The Summer Olympics that should never have been held concluded Sunday night in Tokyo with the United States winning the lion's share of medals before video cameras in empty venues, while thousands of athletes and volunteers may be coming home with the consolation prize of a COVID-19 diagnosis--whether they're vaccinated or not.
Here are the top three medal finishers:
1. United States (39 gold, 41 silver, 33 bronze = 133)
2. China (38 gold, 32 silver, 18 bronze = 88)
3. Athletes from Russia (20 gold, 28 silver, 23 bronze = 71)
The Americans ruled the pool with Caeleb Dressel and Katie Ledecky, took gold (as usual) in men's and women's basketball, and in women's volleyball (beach and indoor). Considered disappointments were the women's soccer team (but they did win bronze) and the men's track team.
The Canadians had a good Olympics, with Damian Warner winning the Decathlon, Andre de Grasse in men's 200m track and the women's soccer team contributing to their haul of seven golds, six silvers and 11 bronze. Those 24 medals were good for 11th place in the standings.
Among those who took their curtain calls during these Olympics: Simone Biles (bronze in the uneven bars) in gymnastics, Sue Bird and Diana Taurasi in basketball, Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd in soccer, and Allyson Felix in track. Felix became the most decorated athlete in U.S. Olympic history with 11 medals, moving past Carl Lewis.
So it's over, the strangest Olympics ever. It was postponed once, and despite misgivings from the media and host country Japan, there was no way the International Olympic Committee and business partners including NBC were going to pass up the opportunity to have these Games come hell, high water or jam-packed hospitals. While all this was going on, it was the anniversary of the American nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, hastening the end of World War II. Didn't hear much about that, did you?
In six months, the athletes of the world will descend on Beijing, China for the Winter Olympics. Yes, they hosted the 2008 Summer Games, and the same issues about China's human rights policy are still valid. But now we have the ongoing coronavirus crisis that apparently began in China, and could very well affect the conduct of these Olympics if vaccination rates don't improve. One would assume the Chinese government would have a better handle on these matters than Japan, even if they do it more ruthlessly than we'd like.
But that's OK. The IOC will take their money no matter how and from whom they get it from, pandemic or not. Some things never change.
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