The XXXII Olympic Games (Athletics)

Olympic Games

The XXXIII Olympic Games

100 Metres

200 Metres

400 Metres

800 Metres

1500 Metres

5000 Metres

10,000 Metres

Marathon

3000 Metres Steeplechase

100 Metres Hurdles

110 Metres Hurdles

400 Metres Hurdles

High Jump

Pole Vault

Long Jump

Triple Jump

Shot Put

Portugal's Olympic triple jump champion Pedro Pichardo on his way to gold in Tokyo

Double Olympic champion Sifan Hassan

Eliud Kipchoge wins the marathon at the Tokyo Olympic Games

Paris 2024 today unveiled the routes for the Olympic marathon and the two races &ndash; a 42.195km course and a 10km course &ndash; open to the general public as part of mass event running.
The announcement was made in the presence of Tony Estanguet, President of Paris 2024; Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris; Val&eacute;rie P&eacute;cresse, President of the Ile-de-France Regional Council; World Athletics CEO Jon Ridgeon; Geoffroy Sirven-Vienot Vice-President of Sponsorship, Events and Partnerships at Orange; Paula Radcliffe world record-holder between 2003 and 2019, and French international marathon runner Yohan Durand. 
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<h2>A remarkable, challenging and inspiring course</h2>
For the Olympic marathon, one of the most iconic events of the Olympic Games, Paris 2024 has unveiled a new route.
When planning the route for this legendary event, Paris 2024 drew inspiration from the &lsquo;Women's March&rsquo; of 5-6 October 1789 when 6-7000 Parisian women marched through Paris, S&egrave;vres and St Cloud before reaching Versailles and forcing the King back to the Tuileries Palace.
Starting at the H&ocirc;tel de Ville and finishing on the Esplanade des Invalides, the course will take in some of the most beautiful sights and monuments of Paris and its surroundings. It will deliver 42.195km of drama with the Louvre Pyramid, Grand Palais, Ch&acirc;teau de Versailles and the Eiffel Tower as its backdrop. 
<div><img style="max-width: 900px; width: 100%; display: block;" src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/633d97cab865a2e765c75799.jpg" alt="Marathon course for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games" />
Marathon course for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
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 This Olympic Marathon also has a particularly tough profile with an overall elevation gain/loss of 438m. The route &ndash; specially designed for the Paris 2024 Games and approved by World Athletics &ndash; is unique, demanding and technical.
&ldquo;With its unprecedented route, the Paris 2024 Marathon represents a great sporting challenge for the athletes, in a spectacular setting,&rdquo; said Radcliffe. &ldquo;This race, more unpredictable than ever, promises to be mythical.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Beyond a doubt, the Paris 2024 Marathon will have something special about it,&rdquo; said two-time Olympic champion and world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge. &ldquo;To perform in such an impressive setting, in a place so charged with history and symbolism, will be a unique experience. I could not ask for a more perfect race for the Games.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Paris 2024 is providing us a route that's rich in symbolism, entertainment and athletic challenge,&rdquo; added Durand. &ldquo;Taking up this challenge here in my home country is a lifelong ambition.&rdquo;
<h2>A race open to the general public for the first time in Olympic history</h2>
With mass event running, the general public can put themselves in the shoes of their Olympic heroes and run the same marathon route.
To open up this experience to everyone, Paris 2024 will offer, in addition to the traditional 42.195km distance (20 years old and above), a 10km race accessible to as many people as possible (16 years old and up).&nbsp; 
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Mass event run course for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games
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 With 20,024 participants per race, Paris 2024 offers experienced athletes and up-and-comers a unique opportunity to participate in the Games and experience this festive, athletic gathering that is sure to leave each participant with an unforgettable memory.

Paris 2024 has unveiled the routes for the Olympic marathon and the two mass participation races 

Paris 2024 reveals routes for Olympic marathon and mass event run

Eliud Kipchoge has been named the best male athlete of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) Awards 2021.
Kenya&rsquo;s marathon great retained the Olympic title in Japan in August, clocking 2:08:38 to achieve the largest winning margin in the men&rsquo;s Olympic marathon since 1972.
It was Kipchoge&rsquo;s fourth Olympic medal after his marathon gold in Rio, the 5000m silver he claimed in Beijing in 2008 and the 5000m bronze he achieved in Athens in 2004.
Receiving the ANOC award saw him return to Greece, with the ANOC Awards 2021 ceremony held in the amphitheatre of the Creta Maris Beach Resort on Sunday (24).
&ldquo;It is an honour to win the ANOC Award for the Best Male Athlete at the Tokyo Olympics,&rdquo; said Kipchoge. &ldquo;With so many beautiful performances by so many athletes, I am proud to be the recipient of this award.&rdquo; 
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 Asked when collecting his award if he could describe the marathon with just one word, Kipchoge, who set the world record by running 2:01:39 in Berlin in 2018, replied: &ldquo;The marathon race is life.&rdquo;
The ANOC Awards was created to show appreciation to National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and their athletes for their dedication to the Olympic Movement and for promoting the Olympic values all year round. During the ceremony, Diplomas were presented to the breakthrough NOCs that had historic sporting moments at Tokyo 2020 and among the recipients were the Qatar Olympic Committee, with high jump star Mutaz Barshim having claimed Qatar&rsquo;s second gold in what was one of the most memorable moments of Tokyo 2020 as he shared the title with Italy&rsquo;s Gianmarco Tamberi, and the Burkina Faso National Olympic Committee, with Hugues Fabrice Zango having become the country&rsquo;s first Olympic bronze medallist as he claimed third spot in the men&rsquo;s triple jump.
In addition to the ANOC Awards, the Hellenic Olympic Committee dedicated an award to the best Greek athlete of Tokyo 2020 and Greek deputy sports minister Lefteris Avgenakis presented men&rsquo;s long jump champion Miltiadis Tentoglou with the honour. 
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 Representatives from 155 of the 205 NOCs were joined in person by other stakeholders throughout the Olympic Movement for the seventh edition of the ANOC Awards, with many others tuning in online.
The best female and male athletes, as well as the best female and male teams from team sports, were honoured, while an outstanding athlete performance was announced along with awards for the outstanding NOC of Tokyo 2020 and for individual contribution to the Olympic Movement.
World Athletics&nbsp;would like to congratulate all the winners, including Canadian swimmer Maggie Mac Neil who received the award for best female athlete of Tokyo 2020 after claiming gold in the 100m butterfly as well as silver in the 4x100m freestyle and bronze in the 4x100m medley. 
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 The winners of each award were selected by the ANOC Jury, comprising representatives from each of the Continental Associations, the ANOC Athletes&rsquo; Commission Chair, ASOIF President and ANOC Secretary General.
ANOC for World Athletics

Eliud Kipchoge has been named the best male athlete of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Association of National Olympic Committees Awards.

Kipchoge crowned best male athlete of Tokyo 2020 at ANOC Awards

Two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge is to take on Paris 2024 mass race hopefuls later this month in a running challenge being held to mark 1000 days until the Olympics in the French capital.
In an Olympic Games first, a mass participation marathon is planned for the same day, and following the same route, as the Olympic marathon in 2024 and on 31 October a pursuit-style 5km race will be held on the Champs-Elysee in Paris, with some of those mass participation marathon places up for grabs.
The challenge is to outrun Kipchoge, Kenya&rsquo;s world marathon record-holder who also claimed the world 5000m title in 2003 in a winning time of 12:52.79. While there are not many athletes who can beat the marathon great, the 2000 runners in action on the Champs-Elysee will at least get a head start. 
<blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/reel/CVA8R81IKdu/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14">
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 With the field split into different groups based on ability, Kipchoge will cover a longer distance and look to catch up with the rest of the runners. Those who manage to hold him off will secure their entry for the Paris 2024 mass participation marathon.
&ldquo;I am delighted to be heading to Paris 1000 days before the start of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games for a truly exceptional challenge,&rdquo; said Kipchoge.
&ldquo;Open to all, whatever their level, this unique race is a wonderful image of what running is about: it is accessible and open to everyone.
&ldquo;On one of the most beautiful avenues in the world, I challenge you to not let me catch you! I look forward to sharing this moment with you and inspiring you to run, give it your all and push your limits, before we see each other again in 2024.&rdquo;
Further information can be found on the <a href="https://www.paris2024.org/en/mass-participation-marathon-kipchoge/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Paris 2024 website</a>.

Two-time Olympic marathon champion Eliud Kipchoge is to take on Paris 2024 mass race hopefuls later this month in a running challenge being held to mark 1000 days until the Olympics in the French capital.

Runners to race Kipchoge for Paris 2024 mass marathon places

The final throw was taken and only then could Neeraj Chopra breathe a sigh of relief.
With a mark of 87.58m at the Tokyo Games, the 23-year-old had launched himself to sporting superstardom as he became India&rsquo;s first ever Olympic champion in athletics.
It was a moment so monumental that 7 August will now be celebrated as National Javelin Day in his home country.
&ldquo;It feels unbelievable,&rdquo; Chopra said later. &ldquo;This is our first Olympic medal for a very long time, and in athletics it is the first time we have gold, so it&rsquo;s a proud moment for me and my country.&rdquo;
But it was not the first time Chopra had made history for his nation. 
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 Five years earlier, the rising javelin star had broken the five-year-old world U20 record in Bydgoszcz to win India&rsquo;s first ever gold medal at the World U20 Championships. As the next generation gets ready to compete at the 2021 edition of the age group event in Nairobi, Kenya, from 17-22 August, Chopra hopes his performances have helped to inspire.
&ldquo;I am feeling good that the AFI (Athletics Federation of India) is marking my achievement to be remembered in the years to come,&rdquo; Chopra said, following the AFI&rsquo;s National Javelin Day announcement. &ldquo;I will be happier if my gold medal win inspires youngsters to take to athletics, especially javelin throw.&rdquo; 
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<h2>National heroes</h2>
Neeraj Chopra made history as the first Indian athlete to win an Olympic gold medal in athletics. Other stars to have achieved a similar feat for their nation include:
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<img style="width: 90px; height: 90px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/05c67e83-213e-4da1-a327-b4758878ea35.jpg?cachebuster=591c8c02-a585-4732-841d-b16daf927704" align="right" />Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, 100m hurdles &ndash; Puerto Rico
In 2016, Camacho-Quinn was left heartbroken after she hit a hurdle and missed out on the Olympic final in Rio. Five years later she gained redemption in Tokyo as she clocked 12.37 to win 100m hurdles gold - Puerto Rico&rsquo;s first Olympic title in athletics. 
<img style="width: 90px; height: 90px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/71d81cfc-3b6e-4bb6-994e-466a9fe5f153.png?cachebuster=6a09197a-ffda-48d1-bfda-4837c6969b21" align="right" />Caterine Ibarguen, triple jump &ndash; Colombia
After claiming silver at the 2012 Olympics in London, Ibarguen went one better in Rio four years later. Leaping 15.17m she added Olympic triple jump gold to her world title wins from 2013 and 2015 to gain Colombia&rsquo;s first ever Olympics athletics win. 
<img style="width: 90px; height: 90px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/3f41a6da-2d00-47ba-abaa-ee5d7f5d60a3.jpg?cachebuster=89d9cd8a-bf2e-4cae-84a2-801f7b8301e5" align="right" />Kirani James, 400m &ndash; Grenada
Grenada has won three medals at the Olympic Games and they have all been claimed in athletics, and all by the same athlete. James won gold in 2012 in London and added silver from Rio in 2016 before completing the set with his bronze claimed in Tokyo.
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<img style="width: 90px; height: 90px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/a762912a-57b1-451f-bc97-18bdb8e19393.jpg?cachebuster=5a3dbbb3-969a-4d0a-848c-5961c5325a7f" align="right" />Jefferson Perez, 20km race walk &ndash; Ecuador
Perez won Ecuador's first ever Olympic medal when he claimed the 20km race walk title at the 1996 Games in Atlanta. Twelve years later the three-time world champion doubled his nation&rsquo;s Olympic medal tally by securing silver in Beijing. 
<img style="width: 90px; height: 90px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/4aa2d029-22b6-4f4c-b2db-e48722ebd68f.jpg?cachebuster=984cf10c-6f4b-4ed9-9783-f5ad8157fb76" align="right" />Ghada Shouaa, heptathlon &ndash; Syria
One year after winning the world heptathlon title in Gothenburg, Shouaa became Syria&rsquo;s first Olympic champion thanks to her win in Atlanta. Syrian athletes have claimed a total of four medals across all sports at the Games but Shouaa&rsquo;s remains the only gold so far. 
<img style="width: 90px; height: 90px; border-radius: 50%; margin-left: 20px;" src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/eed960f1-d2c4-4ef1-9481-8a5974796a68.jpg?cachebuster=3cd23e6f-d781-4f0b-bfdd-5fb4aa36a89d" align="right" />Venuste Niyongabo, 5000m &ndash; Burundi
Niyongabo had established himself was one of the world's top middle-distance runners in the early 1990s but then stepped up to the 5000m for the 1996 Olympics. In what was just his third race over the distance, he struck gold to win Burundi's first Olympic medal.
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 The impact has already been felt. Just like the spear he throws, Chopra&rsquo;s profile has soared following his latest achievement. Prior to the Olympics, the Asian and Commonwealth champion had 143,000 followers on Instagram. Now he is the most followed track and field athlete in the world with an incredible 3.5 million.
&ldquo;Still processing this feeling,&rdquo; he wrote in his most recent post. &ldquo;To all of India and beyond, thank you so much for your support and blessings that have helped me reach this stage.
"This moment will live with me forever.&rdquo;
<h2>Natural talent</h2>
Chopra&rsquo;s javelin journey started in 2011 when the 13-year-old son of farmers joined a local sports group to be active. &ldquo;I was an overweight child, one who got picked on by my peers because of it,&rdquo; he <a href="https://spikes.worldathletics.org/post/neera-chopra-javelin" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Spikes</a>. &ldquo;That hurt my confidence, but as time went on, as I became stronger, fitter, I felt it return.
&ldquo;One day at the stadium, I saw some others throwing the javelin so I tried it out. Within 10 days, I was throwing 40-45 metres and others started to tell me I had a natural talent for it.&rdquo;
He never looked back and Chopra&rsquo;s win at the 2016 World U20 Championships was a major milestone. &ldquo;Up until then, no one in India really knew about the javelin,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;But that sparked a change.&rdquo; 
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<h2>World U20 gold to Tokyo triumph</h2>
Neeraj Chopra is one of 13 former world U20 champions to have won Olympic gold in Tokyo.
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Mutaz Barshim, Qatar World U20 &ndash; high jump 🥇 Moncton 2010 Olympic &ndash; high jump 🥇 Tokyo 2020
Selemon Barega, Ethiopia World U20 &ndash; 5000m 🥇 Bydgoszcz 2016 Olympic &ndash; 10,000m 🥇 Tokyo 2020
Joshua Cheptegei, Uganda World U20 &ndash; 10,000m 🥇 Eugene 2014 Olympic &ndash; 5000m 🥇 Tokyo 2020
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/LargeL/2560f43c-e9e3-4daf-84a7-64bb32d457d6.jpg?cachebuster=8050d087-7806-4201-9683-ad75ee985e84" alt="" width="100%" />
Michael Cherry, USA World U20 &ndash; 4x400m 🥇 Eugene 2014 Olympic &ndash; 4x400m 🥇 Tokyo 2020
Neeraj Chopra, India World U20 &ndash; javelin 🥇 Bydgoszcz 2016 Olympic &ndash; javelin 🥇 Tokyo 2020
Mondo Duplantis, Sweden World U20 &ndash; pole vault 🥇 Tampere 2018 Olympic &ndash; pole vault 🥇 Tokyo 2020
Lynna Irby, USA World U20 &ndash; 4x100m and 4x400m🥇 Bydgoszcz 2016 Olympic &ndash; 4x400m 🥇 Tokyo 2020
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Faith Kipyegon, Kenya World U20 &ndash; 1500m 🥇 Barcelona 2012 Olympic &ndash; 1500m 🥇 Tokyo 2020
<img src="https://media.aws.iaaf.org/media/Square/91303b92-6121-4eb4-9060-87ff6b61d32d.png?cachebuster=496c28e4-500d-484a-8a52-d0778b824053" alt="" width="100%" />
Shaunae Miller-Uibo, Bahamas World U20 &ndash; 400m 🥇 Moncton 2010 Olympic &ndash; 400m 🥇 Tokyo 2020
Michael Norman, USA World U20 &ndash; 200m and 4x100m 🥇 Bydgoszcz 2016 Olympic &ndash; 4x400m 🥇 Tokyo 2020
Pedro Pichardo, Portugal World U20 &ndash; triple jump 🥇 Barcelona 2012 Olympic &ndash; triple jump 🥇 Tokyo 2020
Kaylin Whitney, USA World U20 &ndash; 200m and 4x100m 🥇 Eugene 2014 Olympic &ndash; 4x400m 🥇 Tokyo 2020
Briana Williams, Jamaica World U20 &ndash; 100m and 200m 🥇 Tampere 2018 Olympic &ndash; 4x100m 🥇 Tokyo 2020
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 Chopra, who was coached by Gary Calvert to his world U20 title and then teamed up with Klaus Bartonietz, went on to claim his Asian title in 2017 before Commonwealth and Asian Games gold in 2018. But then, while training for the 2019 World Athletics Championships, he was struck with injury which required surgery on his throwing arm. He returned in 2020 but then the world went into lockdown.
One year later, he announced his comeback with a national record-breaking throw of 88.07m in Patiala.
&ldquo;In my years in the sport, there&rsquo;s been a huge change in how the javelin and athletics in general is seen in India, and the result is that the competitions have not just a lot more quantity, but more quality,&rdquo; explained Chopra, who was joined on the Indian team in Tokyo by Shivpal Singh.
&ldquo;I see so much potential for Indians with the javelin. To succeed you need strength and speed, and Indian kids have that. I think, more and more, they'll see what we&rsquo;re achieving and be inspired to pick up a javelin themselves.&rdquo;
The next signs of this could come in Nairobi, where India is represented by national U20 champion Kunwer Ajai Raj Singh Rana and silver medallist Jay Kumar.
Jess Whittington for World Athletics

Neeraj Chopra has launched himself to sporting superstardom

Chopra, from world U20 champion to Olympic gold

&ldquo;That track is crazy,&rdquo; said Karsten Warholm.
&ldquo;You can feel the bounce,&rdquo; said Sydney McLaughlin.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a phenomenal track,&rdquo; said Rai Benjamin.
&ldquo;I can feel that energy return,&rdquo; said Dalilah Muhammad.
No matter which way you turned in Tokyo, the reaction from athletes seemed to be the same: the Mondo WS-TY4 surface in the Olympic Stadium was the quickest they&rsquo;d ever encountered.
That TY on the end of its name? It stands for Tokyo, and how the Mondo WS surface that was in place in Rio&rsquo;s Olympic Stadium has evolved since to become better and faster, but we&rsquo;ll get to the specifics in a moment.
Before we do, it&rsquo;s worth noting that not every event produced the earth-shattering times run by the above quartet, with many events there broadly in line with previous championships. As such, the suggestion the track surface is the sole or even primary reason for those 400m hurdles times seems unfair to what is &ndash; quite clearly &ndash; the most gifted generation to have graced the event.
But at the same time, this new surface certainly didn&rsquo;t do them any harm, and likely offered some level of time saving. The exact amount? We&rsquo;ll never truly know. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61154b0f344ac87111277715.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Track surfaces, much like footwear, are in a constant state of evolution. In the 1800s most athletics events were staged on grass, dirt or cinder, with synthetic surfaces made from a combination of asphalt or rubber first introduced in the 1950s.
In the 1960s the first polyurethane track surfaces were created, with the 1968 Mexico Olympics the first Games to feature a firm synthetic surface. In 1969, Mondo introduced the first pre-manufactured vulcanised natural rubber track, and the company supplied the official track for the 1976 Montreal Games. It&rsquo;s been the supplier of the track for every Olympics since, with the vast majority of four-year cycles seeing some form of tweaking to help the world&rsquo;s best athletes shave off fractions of a second.
The track we were all riveted to in Tokyo? It took three years of design, research and development before coming to fruition. The process began in 2017, with various compositions tried and tested before Mondo settled on this one.
&ldquo;We have developed a pre-fabricated material, made in rubber and rolls, the same technology we use in Formula One car tyres,&rdquo; says Andrea Vallauri, international relations manager for Mondo. &ldquo;The difference is we make sheets. It&rsquo;s composed of two layers that are vulcanised together and we can adjust the characteristics so it performs as best we can.
&ldquo;The lower part is made with honeycomb cells that have inside some air, so when the athletes press their feet on the track this lower part of the surface is compressing the air. This provides exceptional shock absorption but at the same time this material provides push-back: a spring or trampoline effect.
&ldquo;On the top part we have developed special three-dimensional micro-granules of rubber that we call TY: these have specific characteristics that are vulcanised together with the rest of the material and this shows reactivity, or push. With the combination of the two, we think we have reached an ideal combination where the structure provides good absorption, cushioning, to the athletes but at the same time a very good push and spring when they run.&rdquo;
The key part of the process was testing. The biomechanics of the track were tested in an Asics research laboratory which found it delivered better performance than previous versions. The key finding? The impulses of propulsion force were the same, but propulsion time (and total contact time) of WS-TY was shorter.
&ldquo;The granules ensure an optimised and uniform dynamic elastic response to the athletics track to help athletes maintain control over stride length, running pace and balance, essential for boosting speed and better reaching the correct take-off point in front of obstacles and before a jump,&rdquo; says Vallauri.
Speaking to athletes in Tokyo appeared to bear out that claim.
&ldquo;It truly felt fast,&rdquo; said Muhammad, who ran 51.58 to win silver behind McLaughlin. &ldquo;As a 400m hurdler you can kind of tell how fast the track is, how easily you&rsquo;re making your steps in between the hurdles and it was spot on every single hurdle so I&rsquo;m like, &lsquo;wow, this is a fast track.&rsquo; I was able to do a 14-step pattern.
&ldquo;I can feel that energy return, especially when you go into (hurdle) eight and feel that death; I didn&rsquo;t feel like I was going into death.&rdquo;
McLaughlin, who smashed her own world record with 51.46, was in agreement.
&ldquo;Some tracks just absorb your bounce and your motion; this one regenerates it and gives it back to you,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I would say it&rsquo;s a pretty fast track. You can feel a little bit of difference.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61154b4a7659210bd0c31fb5.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 The track that currently sits in the Olympic Stadium was produced in May and June of 2019 and installed over a four-month period between August and November that year. Before agreeing on the exact composition for the Tokyo Games, Mondo had samples sent to Italy, USA and Spain so athletes could test various models, unaware which one was the new version.
&ldquo;We had samples A, B and C,&rdquo; says Vallauri. &ldquo;The response from all these athletes was the same: the new product we were developing was for them the most comfortable and performing. They did not know which one it was and this gave us a certain confidence that we were on the right way.&rdquo;
The track is 13mm thick and its designers believe it can provide a performance benefit of up to 1-2%. Its first try in competition came in December 2019 when it was tested and certified by the Japanese Athletics Federation and World Athletics. Of course, most international athletes only got the chance to try it at the Olympics themselves, but multiple athletes reported this week it felt more cushioned than previous versions.
&ldquo;It's really soft,&rdquo; said Benjamin, shortly after clocking 46.17 to finish second in the 400m hurdles. &ldquo;It does give a lot of advantages.&rdquo;
After his world record of 45.94, Warholm was asked about the surface and whether &ndash; as another athletes suggested &ndash; it was like running on air.
&ldquo;I never ran on air,&rdquo; he laughed. &ldquo;But I think actually air isn't that, you know, bouncy. But that track is crazy. It actually gave me London vibes &ndash; the place where I got my first gold medal &ndash; and it's a very fast track. But I think it's not just the track; it was the guys as well today.&rdquo;
In the discussion around advancing technology, it was an important point from the current king of the 400m hurdles.
This track will remain in situ in Tokyo&rsquo;s Olympic Stadium , but when the attention starts to turn to the Paris Olympics, will there be something new in the works for that?
&ldquo;For sure,&rdquo; says Vallauri. &ldquo;Research will never stop. We have in mind some things, but it takes time.&rdquo;
Cathal Dennehy for World Athletics

The track used for the Tokyo Olympics is 13mm thick and its designers believe it can provide a performance benefit of up to 1-2%.

On track for fast times: the evolution of Mondo's WS-TY4 surface

Heading into the Tokyo Olympic Games, five athletes had a shot at making history by becoming the first woman to win three Olympic gold medals in a single individual athletics discipline.
Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce narrowly missed out in the 100m, Valerie Adams was delighted to take bronze in the shot put, Sandra Perkovic finished just outside the podium places in the discus, and Barbora Spotakova missed out on making the final in the javelin.
It all then came down to Polish hammer thrower Anita Wlodarczyk.
The 36-year-old had won Olympic gold in 2012 and 2016, which, along with her four world titles and multiple world records, underlined her status as the most dominant athlete of her generation.
But when Wlodarczyk cut short her 2019 season in order to undergo surgery on her knee, she wasn&rsquo;t sure if she&rsquo;d be ready to compete at the Tokyo Olympic Games.
Ultimately, she was one of many athletes who in some way benefited from the postponed Games. The extra year meant another 12 months of rehab, and she returned to competition earlier in 2021, gradually improving as the season progressed.
Sadly the anticipated showdown with world champion DeAnna Price didn&rsquo;t quite materialise as the US thrower picked up an ankle injury shortly after setting a North American record of 80.31m at the US Trials. To her credit, Price made it to Tokyo and reached the final, but was some way off her best and finished eighth with 73.09m.
Wlodarczyk, meanwhile, looked back to her best and sent her hammer out to 76.01m, 77.44m and then 78.48m in the Olympic final to secure her third gold, making history in the process. 
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: #bd94ff; border-color: #FFFFFF; border-style: solid;" border="1" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tbody>
<tr style="background-color: #2f2f2f;">
<td width="32%">ATHLETE</td>
<td width="15%">COUNTRY</td>
<td width="18%">EVENT</td>
<td width="35%">GOLD MEDALS</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Anita Wlodarczyk</td>
<td>POL</td>
<td>Hammer</td>
<td>🥇 2012, 🥇 2016, 🥇 2020</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shirley Strickland</td>
<td>AUS</td>
<td>80m hurdles</td>
<td>🥇 1952, 🥇 1956</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Nina Ponomaryova</td>
<td>URS</td>
<td>Discus</td>
<td>🥇 1952, 🥇 1960</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Iolanda Balas</td>
<td>ROU</td>
<td>High jump</td>
<td>🥇 1960, 🥇 1964</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tamara Press</td>
<td>URS</td>
<td>Shot put</td>
<td>🥇 1960, 🥇 1964</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Wyomia Tyus</td>
<td>USA</td>
<td>100m</td>
<td>🥇 1964, 🥇 1968</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tatyana Kazankina</td>
<td>URS</td>
<td>1500m</td>
<td>🥇 1976, 🥇 1980</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Jackie Joyner-Kersee</td>
<td>USA</td>
<td>Heptathlon</td>
<td>🥇 1988, 🥇 1992</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Gail Devers</td>
<td>USA</td>
<td>100m</td>
<td>🥇 1992, 🥇 1996</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Marie-Jose Perec</td>
<td>FRA</td>
<td>400m</td>
<td>🥇 1992, 🥇 1996</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Heike Drechsler</td>
<td>GER</td>
<td>Long jump</td>
<td>🥇 1992, 🥇 2000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Derartu Tulu</td>
<td>ETH</td>
<td>10,000m</td>
<td>🥇 1992, 🥇 2000</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Veronica Campbell-Brown</td>
<td>JAM</td>
<td>200m</td>
<td>🥇 2004, 🥇 2008</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Yelena Isinbayeva</td>
<td>RUS</td>
<td>Pole vault</td>
<td>🥇 2004, 🥇 2008</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Meseret Defar</td>
<td>ETH</td>
<td>5000m</td>
<td>🥇 2004, 🥇 2012</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Valerie Adams</td>
<td>NZL</td>
<td>Shot put</td>
<td>🥇 2008, 🥇 2012</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Tirunesh Dibaba</td>
<td>ETH</td>
<td>10,000m</td>
<td>🥇 2008, 🥇 2012</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce</td>
<td>JAM</td>
<td>100m</td>
<td>🥇 2008, 🥇 2012</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Barbora Spotakova</td>
<td>CZE</td>
<td>Javelin</td>
<td>🥇 2008, 🥇 2012</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Sandra Perkovic</td>
<td>CRO</td>
<td>Discus</td>
<td>🥇 2012, 🥇 2016</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
 &ldquo;The medal is so cool,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s heavy, which is kind of a symbol of the difficulties I endured to get here.
&ldquo;After the competition I slept for maybe 50 minutes. It was so emotional. I didn&rsquo;t have time to reply to all the messages of congratulations I received. My email box is full!
&ldquo;With no fans, it was a totally different competition,&rdquo; she added. &ldquo;Different, but still very special. I will never forget the medal ceremony though. It was one of the most important. That&rsquo;s why I&rsquo;ve kissed the medal. This one is special and means a lot. Of course the ceremony in Rio where Irena Szewinska presented the medal to me was also very special, but this has a different story behind it.&rdquo; 
<div style="padding: 15px 20px 5px 20px; border: 2px solid #ff873c;">
<h2>Wlodarczyk's dominance</h2>
Few athletes dominate the world all-time lists like Wlodarczyk does in the hammer.
She was the first - and, until recently, only - woman to throw beyond 80 metres. Of all the 76-metre throws in history, she owns more than half of them. And her dominance becomes more pronounced as the distances get farther:
<table style="border-collapse: collapse; width: 100%; background-color: #ff873c; border-color: #ffffff; border-style: solid;" border="1" width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="5">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td width="20%">75m+</td>
<td width="80%">40% (Wlodarczyk owns 252 of 634 throws)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>76m+</td>
<td>54% (Wlodarczyk owns 171 of 316 throws)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>77m+</td>
<td>68% (Wlodarczyk owns 117 of 172 throws)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>78m+</td>
<td>86% (Wlodarczyk owns 71 of 83 throws)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>79m+</td>
<td>93% (Wlodarczyk owns 40 of 43 throws)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>80m+</td>
<td>94% (Wlodarczyk owns 17 of 18 throws)</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
&nbsp;
</div>
 Wlodarczyk isn&rsquo;t done yet, though, and she already has her sights set on adding two more medals to her collection in 2022.
&ldquo;The Olympic final was my last competition this season,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;Now it&rsquo;s time for a short holiday and then I will start my preparations for next year, where there are two medals on offer: the World Championships and the European Championships.&rdquo;
Jon Mulkeen for World Athletics

Heading into the Tokyo Olympic Games, five athletes had a shot at making history by becoming the first woman to win three Olympic gold medals in a single individual athletics discipline.

Following Tokyo triumph, triple winner Wlodarczyk secures place in Olympic history

On the opening night of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Tachlowini Gabriyesos served as a flag bearer for the&nbsp;Refugee Olympic Team. On the Games&rsquo; final day, he lined up on the front line at the start of men&rsquo;s marathon. Standing six runners to his left was the reigning champion and world record-holder, Eliud Kipchoge.
By any measure, the 23-year-old &ndash; who fled conflict and bloodshed in his native Eritrea at age 12, journeyed through Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt before crossing the Sinai desert on foot &ndash; had come a long way.
But his journey to that start line wasn&rsquo;t just about reaching it.
"I want do the best I can, not just to be in Tokyo but to do a really good competition,&rdquo; he said in mid-June, just a few hours after learning that he been selected for the team. &ldquo;I want to make history for refugees by making a very good competition in the marathon.&rdquo;
Last March, Gabriyesos became the first refugee athlete to meet an Olympic qualifying standard when clocking 2:10:55 at the Hahula Galilee Marathon, so expectations were high.
On Sunday (8) he admirably lived up to them, finishing 16th in the race through the streets of Sapporo where he beat many of the best marathon runners on the planet. He clocked 2:14:02, a solid performance given the balmy conditions and tactical nature of the race.
&ldquo;It was very windy and a little hot, so I'm happy with the time," said Gabriyesos, who raced the distance for just the third time. But he clearly had more in the tank as he finished. "Yes, I probably could have run faster. But it's okay, it's my first Olympics and I'm so, so excited to be here. I&rsquo;m really, really happy right now." 
<h3>Representing a community of 80 million</h3>
For the second consecutive Olympic Games, performances like those by Gabriyesos were a source of inspiration for tens of millions of displaced persons from around the world, and their stories resonated with millions more.
When the team was first introduced in Rio five years ago, that squad of ten &ndash; six competing in athletics &ndash; represented 65 million people around the world who had been forcibly displaced. That figure soared to more than 82 million in 2020 and, propelled by conflict, the climate crisis and skyrocketing inequality, continues to grow.
The team was established to bring attention to the plight of refugees, to share a message of hope for and solidarity with those faceless millions, and an opportunity for a handful of athletes to illustrate that they too belong on a stage with the finest athletes in the world while at the same representing a community that collectively, would be the 20th most populous country in the world.
Dorian Keletela, the first refugee athlete to compete in a sprint event at the Olympic Games, relished the opportunity.
"To represent 80 million refugees is very important to me,&rdquo; he said. &ldquo;It's almost indescribable." 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61129ea2a2540753d60a9041.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Dorian Keletela competes in Tokyo (&copy; Christel Saneh)
 He also competed well.
The 22-year-old Congolese native who is based in Portugal won his 100m heat in the preliminary round in 10.33, smashing his previous career best by 0.13.
"The most important thing for me was to advance to the next round and I've done it," said Keletela, who represented the Athlete Refugee Team at the European Indoor Championships earlier this year. "I wasn't nervous and I'm confident."
His heat victory was also a milestone symbolically, marking the first time a refugee athlete was first to cross a finish line at a global competition. Images of him winning that heat were transmitted, shared and published around the world.
"I'm very proud of that,&rdquo; he said, &ldquo;and I'm very proud of this team.&rdquo;
He clocked 10.41 in the next round and didn't reach the semifinals, but was still upbeat about the experience, praising his coach Francis Obikwelu, the 2004 Olympic silver medallist, for helping him get this far.
"I started training with Francis in March," he said. "It was complicated, everything changed, but I'm in shape and I'm going to (keep showing) the work that has been done. " 
<h3>Big PB for Mohammed</h3>
The IOC&rsquo;s Refugee Olympic Team competed in Tokyo under the French acronym EOR, which stands for Equipe Olympique des Refugies. In all other national, continental and international competitions, refugee athletes compete as part of the World Athletics Athlete Refugee Team (ART), which illustrates the fundamental importance of the governing body&rsquo;s support for the refugee team project.
Jamal Abdelmaji Eisa Mohammed, who has competed on several ART squads, also raced well in his Olympic debut, clocking 13:42.98 in his 5000m heat to smash his previous best of 13:55.74. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6112a091a2540753d60a9047.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />Jamal Abdelmaji Eisa Mohammed races in the 5000m heats&nbsp;(&copy; Dan Vernon) 
"It was a good experience but I hope next time it will be better," said Mohammed, a native of Sudan who has been based in Tel Aviv since 2010.
The notoriously physical nature of major championships heats forced him to race cautiously early on so he&rsquo;d stay out of trouble. If he'd been a little more aggressive, he said, he would have gone a lot faster. "In Israel, we don't ever race like this. So I fell a little behind and then had to catch up over the last few laps.&rdquo;
He'll now take a week off then return to training to focus on the upcoming cross country season.
Mohammed made his ART debut at the 2019 World Cross Country Championships where he finished 85th, beating many of the world's best runners. More recently he won the 5000m at the Israeli championships. 
<h3>PBs for Lokonyen and Lohalith</h3>
Rose Nathike Lokonyen, the flag bearer for the first Refugee Olympic Team in Rio five years ago, also achieved what she set out to do.
The 26-year-old clocked 2:11.87 in her heat of the 800m, a personal best eclipsing the 2:13.39 she clocked at the 2019 World Championships in Doha.
"I feel great, I finished my race and I improved on my time," Lokonyen said, admitting that she was pleasantly surprised with the performance, given how much training she had missed due to pandemic restrictions.
Lokonyen, a native of South Sudan, said she hopes that her participation helped bring attention to the plight of the world's refugees.
"Sport has changed my life," she said. "I represent an entire community of refugees to show the world that being a refugee is just a status. We have the potential of doing something, especially in sport, that brings people together, that brings peace, love and unity."
Lokonyen had already left her mark on students at Takata Daiichi Middle School in Rikuzen-Takata when she visited in 2019 after competing at the World Athletics Relays in Yokohama, a visit that clearly left an impression. To wish her well in Tokyo, students from school folded and sent her 1000 origami cranes, a traditional Japanese symbol of hope and encouragement.
Anjelina Nadai Lohalith, another member of the original Rio team, also produced a lifetime best in her 1500m heat, clocking 4:31.65. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61129fc9a2540753d60a9044.jpg" alt="" width="100%" /> Anjelina Nadai Lohalith with the USA's Elle Purrier St. Pierre (&copy; Dan Vernon) 
"I'm happy about running my PB, but I'm not that happy because I wanted to run under 4:30," she said. "We had some challenges with Covid-19 - I missed nearly a whole year of training. But I never lost hope because I knew that the Olympics were coming."
Paulo Amotun Lokoro, another Rio team member, was even less pleased than Nathike after his 3:51.78 run in his 1500m heat, well short of the 3:47.03 personal best from 2019 he had set out to improve.
"It was very tough, but I ran and managed to finish," he said. "But I'm not happy. I performed poorly. My body was just not moving."
Lokoro is among the most experienced athletes in the ART programme, with appearances at the World Athletics Relays, the World Half Marathon Championships and two World Championships on the track. When Kenya was hit by lockdowns last year, Lokoro was forced to return to the Kakuma Refugee Camp, seriously impacting the training regimen that helped him improve by more than 20 seconds since his first Olympic appearance.
"We have been preparing for long time, but then Covid 19 disrupted our training," he said. "We were not relaxing, but we lost a lot of training."
Meanwhile, James Nyang Chiengjiek, another veteran of the Rio team who trains alongside Lokonyen, Lohalith and Lokoro at the Tegla Loroupe Peace Foundation Training Centre near Nairobi, had a frustrating outing in his 800m heat. Chiengjiek, who has also competed in several competitions as a member of the ART squad, made a bold move for the lead after the break on the first lap, but was clipped in the traffic and tumbled to the track. After shaking off the disappointment, he got back up and finished the race. 
<h3>Opening new doors</h3>
Besides providing an opportunity for refugees to compete, there is also a wider mission at the core of the refugee team project: to illustrate how sport can also open other doors to help refugees integrate and eventually settle into new communities.
Opportunities have already arisen for Lokoro, Nathike and Chiengjiek, who will be moving to Canada later this month thanks to a new scholarship programme that offers a so-called "athletics pathway" for the first time to refugees seeking to resettle in third countries. Under the programme, created through a partnership between UNHCR and the World University Service Canada (WUSC), the three will be granted permanent residency and will continue their education at Sheridan College in Oakville, Ontario. They will also continue training and competing.
&ldquo;This is an important moment,&rdquo; said UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. &ldquo;It is the first time sporting potential and athletic capability have been recognised as a route for refugees to access tertiary education.
&ldquo;It is fantastic news for the three refugee Olympic athletes concerned, and we hope this Canadian pilot will serve as an example to relevant actors in Canada and in other countries to encourage them to also offer opportunities to admit refugees for educational, sports, artistic and cultural reasons among so many others.&rdquo;
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics

For the second consecutive Olympic Games, performances by the Refugee Olympic Team were a source of inspiration for tens of millions of displaced persons from around the world, and their stories resonated with millions more.

Refugee Olympic Team athletes step up and inspire in Tokyo

With three world records, 12 Olympic records and dozens of area and national records, the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games was officially the highest quality major event in athletics history.
But beyond the record-breaking performances, what made the Games truly memorable were the other moments that happened on and off the field of play.
From heart-breaking post-race interviews to mid-race fist-bumps, the 10 days of athletics action were one long emotional rollercoaster. Here are just 10 of the moments that will long live in the memory.
&nbsp;
<h2>1. &ldquo;Can we have two golds?&rdquo;</h2>
Anyone who has followed the high jump in recent years would have been aware of what Gianmarco Tamberi and Mutaz Barshim have been through in the lead-up to the Tokyo Games.
Tamberi picked up a career-threatening injury just before the Rio Olympics, while Barshim suffered a similar fate back in 2018. Both <a href="https://spikes.worldathletics.org/post/gianmarco-tamberi-my-friend-mutaz" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the two friends</a> rehabbed their way back to competitive form in recent years and headed to Tokyo in pursuit of their first Olympic title.
They each produced a flawless series up to and including 2.37m and then recorded three failures at 2.39m. For his final attempt at that height, Tamberi even used his old plastercast as a marker for his run-up, a reminder of all he&rsquo;d been through to get to that point.
As the last athletes in the competition, as per the rules for ties in vertical jumps, they were given a decision to make from the official. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61126fe4b833f2e026063368.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 &ldquo;We can continue with the jump-off,&rdquo; the official started explaining, before Barshim pre-empted his next line.
&ldquo;Can we have two golds?&rdquo; asked the Qatari high jumper.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s possible,&rdquo; the official replied after a brief pause. &ldquo;It depends if you&hellip;&rdquo; he continued trying to explain the full scenario, but by that point, Barshim and Tamberi had turned to one another and had started celebrating their joint triumph.
Cue the tears&hellip;
&nbsp;
<h2>2. Winning bonus</h2>
Before Tokyo, Timothy Cheruiyot and Jakob Ingebrigtsen were the key protagonists in one of the most enthralling one-sided head-to-heads in recent years.
Cheruiyot had won all 12 of their clashes and headed to the Olympics as the world leader and world champion. But young Norwegian Ingebrigtsen had consistently been the closest finisher to Cheruiyot in the past 12 months and was regarded as the Kenyan&rsquo;s biggest rival at the Games. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6112713e6b17f92ae036478b.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 In a race for the ages, Ingebrigtsen defeated Cheruiyot in Tokyo, breaking the Olympic and European records in the process.
Gracious in defeat, Cheruiyot gifted Ingebrigtsen a bracelet after the race.
&ldquo;When I left my room earlier, I told myself that if someone beats me today, I will give him my bracelet,&rdquo; he explained. &ldquo;Jakob beat me, so I give it to him.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<h2>3. Taking notes</h2>
You can imagine that Nicola McDermott was a grade-A student at school.
The studious Australian high jumper makes notes after each jump in every competition &ndash; even in an Olympic final. She breaks down her jumps and gives a mark out of 10 for each aspect.
&ldquo;I never get 10 out of 10,&rdquo; she explained in an interview before the Games. &ldquo;There is always something to work on.&rdquo;
In Tokyo, though, she had the competition of her life and secured the silver medal with an Oceanian record of 2.02m. For good measure, she made a copy of her notes on her team t-shirt.
&ldquo;There were a few nines, but overall I rounded up,&rdquo; she said. &ldquo;I gave it a 10!&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6112716e6b17f92ae036478e.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Her note-taking began in her early years. As a nine-year-old just starting out in the sport, she wrote a poem about her dream of competing in the Olympics.
&ldquo;We all feel like cookies and cream,&rdquo; it said. &ldquo;Going to the Olympics is my greatest dream.&rdquo;
It seems dreams do come true after all.
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</blockquote>
&nbsp;
<h2>4. We did it</h2>
Ryan Crouser describes his grandfather as his &ldquo;biggest fan&rdquo;.
Sadly for the record-breaking US shot putter, his grandfather passed away just a week before the Olympics began. Crouser managed to maintain his composure during the competition and produced the greatest series in shot put history, topped by an Olympic record of 23.30m.
But after being confirmed champion, Crouser held up a note that read: &ldquo;Grandpa, We did it. 2020 Olympic champion!&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610b89be276efab8ad5f0b8d.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Before his passing, Crouser&rsquo;s grandfather had lost his hearing, so the family would communicate with him by writing notes.
&ldquo;He would tell me to stop and smell the roses for sure,&rdquo; Crouser said when asked what his grandfather would write in response. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s what he would always tell me. I know he would be proud if he was here and I felt like he was here watching me. It was definitely a special day.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<h2>5. Good as gold</h2>
Shot put legend Valerie Adams values her bronze medal from Tokyo as much as she does any of her 10 global gold medals.
Since the Rio Olympics, the New Zealander has given birth to two children and has bounced back from persistent elbow and shoulder injuries. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61061e5d746a7308a55df5ef.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 &ldquo;The feeling of winning a bronze medal today was just as good as when I won the gold medal,&rdquo; she said.
&ldquo;Since the last Games, I've had these two humans come out of me.
&ldquo;They're in my training diary and I have one on the wall in the (Olympic) Village,&rdquo; she added, holding up a photo of her daughter, Kimoana, and her son, Kepaleli. &ldquo;They go everywhere with me on my journey. They are my family.
&ldquo;It just goes to show the strength of a woman. You can be a mom and come back and be a mother as well.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<h2>6. Deserved recognition</h2>
Most keen followers of the sport had heard of Neeraj Chopra before the Olympic Games.
But after winning the javelin in Tokyo, and in the process becoming India&rsquo;s first athletics gold medallist in Olympic history, Chopra&rsquo;s profile sky-rocketed. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610e7f8c455c4a1d10ace1cb.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 He had 143,000 followers before the Olympics, but now has <a href="https://www.instagram.com/neeraj____chopra/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a staggering 3.2million</a>, making him the most followed track and field athlete in the world.
&ldquo;Still processing this feeling,&rdquo; he recently posted. &ldquo;To all of India and beyond, thank you so much for your support and blessings that have helped me reach this stage. This moment will live with me forever.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<h2>7. Checking in with the fam</h2>
With fans, friends and family unable to attend the Olympics, organisers provided innovative ways to connect medallists with their loved ones.
After each final, the top performers were able to communicate with people back at home via video link-up. And there was a right house full for one athlete in particular.
Andre De Grasse, the 200m gold medallist, was greeted by partner Nia Ali &ndash; the world 100m hurdles champion &ndash; their two children, and other extended family members. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/611271da6b17f92ae0364791.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 &ldquo;I&rsquo;ll see you soon, I love you guys. I&rsquo;ll Facetime you later,&rdquo; said De Grasse. &ldquo;I can&rsquo;t believe it. Oh my God, I did it.&rdquo;
And, like a true Canadian, he signed off with: &ldquo;Have a good day.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<h2>8. Following in the footsteps of the greats</h2>
In the immediate aftermath of their competition, several medallists paid tribute to the athletes who have paved the way in their respective events.
Decathlon winner Damian Warner explained how he was inspired by the past two world record-holders in his event.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t know if you can say that I&rsquo;m the best athlete in the world when you have someone like Kevin, who has scored 9126,&rdquo; said the Canadian. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s a shame that me, Kevin and Ashton weren&rsquo;t at our best at the same time. I think we could have really propelled each other. I think Ashton would have been able to score much higher than he did, I think Kevin&rsquo;s able to score much higher.
&ldquo;Ashton has meant so much to be throughout my career. I remember when he retired, I wrote a message to him to explain that he meant a lot to me. When I first started in the decathlon, my coach and I would go on YouTube and watch videos of Ashton and all the other greats. It&rsquo;s all those guys who created me.&rdquo; 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/610bf800c15071e6583a4262.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 And Laura Muir, silver medallist in the 1500m, explained how she was delighted to finish second to an all-time great in her event.
&ldquo;She's the greatest of all time,&rdquo; Muir said of two-time Olympic 1500m champion Faith Kipyegon. &ldquo;She doesn't get enough credit. She's won everything there is. I've got a lot of respect for her and I'm very, very happy to see her winning gold and I'm honoured to be behind her in that race.&rdquo;
&nbsp;
<h2>9. Appreciation behind the scenes</h2>
Volunteers are the unsung heroes of any major event, but this was especially true at the Tokyo Olympic Games. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/611271f56b17f92ae0364794.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 When athletes made their way from the field of play and headed into the mixed zone in the bowels of the stadium to speak to reporters, <a href="https://twitter.com/seaningle/status/1420950292007370757" target="_blank" rel="noopener">volunteers would greet each competitor with a round of applause</a>.
They were also there at the airport, still smiling and waving, on the final few days of the Games to wave off athletes as they headed home.
&nbsp;
<h2>10. The Inside Track</h2>
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/611272066b17f92ae0364797.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
Throughout the Games, the World Athletics website provided a second-screen experience so that people could enjoy the action alongside sporting legends, athletes&rsquo; families and super fans.
One of the best reactions came from Jody and Bayo from the Backstraight Boys (&amp; Girl) Podcast as they watched the men&rsquo;s 4x100m final.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
"Oh, Italy won" 😯😅 🇬🇧 <a href="https://twitter.com/BackstraightB?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@BackstraightB</a>, u ok hun? That men's 4x100 was a 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙮 emotional rollercoaster 🎢<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Tokyo2020?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Tokyo2020</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WAInsideTrack?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WAInsideTrack</a> <a href="https://t.co/JsJoaU0nOr">pic.twitter.com/JsJoaU0nOr</a>
&mdash; World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics/status/1423651288760262665?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 6, 2021</a></blockquote>
Earlier in the Games, they had <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldAthletics/status/1421855964739694595" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a similarly memorable reaction to Tamberi and Barshim sharing the gold medal</a> in the high jump.
In the words of Bayo: &ldquo;That&rsquo;s so Olympic.&rdquo;
&nbsp;

Beyond the record-breaking performances, what made the Tokyo Olympics truly memorable were the other moments that happened on and off the field of play

10 magical moments from the Tokyo Olympic Games

There is something of the Usain Bolt about Soufiane El Bakkali.
Standing on the start line, or clipping around the track in that smooth, upright style of his, the 1.88m (6ft 2in) tall steeplechaser appears to be, if not quite fully head and shoulders above the opposition, then somewhere approaching it.
The 25-year-old Moroccan proved to be so in metaphorical terms when it came to the crunch in the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase final on the sodden Tokyo Olympic Stadium track.&nbsp;
After the storm, El Bakkali was a picture of calm as he bided his time, gathering himself for the burst round the final bend that took him clear of Ethiopia&rsquo;s Lamecha Girma for his country&rsquo;s first Olympic track and field gold since Hicham El Guerrouj&rsquo;s memorable 1500m-5000m double in Athens 17 long years ago.
Girma took Ethiopia&rsquo;s first Olympic men&rsquo;s steeplechase medal and Benjamin Kigen claimed bronze for Kenya. It was Kenya&rsquo;s 22nd&nbsp;medal in the event but scant consolation for the nation that has monopolised male steeplechasing at the Games. 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/61114e300b50f0d9adf58a78.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 Indeed, you have to track all of the way back to the last Olympics held in Japan&rsquo;s capital city &ndash; back to 1964 &ndash; to find the last time that Kenya failed to bring a Midas touch to bear in the men&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase.
Yes, the brilliant, half-Scottish Bronislaw Malinowski won gold for Poland ahead of the great Tanzanian middle distance man Filbert Bayi in Moscow in 1980, and Sweden&rsquo;s&nbsp;Anders Garderud&nbsp;did likewise ahead of Malinowski in Montreal in 1976. But those were both Games that were boycotted by Kenya.
Kenya made their debut in the 3000m steeplechase in Tokyo in 1964. Their sole representative, Benjamin Kogo, finished fifth in his heat and failed to advance. Gaston Roelants of Belgium won the final, ahead of Britain&rsquo;s Maurice Herriott.
Since then, boycotts apart, it has &ndash; or had &ndash; been gold all the way for Kenya: Amos Biwott (1968), Kip Keino (1972), Julius Korir (1984), Julius Kariuki (1984), Matthew Birir (1992), Joseph Keter (1996), Reuben Kosgei (2000), Ezekiel Kemboi (2004), Brimin Kipruto (2008), Kemboi again (2012) and Conselsus Kipruto (2016). 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/611188dedf02a67dc9cfab7c.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 The Rio final five years ago made it nine successive Olympic golds and yet the result was greeted as a disappointment back home, being the first since 1984 from which Kenya had taken just the one medal. There would have been bronze as well as gold had Kemboi not been disqualified for stepping off the track at a water jump.
That decision upgraded the colourful Frenchman Mahiedine Mekhissi-Benabbad to third place, and a 20-year-old El Bakkali to fourth, 2.43 seconds shy of a podium spot. It was familiar territory for the young Moroccan. At the 2014 World U20 Championships in Eugene, Bakkali had placed fourth behind Kenyans Barnabas Kipyego and Titus Kibiego and Burundi&rsquo;s Evans Chematot.
And yet El Bakkali&rsquo;s ascent to Olympic gold medal winner was no bolt from the blue. Far from it.
Save for the 2019 World Championships final in Doha, when Conselsus Kipruto rose Lazarus-like to retain his global crown five months after a stress fracture (and El Bakkali took bronze behind the emerging Girma), the man from Fez has been the dominant force in his specialist event.
El Bakkali has won five out of six Diamond League steeplechases he has contested in the past three seasons. And his 3:31.95 for third place in the Doha Diamond League 1500m in May this year (a PB by 2.43), behind Timothy Cheruiyot and Stewart McSweyn, showed a glint of golden sharpness.
With Kipruto having failed to finish at the Kenyan trials, El Bakkali arrived in Tokyo as the pedigree contender. Since finishing fourth in Rio in 2016, he has now claimed a medal in three successive global finals, with a silver from the 2017 World Championships in London (behind Kipruto) and bronze in Doha in 2019 (behind Kipruto and Girma).
He has also joined a hallowed list from Moroccan Olympic track and field: Nawal El Moutawakel (400m hurdles, 1984), Said Aouita (5000m, 1984), Brahim Boutayeb (10,000m, 1988), Khalid Skah (10,000m, 1992) and El Guerrouj (1500m and 5000m, 2004). 
<img src="https://assets.aws.worldathletics.org/6107e7f0f5668a58772985bf.jpg" alt="" width="100%" />
 "I have been aiming for this for years,&rdquo; El Bakkali reflected. &ldquo;This was my opportunity to show that Morocco is capable of winning this prize.
"It is a big accomplishment for me. I am so used to seeing Kenyans win.
"It was not easy for me to be in front of the Kenyans and Ethiopians. I know how hard it is to be first in front of them."
At 25, El Bakkali has time to consolidate his hard-earned position as the planet&rsquo;s pre-eminent male steeplechaser. With a PB of 7:58.15 from the Monaco Diamond League meeting in 2018, he stands 10th on the world all-time list. Saif Saaeed Shaheen&rsquo;s 17-year-old world record is 7:53.63.&nbsp;
The global mark before that was held by a Moroccan. Brahim Boulami clocked 7:55.28 in Brussels in 2001, ending 23 years of ownership by a succession of Kenyans, stretching back to Henry Rono in 1978. It remains the Moroccan record.
Then, of course, there is a world title up for grabs in Eugene next year. The Kenyan fist has not been quite so tight on World Championships gold but they have won 13 of 17 men&rsquo;s golds in the 3000m steeplechase - including the last seven in a row, courtesy of Brimin Kipruto (2007), Kemboi (2009, 2011, 2013 and 2015) and Conselsus Kipruto (2017 and 2019).
The challenge now for Morocco&rsquo;s Olympic champion is to follow in the footsteps of (West) Germany&rsquo;s Patriz Ilg (1983), Italy&rsquo;s Francesco Panetta (1987) and Qatar&rsquo;s Shaheen (2003 and 2005) by finishing a cut above the Kenyans and the rest again on the Oregon trail in 2022.
Simon Turnbull for World Athletics

There is something of the Usain Bolt about Soufiane El Bakkali.

A changing of the men's Olympic steeplechase guard

More than 50 athletes from the sport of athletics will carry the flags for their nation at the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Sunday (8).
Ten days of competition, which included three world records, 12 Olympic records and 28 area records, came to a close with the men&rsquo;s marathon on Sunday morning, with Kenya&rsquo;s marathon great Eliud Kipchoge retaining his title.
Now his fellow Olympic gold medallists Sifan Hassan, Damian Warner, Pedro Pichardo and Peruth Chemutai will be among the flag bearers returning to Tokyo's Olympic Stadium as the 2020 Games come to a close.
For Hassan, the moment will cap an incredible performance in Tokyo, with the Dutch star having claimed an unprecedented medal treble of 5000m and 10,000m golds plus 1500m bronze over nine days.
&ldquo;I am so happy and I cried during the medal ceremony,&rdquo; the 28-year-old said after her 10,000m triumph on Saturday. &ldquo;I actually realised that I am done, the Games are&nbsp;over.&rdquo;
Warner&rsquo;s victory had been secured on Thursday, when he became just the fourth man in history to break the 9000-point barrier to win the decathlon title. The Canadian&rsquo;s 9018-point tally was one of the 12 Olympic records set at the Tokyo Games.
Portugal&rsquo;s Pichardo, meanwhile, leapt to the triple jump title, setting one of the 151 national records achieved at these Olympics with his winning mark of 17.98m. In that same competition, the bronze medallist was world indoor record-holder Hugues Fabrice Zango and as a result, Burkina Faso became the 100th country to have won an Olympic medal in athletics.
For Chemutai, victory came in the 3000m steeplechase. Other medallists in Tokyo carrying their nation&rsquo;s flag will be Ethiopia&rsquo;s Selemon Barega, Grenada&rsquo;s Kirani James, Kenya&rsquo;s Timothy Cheruiyot and New Zealand&rsquo;s Valerie Adams.&nbsp;
With the 2020 Games delayed a year due to the pandemic, athletes and fans now have only three years to wait until Olympic action returns in Paris in 2024. 
<h3>Athletics flag bearers at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Closing Ceremony</h3>
Listed in&nbsp;the order in which they will march. List correct at time of publication and may be subject to change.
Antigua and Barbuda (ANT) - Cejhae Greene (men&rsquo;s 100m) Andorra (AND) - Pol Moya (men&rsquo;s 800m) Italy (ITA) - Lamont Marcell Jacobs (men&rsquo;s 100m and 4x100m) Uganda (UGA) - Peruth Chemutai (women&rsquo;s 3000m steeplechase) Uruguay (URU) - Maria Pia Fernandez (women&rsquo;s 1500m) Ecuador (ECU) - Glenda Morej&oacute;n (women&rsquo;s 20km race walk) Estonia (EST) - Maicel Uibo (decathlon) Eswatini (SWZ) - Sibusiso Matsenjwa (men&rsquo;s 200m) Ethiopia (ETH) - Selemon Barega (10,000m) Eritrea (ERI) - Nazret Weldu (women&rsquo;s marathon) Netherlands (NED) - Sifan Hassan (1500m, 5000m and 10,000m) Guyana (GUY) - Emanuel Archibald (men&rsquo;s 100m) Canada (CAN) - Damian Warner (decathlon) Gambia (GAM) - Ebrima Camara (men&rsquo;s 100m) Cuba (CUB) - Zurian Hechavarr&iacute;a (women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles and 4x400m) Grenada (GRN) - Kirani James (men&rsquo;s 400m) Kenya (KEN) - Timothy Cheruiyot (men&rsquo;s 1500m) Cote d'Ivoire (CIV) - Marie-Josee Ta Lou (women&rsquo;s 100m and 200m) Costa Rica (CRC) - Noelia Vargas (women&rsquo;s 20km race walk) Comoros (COM) - Fadane Hamadi (men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles) Congo (CGO) - Gilles Anthony Afoumba (men&rsquo;s 400m) Zambia (ZAM) - Sydney Siame (men&rsquo;s 200m) Djibouti (DJI) - Souhra Ali Mohamed (women&rsquo;s 1500m) Jamaica (JAM) - Demish Gaye (men&rsquo;s 400m and 4x400m) Sri Lanka (SRI) - Yupun Abeykoon Mudiyanselage (men&rsquo;s 100m) Saint Lucia (LCA) - Levern Spencer (women&rsquo;s high jump) Chinese Taipei (TPE) - Chen Chieh (men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles) United Republic of Tanzania (TAN) - Male Alphonce Felix Simbu (men&rsquo;s marathon) Czech Republic (CZE) Jakub Vadlejch (men&rsquo;s javelin) People's Republic of China (CHN) - Su Bingtian (men&rsquo;s 100m and 4x100m) Tuvalu (TUV) - Karalo Hepoiteloto Maibuca (men&rsquo;s 100m) Dominica (DMA) - Thea Lafond (women&rsquo;s triple jump) Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) - Andwuelle Wright (men&rsquo;s long jump) Namibia (NAM) - Beatrice Masilingi (women&rsquo;s 200m) New Zealand (NZL) - Valerie Adams (shot put) Haiti (HAI) - Mulern Jean (women&rsquo;s 100m hurdles) Pakistan (PAK) - Arshad Nadeem (men&rsquo;s javelin) Panama (PAN) - Jorge Castelblanco (men&rsquo;s marathon) Bahamas (BAH) - Megan Moss (women&rsquo;s 4x400m) Paraguay (PAR) - Derlys Ayala (men&rsquo;s marathon) Barbados (BAR) - Tia-Adana Belle (women&rsquo;s 400m hurdles) American Samoa (ASA) - Nathan Crumpton (men&rsquo;s 100m) Virgin Islands, US (ISV) - Eddie Vovett (men&rsquo;s 110m hurdles) Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) - Amel Tuka (men&rsquo;s 800m) Botswana (BOT) - Anthony Pasela (men&rsquo;s 4x400m) Bolivia (BOL) - Angela Castro (women&rsquo;s 20km race walk) Portugal (POR) - Pedro Pichardo (men&rsquo;s triple jump) Honduras (HON) - Ivan Zarco Alvarez&nbsp;(men&rsquo;s marathon) South Africa (RSA) - Anaso Jobodwana (men&rsquo;s 200m) South Sudan (SSD) - Abraham Guem (men&rsquo;s 1500m) Republic of Moldova (MDA) - Andrian Mardare (men&rsquo;s javelin) Luxembourg (LUX) - Bob Bertemes (men&rsquo;s shot put) Rwanda (RWA) - John Hakizimana (men&rsquo;s marathon) Lesotho (LES) - Neheng Khatala (women&rsquo;s marathon) United States of America (USA) - Kara Winger (women&rsquo;s javelin)

More than 50 athletes from the sport of athletics will carry the flags for their nation at the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Sunday.

Hassan and Warner among Tokyo 2020 Closing Ceremony flag bearers

Five years ago, marathon world record-holder Eliud Kipchoge was the last athletics champion crowned at the Olympic Games in Rio. He replicated that performance this morning in Sapporo with another commanding run to become only the third man to successfully defend an Olympic marathon title.
In Rio, he waited until the 36th kilometre to break away. Today, his decisive move came in the 31st. By the 38th, the Kenyan more closely resembled a solitary figure out on a morning training run than a man leading the Olympic marathon. He'd built a lead of more than one minute by that point, with no other runner within view.&nbsp;
Such was Kipchoge's dominance this morning en route to his 2:08:38 triumph. His winning margin of 1:20 was the widest in an Olympic marathon since Frank Shorter's win in 1972.
"I think I have fulfilled the legacy by winning the marathon for the second time, back-to-back. I hope now to help inspire the next generation," said Kipchoge, who joined 1960 and 1964 champion Abebe Bikila of Ethiopia and East German Waldemar Cierpinski, the winner in Montreal in 1976 and Moscow in 1980, as a back-to-back winner.
"It means a lot for me, especially at this time. It was really hard last year, with the Olympic Games postponed. I am happy for the local organising committee who made this race happen. It is a sign that shows the world we are heading in the right direction - we are on the right transition to a normal life."
Like yesterday's women's race, the pace was conservative and cautious throughout, with a large group of nearly 50 runners going through the opening five kilometres in 15:17 and ten in 30:53, on pace for a modest 2:10:19 finish. Kipchoge was at or near the front throughout, taking turns in the lead with Colombian Jeison Alexander Suarez and Daniel do Nascimento of Brazil who seemed to enjoy the opportunity of leading a pack that included the greatest marathoner of all-time.
Little changed at 15 kilometres (46:03) where 2016 bronze medallist Galen Rupp of the US and Kipchoge's teammate Lawrence Cherono were also chipping in with the pacing duties.
The field was beginning to spread out by the time Stephen Mokoka of South Africa reached the halfway point in 1:05:13, with 23 runners still within three seconds of the lead. At the head of the pack, Kipchoge was the picture of calm and cool, and was playful too, as he exchanged a fist bump with Brazil's Daniel do Nascimento as they continued to take turns at the front.
The first big break came in the 27th kilometre when the lead pack was reduced to 12, but with Kipchoge still firmly dictating the proceedings. Rupp was still there, along with Belgian Bashir Abdi and Dutchman Abdi Nageeye, Kipchoge's teammates Cherono and Kipruto, and Alphonce Felix Simbu of Tanzania.
By 30km (1:32:31) the pack further dwindled to eight, but that apparently wasn't to Kipchoge's liking. Less than a kilometre later, he injected a surge that quickly created considerable daylight between him and the remaining chase pack. He then began to pour it on, building a 27-second lead through 35 kilometres (1:46:59). He extended it to more than a minute five kilometres later. The only company he had in the waning moments were the substantial crowds that turned out to watch the race.&nbsp;
Behind him, Cherono, Ayad Lamdassem of Spain, and training partners Abdi and Nageeye battled it out for the remaining two podium spots. Nageeye won that battle, crossing the line in 2:09:58, two seconds clear of Abdi.
&ldquo;I said so many times I wanted a top three, but I never made it. So today I was just focusing. Focus, focus, focus,&rdquo; said Nageeye, who finished 11th in Rio. &ldquo;When I reached 39km I just knew (I would win a medal). I was feeling really easy with three kilometres to go. I knew I had just nine minutes to run. It is unbelievable.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I always believed in myself,&rdquo; he continued. &ldquo;I was a nomad, I packed my bags and trained in France, America, Ethiopia, Kenya. To stand on the podium with Eliud Kipchoge, the greatest of all time &ndash; It is amazing.&rdquo;
Abdi too was a believer. Without Nageeye, he said, it would be unlikely that he&rsquo;d finish on the podium.
"The last three kilometres was very hard because I had cramp,&rdquo; Abdi said. &ldquo;But my training partner motivated me. I am really happy he finished in second place, and I'm really happy with the bronze. He said, 'you must go.' If he was not there today, it would have been a difficult last three kilometres."
Cherono was next, two seconds back in 2:10:02 with Lamdassem clocking 2:10:16 for fifth. Suguro Osako closed well to finish sixth and the first Japanese in 2:10:41. Further back, Rupp was eighth in 2:11:41.
Tachlowini Gabriyesos, the first refugee team member to achieve an Olympic qualifying standard, performed well, clocking 2:14:02 to finish 16th.
Of the 106 runners who started, 76 finished.
Bob Ramsak for World Athletics
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<td style="background-color: #fd5249; text-align: center; width: 100%;" colspan="3">MEN'S MARATHON MEDALLISTS</td>
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<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #e9c968; text-align: center;">🥇</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #e9c968;">Eliud Kipchoge 🇰🇪 KEN</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #e9c968;">2:08:38</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #ced4d9; text-align: center;">🥈</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #ced4d9;">Abdi Nageeye 🇳🇱 NED</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #ced4d9;">2:09:58 SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="width: 10%; background-color: #bd895e; text-align: center;">🥉</td>
<td style="width: 60%; background-color: #bd895e;">Bashir Abdi 🇧🇪 BEL</td>
<td style="width: 30%; background-color: #bd895e;">2:10:00 SB</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="background-color: #34495e; text-align: left; width: 100%;" colspan="3">&nbsp;&nbsp;<a style="color: #ffffff;" href="https://www.worldathletics.org/competitions/olympic-games/the-xxxii-olympic-games-athletics-7132391/results/men/marathon/final/result" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Full results</a></td>
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&nbsp;

Kipchoge cements legendary status by retaining Olympic marathon crown

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has hailed the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games and the people of Japan for allowing the dreams of the world&rsquo;s athletes to come to life at what has proven to be the most globally successful edition of the Games for athletics.
A record 83 teams reached finals in Tokyo, highlighting the global reach of the sport, with 43 teams featuring on the medal podium and 23 of those winning gold.
Some 70 per cent of athletes only get one chance to compete at the Olympic Games and in Tokyo athletes made the most of the opportunity under the most challenging circumstances.
Coe thanked Japan and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee for providing the best possible platform on which the sport&rsquo;s stars could shine. Over ten days of competition, three world records, 12 Olympic records, 28 area records and 151 national records were set in these history-making Games.
&ldquo;To the people of Japan, we know the hardship you have endured and continue to endure in the face of this global pandemic," Coe said.
&ldquo;We owe you a massive debt of gratitude for your gracious hospitality, your professionalism and your friendship. You really have been simply the best and we thank you unreservedly.&rdquo;
The tally of 43 countries on the medal table is the biggest in athletics for more than 20 years, underlining the diversity and depth of talent in the sport. Across all Olympic sports at the Tokyo Games, 93 teams earned medals, so almost 50 percent of those achieved their dreams in athletics.
For 12 teams &ndash; Bahamas, Bahrain, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Grenada, Jamaica, Kenya, Morocco, Namibia, Puerto Rico and Uganda &ndash; athletics was their pathway to the Olympic podium.
In total, athletes at the Games covered a combined distance of 2,045,750 metres in track events and 10,737km in road events. Field eventers threw a combined distance of 1508 metres and jumped a combined distance of 2490 metres.
The Tokyo Olympic Games was also the highest quality major event in history, as per the <a href="https://www.worldathletics.org/records/competition-performance-rankings?type=1&amp;sortBy=score&amp;page=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">competition performance rankings</a>:
SCORE - EVENT 197115 - Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games 196457 - World Championships Doha 2019 195953 - Rio 2016 Olympic Games 194547 - World Championships Beijing 2015 193426 - World Championships London 2017
<h2>Burkina Faso and India make history</h2>
More than 100 countries have now won Olympic medals in athletics, after India and Burkina Faso won their first medals in the Tokyo stadium, courtesy of superb performances by javelin star Neeraj Chopra and triple jump ace Hugues Fabrice Zango.
With a throw of 87.58m, Chopra became the first Indian to win an Olympic gold in athletics.
Zango, meanwhile, soared 17.47m to claim bronze in the triple jump, making his nation the 100th to join the Olympic athletics medal list. 
<h2>US women play starring role</h2>
With 26 medals, the US team topped the medals table, and of the seven gold medals won by the team, five were claimed by women.
Sydney McLaughlin was one of the three athletes who set world records in Tokyo, winning the 400m hurdles in 51.46. Norway&rsquo;s Karsten Warholm also set a new world standard in the men&rsquo;s 400m hurdles (45.94) as did Venezuela&rsquo;s Yulimar Rojas in the triple jump (15.67m).
Meanwhile Allyson Felix became the most decorated female track and field athlete in Olympic history with 11 medals, after winning gold in the 4x400m relay and bronze in the individual 400m. The 35-year-old American, who has attended five consecutive Olympic Games, has seven gold medals to her name.
The strength in women&rsquo;s events was also apparent across the board, with 55 per cent of the national records at the Tokyo 2020 Games being set in women&rsquo;s disciplines. 
<h2>Engaging and inspiring</h2>
While the platform was set for many record-breaking performances, the Tokyo 2020 Games will also be remembered for its surprise results, close contests, next generation breakthroughs and moments of fair play.
Among the new stars who shone on the global stage were teenagers Athing Mu and Keely Hodgkinson, who claimed respective gold and silver in the women&rsquo;s 800m at the age of just 19.
Fourteen athletes under the age of 23 won medals, six of them gold, to underline the exceptional talent coming through the sport.
Meanwhile, one of the most heart-warming moments of the Games came in the men&rsquo;s high jump when Qatar&rsquo;s Mutaz Barshim and Italy&rsquo;s Gianmarco Tamberi &ndash; friends and rivals who battled the same career-threatening injury to make it to Tokyo &ndash; decided to share the gold.
All of these moments helped to engage and inspire fans around the globe. World Athletics&rsquo; social media channels (Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok) received 14 million engagements during the duration of the Games, and content on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube receiving 155 million impressions.
For the first time, World Athletics also provided a second screen experience &ndash; Inside Track Tokyo 2020 &ndash; which enabled fans to join celebrities, experts and families online as they shared their reactions live while following the excitement of the Games.
World Athletics

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