Tokyo 2020
The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were the 32nd in the modern era.
Tokyo, the capital of Japan, hosted the games for the second time in its history, having first hosted them in 1964.
For the first time in the history of the Olympic Games, the games were postponed from their original date.
In January 2020, the first case of a COVID-19 patient was discovered in China.
Less than three months later, the virus became a pandemic worldwide. Tokyo organizers and the International Olympic Committee tried to convey business as usual until they had no choice, and at the end of March, for the first time in history, they decided to postpone the games by a year.
The opening ceremony of the games took place on July 23, 2021, and the games concluded on August 8.
Tokyo defeated Madrid and Istanbul, which also competed to host the games.
The International Olympic Committee decided to add five new sports to the Tokyo Games: surfing and baseball (sports in which Israel will have representation in the Games) as well as karate, skateboarding, and sport climbing. The sports program included the addition of 15 competitions and 286 fewer athletes in total compared to the Rio 2016 Games.
For the first time in 4 sports – weightlifting, rowing, canoe/kayak, and shooting – gender balance between men and women was achieved in several competitions at the games.
The Israeli delegation finished with 4 medals. Two gold and Two bronze.
Artiom Dolgopyat won the gold medal in the floor exercise, and Linoy Ashram won the gold medal in the all-around for individuals. Avishag Samberg won a bronze medal in taekwondo, and the Israeli judo team won a bronze medal in the mixed team competition.
During the opening ceremony and after 49 years, the first commemoration of the 11 victims of the Munich Olympics massacre was held.
