A look at 5 things to know form the final day of the Tokyo Olympics

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This article was published 08/08/2021 (1834 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

TOKYO – From ending the Games with a track cycling gold to gutsy performances in the gruelling men’s marathon, here are five things to know from the final day of the Tokyo Olympics.

SPEEDING TO VICTORY

Kelsey Mitchell says it wasn’t that long ago that she was driving a truck eight hours a day while her partner sprayed weeds in a ditch. Now she is an Olympic champion. Mitchell gave Canada a golden end to the Tokyo Games when she raced to victory in the women’s sprint. She beat Ukraine’s Olena Starikova in two straight heats to capture the title, riding out front and never relinquishing the lead. “I was out there on the track alone and up on the podium alone but it was a team effort. Everyone was behind me,” Mitchell said. “I was as ready as I could possibly be to go and perform in that race.”

BRINGING HOME THE HARDWARE

Mitchell’s gold completed what was already Canada’s most successful showing at a non-boycotted Olympics. Canada ended up with 24 medals, two more than the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics and the 1996 Atlanta Games. And Canada equalled the number of gold medals it won at the 1992 Barcelona Games at seven. Canada won 10 gold and 44 total medals at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics, which were boycotted by the powerhouse Soviet Union and other Eastern Bloc countries.

GUTTING IT OUT

All three Canadians in Sunday’s men’s marathon gutted it out and crossed the finish line. That in itself was no mean feat — thirty men in the field of 106 didn’t make it as they struggled with the heat and humidity in Sapporo. Ben Preisner, Canada’s top finisher in the race, drew inspiration from Canada’s women marathoners, who raced Saturday, to keep him going. “They were super inspiring,” said Preisner, who finished 46th in two hours 19 minutes 27 seconds. “Malindi (Elmore) and Natasha (Wodak), absolutely smashed it. And Dayna (Pidhoresky, who finished despite an injury) showed how much determination she had.”

FLYING THE FLAG

Canada had several good options to carry the Maple Leaf into the closing ceremony, but why not go with the one known in many circles as the “world’s greatest athlete?” That’s the moniker traditionally given to the Olympic decathlon champion, a title Damian Warner of London, Ont., claimed emphatically Thursday in Tokyo. He put up stellar performance after stellar performance across the event’s 10 disciplines, finishing with an Olympic-record score of 9,018 points. Warner proudly carried the Canadian flag into Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium during the jazzy parade of athletes, wearing the one of Team Canada’s graffitied denim jackets that have garnered mixed reviews from the fashion forward. “It’s an honour in my lifetime to be able to represent these athletes at the closing ceremony,” Warner said when announced as flag-bearer.

OWNING THE PODIUM

After taking over from host Japan early on, China sat in top spot in the medal standings for most of the Games. With a late push, however, the Americans caught them on the final day. The U.S. won three gold on Sunday to finish with 39, one more than China. The overall medal race wasn’t even close. The Americans finished with 112, with China well in the distance at 88.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 8, 2021.