An opening ceremony behind closed doors
Fireworks illuminate the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo, during the opening ceremony of the Games, July 23, 2021 DYLAN MARTINEZ POOL / AFP
Delayed for a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics opened on Friday July 23 after a sober, sometimes serious opening ceremony, in the still heavy context of the global virus.
The 206 delegations marched without an audience before Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka lit the Olympic cauldron.
Courage lesson from gymnast Simone Biles
Smile found for Simone Biles, bronze medalist on balance beam at the Tokyo Games, August 3, 2021 Lionel BONAVENTURE AFP
Gymnast Simone Biles, quadruple Olympic champion in 2016, 19 times world champion, surprised the world by leaving the all-around team final. She then withdrew for the final of the individual all-around, then for those of vault, uneven bars and floor. At 24, for her second Olympics, she admitted to being weakened by a loss of confidence and a phenomenon of loss of bearings in space. Despite this ordeal, the American superstar eventually competed in the beam event and won the bronze medal. Japanese tennis champion Naomi Osaka, a favorite in the competition who also reported mental problems during Roland Garros, left the Olympic tournament prematurely, drily eliminated in the round of 16.
Caeleb Dressel, Michael Phelps' successor
Caeleb Dressel rejoices after his victory in the 100m at the Tokyo Games, July 29, 2021 Attila KISBENEDEK AFP
Caeleb Dressel is the new star of world swimming.
Although he does not yet have the record of the ogre Michael Phelps, the most successful athlete and medalist in Olympic history, he marked these Games with five gold medals in the pools of the Tokyo Aquatics Center, a less than the goal he set for himself.
Golden French judo team dominate Japan
The French team celebrates the gold medal in the mixed team event on July 31, 2021 in Tokyo.
AFP - FRANCK FIFE
The French judo team achieved a superb feat by beating Japan in the final of the mixed team event, to win the first gold medal awarded in this event.
At home, at Nippon Budokan, the country which invented judo was a huge favorite, especially since it fielded several fighters crowned Olympic champions this week.
But the Blues thwarted the forecasts and won 4 to 1, thanks in particular to the victories of Clarisse Agbégnénou and Teddy Riner.
French team sports at the party
The coach of the French volleyball team, Laurent Tillie, carried in triumph by his players, after their victory in the final, 3 sets to 2 against the Russians, August 7, 2021 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games JUNG Yeon-je AFP
In 70 minutes, France became Olympic champion in handball, then volleyball, Saturday August 7, the glory day of French team sports, despite the defeat of the fallen basketball players, not without demerit, against the inevitable Americans.
With two Olympic titles, a silver medal and a bronze medal in the space of twelve hours, to which is added the silver one the previous week in rugby sevens and pending the final of the France-Russia women's hand on Sunday , the French sport has achieved a spectacular and unprecedented harvest.
The wrath of French boxer Mourad Aliev
Mourad Aliev stunned after his disqualification in the quarter-finals of the Tokyo Olympics, August 1, 2021 Luis ROBAYO AFP
Boxer Mourad Aliev, eliminated from the Tokyo Olympics on the referee's disqualification in the + 91 kg category, Sunday August 1, denounced "a scandal" after the tournament supervisor recognized "an arbitration error", according to the French clan.
He sat on the edge for 45 minutes after his fight.
After a good harvest of six medals in Rio, French boxing returned empty-handed from Tokyo.
A shared medal in the high jump
Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italian Gianmarco Tamberi, Olympic high jump champions, on August 1, 2021 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Christian Petersen POOL / AFP
Friends in life, Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatari Mutaz Essa Barshim were both crowned Olympic champions on Sunday August 1.
They were ranked perfectly tied for the gold medal.
They had the choice between going into a kind of play-off to designate a single winner or share the gold.
They opted for the second option, hugging each other in front of the saltire.
Allyson Felix, champion of the champions
The American Allyson Felix, bronze medalist in the 400m, August 6, 2021 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Ina FASSBENDER AFP
The American Allyson Felix, who was playing her fifth Olympic Games in Tokyo at 35, has entered the history of sport.
Climbing for the 11th time on an Olympic podium, she passed Carl Lewis and became the second most medal-winning athlete in history.
A legend on the track, but also outside, who fights every day for the rights of women, especially African-Americans.
Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs, new king of sprinting
The joy of the Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs, Olympic champion in the 100m, on August 1, 2021 at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Jewel SAMAD AFP
In a very open 100m final, the Italian Lamont Marcell Jacobs pulled out of the game on Sunday August 1 to become the fastest man in the world.
The sprinter won in 9 sec 80, a new European record, and became the first European Olympic champion on the straight line since Briton Linford Christie in 1992. He was also crowned as a team in the men's 4x100 m relay. .
These victories were however marred by rumors of doping.
According to the British newspaper The Times, a bodybuilder nutritionist who collaborated until March 2021 with Lamont Marcell Jacobs, is targeted by an investigation for trafficking in anabolic steroids.
The attempted forcible repatriation of Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya
Belarusian athlete Krystsina Tsimanouskaya at a press conference one day after arriving in Poland, August 5, 2021 in Warsaw Wojtek Radwanski AFP
Outside the stadium, the case of Belarusian Krystsina Tsimanouskaya, shocked the spirits.
This athlete was threatened with being forcibly repatriated to Belarus after having criticized her country's sports authorities during the Olympics.
Fearing that she would end up in prison if she returned home, she obtained help from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and police protection while at Tokyo-Haneda airport.
She has since taken refuge in Poland, which granted her a humanitarian visa, and wants to continue her sports career.
The IOC has announced that it has withdrawn the accreditations of two coaches from the Belarusian delegation.
The freshness of skateboarding
Brazilian teenagers Rayssa Leal (silver), Japanese Momiji Nishiya (gold) and Funa Nakayama (bronze) on the skateboard podium at the Tokyo Games, July 26, 2021 © Ben Curtis / AP
Skateboarding and its teens brought a breath of fresh air to Tokyo and boosted TV audiences. At 13, Japanese Momiji Nishiya became the first Olympic champion in the history of women's skateboarding. In the street event, she beat the Brazilian Rayssa Leal (13 years old), second, and the Japanese Funa Nakayama (16 years old). This podium holds the absolute record for youth at the Olympic Games (14 years old and 191 days average age). Despite this facelift, the competition left a mixed impression. Many crashes, lack of rhythm, disappointing superstars like Nyjah Huston and Leticia Bufoni, a slightly dull gray concrete bowl: the format and its results were not fully convinced. This arrival at the Olympics, however, aroused a lot of enthusiasm,especially among the Japanese (5 medals) and the Brazilians (3 medals).
Quinn first trans non-binary athlete to win Games medal
Quinn celebrates with her teammates Canada's victory in the final of the football tournament on August 6, 2021, against Sweden.
AFP - JEFF PACHOUD
Athlete Quinn became the first transgender and non-binary athlete to win a medal at the Olympics.
On Friday August 6, he won the final of the football tournament with the Canadian team, beating Sweden on penalties.
A player for the OL Reign club, the defender hopes to become a model for more tolerance, just like New Zealand transgender weightlifter Laurel Hubbard.
The Tokyo Games were placed under the sign of LGBT visibility.
One hundred and seventy-nine athletes who openly declared themselves to be gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, homosexual or non-binary, took part, according to the count of the independent site Outsports.
With AFP
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