

Photo: USA Today




The youngest member of the US gymnastics team, 18-year-old Sunisa Lee, won the gold medal for the individual all-around competition, continuing America's dominance of Women's gymnastics. This is the fifth year in a row that the US team has won gold in the all-around competition. Sunisa is a part of the Hmong American community. The Hmong group came to the US as refugees from Laos following the Vietnam War and Sunisa is the first of that group to reach an Olympics, so her win means a lot to them. There is a beautiful video of her family watching and erupting into cheers at home. 

Congratulatios Sunisa Lee, all-around champion. 
Photo: Time Magazine 


I'm an Australian who enjoys watching the US gymnastics and the Today Show in America so I have to mention one of the hosts, Hoda Kotb. She has been passionately supporting all the athletes and I loved her reactions to the gymnasts. I'm not surprised her reaction to watching Sunisa Lee went viral. Hoda is the cheerleader everyone needs! 

Hoda Kotb hosts the Today Show in America
Photo: The Independent



I hope you enjoy have enjoyed reading about these special moments from the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.










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