Thank you for subscribing to our Tokyo Olympics update. We hope you have enjoyed it. The newsletter continues until Aug. 12 with highlights and post-Games news. The Globe has many other newsletters, including our daily editor-curated Morning Update, Evening Update and Politics newsletters.
Let us know what you think by e-mailing audience@globeandmail.com.
Good morning,
Canada at the Games
Mixed emotions for Canadian athletes leaving Tokyo
Damian Warner, of Canada, waves a flag during the closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium at the Tokyo Summer Olympics.David Goldman/The Associated Press
Athletes at this year’s Games had to vacate Tokyo nearly as soon as they arrived. They weren’t permitted to tour Japan or attend other sporting events to cheer on their fellow Canadians – yet another example of how different an experience these ”COVID-19 Olympics” were. Forty-eight hours after their own competitions, they had to be out of the country.
Canadian boxer Mandy Bujold reflected on the experience, “Among the athletes, we were kind of joking around that it felt like a reality show and we were getting kicked off the island.”
Canada’s gold-medal-winning weightlifter, Maude Charron, accepted the fast-paced schedule as necessity. “Of course, I wish to be able to stay longer to watch other sports, and maybe do the closing ceremony since I didn’t participate at the opening one, and this was my first Olympics,” Charron said from her home in Rimouski, Que. “But I understand the rules. They had to control the spread of COVID.”
Pandemic-afflicted Tokyo Games officially end with Damian Warner leading Canadian athletes in Olympics closing ceremony
The Tokyo Olympic Games officially ended early Sunday morning with an understated closing ceremony. It brought to a close an Olympics marred by COVID-19, high costs and public disapproval in Japan.
The stands inside Olympic Stadium were empty but darkened, a fitting end to an Olympics that few got to witness in person. While the sporting event were full of triumphs and resilience, the lasting images of Tokyo’s podium will be of athletes in masks.
Olympic decathlon champion Damian Warner carried Canada’s flag in the closing ceremony, and called it the honour of his life. The 31-year-old three-time Olympian scored 9,018 points on his way to a gold medal in Tokyo, setting an Olympic record in one of the oldest events at the Games, and arguably its most challenging.
Watch: Flag-bearer Damian Warner proud of Olympic experience
Four years ago, Kelsey Mitchell didn’t own a bike. Now, she’s a Tokyo Olympic cycling champion
Olympic track cyclist Kelsey Mitchell proves that it’s never too late to learn a new trick. Four years ago she was feeling adrift behind the wheel of a Ford F-550. Feeling the itch to compete, she signed up for RBC Training Ground, a talent-identification program.
At the tryout, a representative of Cycling Canada took notice of the power of her legs and had her test her strength on the watt-bike. In six seconds of furious pedaling she exceeded the national standard. She had not owned a bicycle since she was 12.
Three months later, she signed with Cycling Canada. Ten months after that, she won a national competition. On Saturday, she won Olympic gold.
Canada’s Olympic athletes hit new heights at Tokyo Olympics
This was a very successful Olympics for Canada. The only time we have ever brought home more medals (24) at a Summer Games was during the 1984 Los Angeles Games when Canadian athletes won 10 gold and 44 medals. This year, we finished 11th in the official and overall medal standings, with seven gold, six silver and 11 bronze medals in Tokyo.
Watch: Canadians pushed through COVID-19 pandemic to the podium
Track cyclist Kelsey Mitchell sent the Canadians out on a high note, winning our final medal – a gold – in the women’s sprint competition. In general, women dominated this year’s Games, bringing home 18 of 24 medals overall.
We want to hear from you. Email us: audience@theglobeandmail.com. Do you know someone who needs this newsletter? Send them to our Newsletters page.
Tokyo aftermath
The latest information you need to know about Japan and the aftermath of the Olympics.
Beijing’s COVID-19 Olympic precautions will go far beyond those taken in Tokyo
The Winter Olympics in Beijing are only six months away and China has made it clear that containing COVID-19 is its top priority. On July 30, as case numbers were climbing in Tokyo, Beijing organizers announced plans to redesign their 39 Olympic venues to minimize cross-infection between athletes, officials, and spectators. Beijing’s ‘bubble’ will wall off essentially all people connected to the Games from its population. Thousands of Chinese staff will live in the bubble throughout the Games and later re-enter the rest of China after a lengthy quarantine.
Japan PM Suga’s support dips to record low as Olympic Games close - survey
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga’s approval rating has slid to 28 per cent, according to a poll conducted by Asahi newspaper. Sixty per cent of those polled did not want Suga to remain prime minister. In Japan, a slow vaccine rollout and recent spikes in COVID-19 infections overshadowed the Tokyo Olympics – but the Games were hugely successful for Japanese athletes. Suga thanked the Japanese people for helping the country safely hold the Olympics despite the difficulties of the coronavirus pandemic.
IOC gives itself more power to remove sports from Olympics as weightlifting could be dropped from Paris 2024
The International Olympic Committee voted in new powers amid prolonged issues with the leadership of weightlifting and boxing. Both sports already had their quota of athletes cut for the 2024 Paris Olympics and weightlifting could be dropped entirely. The Olympic Charter was amended so the full IOC membership can remove a sport if its governing body does not comply with a decision made by the IOC executive board or if it “acts in a manner likely to tarnish the reputation of the Olympic movement.
What our columnists are saying
The Canadian Olympic Committee should enjoy its moment in the sun before questions about the Beijing Games become too loud to ignore
“On Sunday, these people were still part of the country’s most elite, publicly-funded clique of middle-aged cool kids. Strutting around in your red-and-black varsity jackets. Kings of the cultural cafeteria.
By Monday, they will have become the face of Canada’s push to the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, and de facto supporters of the policy goals of the Chinese regime. In some quarters, that makes you a stooge at best, and a collaborator at worst.” – Cathal Kelly
What kind of training does it take to become a world-beating athlete?
“Bestselling books such as Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers and Daniel Coyle’s The Talent Code popularized the idea that early specialization and relentless practice – 10,000 hours’ worth, by some accounts – is what makes champions, not just in sports but in education, business and life. But others have pushed back against that view, as David Epstein’s 2019 book Range explained, arguing instead that diversity of experience can be an advantage.” – Alex Hutchinson
Keep your Opinions sharp and informed. Get the Opinion newsletter. Sign up today.
The best of the Olympics
Penny Oleksiak becomes Canada’s most decorated Olympian as swim team finishes Tokyo Olympics with sixth medal
Canada’s Maggie Mac Neil, Sydney Pickrem and Kylie Masse congratulate Penny Oleksiak after the team won bronze in the women’s 4x100 medley relay at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday. The medal makes Penny Oleksiak the most decorated Canadian Olympian of all-time.Melissa Tait/The Globe and Mail
Just over a week ago, 21-year old star swimmer Penny Oleksiak made history by securing her seventh Olympic medal, officially crowning her as the most decorated Canadian Olympic athlete. The bronze that broke her six-medal tie with speed skater Cindy Klassen and speed skater/cyclist Clara Hughes was a team effort. It was won in the 4x100-metre medley relay, with teammates Maggie Mac Neil, Kylie Masse and Sydney Pickrem. The victory was all the more sweet considering the challenges the Canadian women’s swim team endured while training during the COVID-19 pandemic. Canada’s strict pool closures and physical distancing made training and competing much more difficult here than in other countries. Mac Neil, who brought home three medals from Tokyo, including a gold in the 100 metre butterfly event, shared her pride for Oleksiak’s historic achievement by saying, “What she’s accomplished is actually insane and the fact that we get to swim with her and we get to contribute to that is really, really special.”
“She’s a legend, and we’re really, we’re really happy for her.”
Is there a Canadian Olympic moment you can’t seem to forget? If you do, email us at audience@globeandmail.com and tell us why.