Picture Credit: Twitter
Although the United States won the most medals at Tokyo 2020, it might still feel like a disappointment for them as they won more silver than gold. This is only the fifth time in as many as 28 Summer Olympics that they have had more silver than gold. However, as per a school of thought, it's a binary distinction between either winning gold or coming last and given the USA's record over the years, they will have a few things to improve upon before they can head into the next Games in 2024.
A media report also goes on to claim that Team USA's second-largest contingent in history with 613 athletes finished at least 16 medals short of expectations. However, there are a lot of positives from their campaign at Tokyo 2020 and here are the 5 best performances from their athletes at Tokyo 2020 who look good enough to dominate the world stage for a while.
1. Sunisa Lee
Amid all the drama around Simone Biles, this time it was USA's Sunisa Lee who deservingly hogged the limelight due to her performances. While she played her part in the team event where the USA got the silver medal at Tokyo 2020, she bagged the gold in the individual all-round. She later added a bronze medal in the uneven bars category. Her gold in the individual all-around means the USA has now extended their dominance in this category to five consecutive Olympics, winning gold in each of them. The 18-year-old has a bright future ahead of her.
2. Caeleb Dressel
The list couldn't be complete without the name of Caeleb Dressel. To put things into perspective, India went gaga over Neeraj Chopra and rightly so after he ended the country's 100-year drought of a medal in athletics at Olympics. Dressel, however, has won 5 golds at Tokyo 2020 alone, albeit in a different discipline. He won the gold in the Men's 100m butterfly, Men's 100m freestyle, Men's 4x100m freestyle relay, Men's 4x100m medley relay and Men's 50m freestyle, breaking Olympic records or improving his own personal best at times but clinching nothing but the gold. He is 24 and might just peak in the next Olympics.
3. Sydney McLaughlin
Her speed to win the 400m hurdles near the finish line was spell bounding. This is Sydney McLaughlin and she won not only the gold in the 400m hurdles but also in the 4x400m relay. It was her 22nd birthday on August 7 when she teamed with Muhammad, 800m champion Athing Mu, and Allyson Felix to win the relay and gift herself an Olympic gold. Even with Laughlin, one gets the feeling that she can leave a bigger mark on world athletics in the time to come. She completed the 400m hurdles in 51.46 seconds - a new world record.
4. Robert Finke
Robert Finke produced a comeback for the ages in the swimming pool. Fourth on the final half-length of the pool, he somehow found the momentum and speed to surpass everyone ahead of him. Those that he left behind weren't just ordinary mortals but former World Champions with them even getting podium-finishes later at the 10km open-water swim. However, on the night it was Finke's remarkable finish that won him the medal as he covered the distance of final 50 meters in 26.39 seconds- around 2 seconds faster than anybody else. This was the men's 800 m freestyle and two days later he produced a similar show of late speed in the 1500m. He is just 21 and Paris might already be on his mind.
5. Nevin Harrison
A new Olympic sport of women's canoe racing and it's 19-year-old Nevin Harrison who seems likely to be dominating that for a while after her excellent run in Tokyo 2020. She is a teenager and an Olympic champion and has admitted that being a teenager at a high level sport can be scary. She had to leave other sports due to some health issues but USA would be glad that she picked women's canoe racing where she looks like the boss for now.