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Too many 4th-place finishes? And other (maybe) under-the-radar feats in Tokyo

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Gabby Layugan

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Diana Taurasi of the United States poses with her gold medal during the women" s="" basketball="" medal="" ceremony="" at="" Saitama="" Super="" on="" August="" Brian="" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2021/reuters/08/17/20210808-bkb-w-team5-medal.jpg"/><figcaption>Diana Taurasi of the United States poses with her gold medal during the women&#x27;s basketball medal ceremony at Saitama Super Arena, Saitama, Japan, on August 8, 2021. <em>Brian Snyder, Reuters</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>The rightful king of domestic news during the just-ended Tokyo Olympics was the Philippines&#x27; historic medal haul (1 gold, 2 silvers, 1 bronze) led by the irrepressible Hidilyn Diaz.</p><p>In an Olympic Games the world had to wait 5 years since the last (the first time to be postponed since World War I), here are 5 Olympic feats and moments that might have escaped people&#x27;s attention.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/08/08/21/us-win-seventh-straight-womens-olympic-basketball-title">All-conquering US win seventh straight women&#x27;s Olympic basketball title</a></li></ul><div><strong>Another Olympics, another gold for USA women’s basketball</strong></div><p>While their male counterparts made the basketball tournament more exciting with close finishes, the American women asserted their long-time dominance of Olympic basketball in style. Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird became the first American basketball players (per Olympics.com) to win not 1, not 2, not 3, but 5 gold medals. What dominance. The US women left Tokyo unscathed, and Taurasi and Bird ensured that they have won in each of 3 decades (starting from Athens 2004) they played.</p><p>Talk about dynasty on the international stage.</p><div><strong>Whole lot of 4th places</strong></div><p>The Tokyo Games saw one country break the record with the most fourth place-finishes in Olympic history of the Olympic games.</p><p>The Americans (again) finished with 26 — you read it right, 26 fourth-place finishes, surpassing the 16 Great Britain won at Rio 2016.</p><p>(Imagine, if the USA turned all those into medals, that sum would have been more than all but 11 countries in the overall medal tally. A total 206 countries joined the Tokyo Olympics.) </p><p>Almost is never enough.</p><div><strong>Japan ends with bronze overall</strong></div><p>The host nation simply didn’t disappoint, as they finished third overall with 58 total medals, 27 of which were gold,– matching its best finish since its own hosting in 1964 (16 golds) and Athens 2004 (12 golds). </p><p>Its best performances these Games were: 5 golds in wrestling, gold in boxing (unfortunately against Nesthy Petencio), baseball and softball (beating the mighty USA in both finals), and the newest additions to the Olympic program, including sports climbing, karate, surfing, and skateboarding. In fact, more than a quarter (14) of its medals came from new sports introduced in Tokyo.</p><p>A new sports power rising? Arigato gozaimas, Tokyo.</p><div><strong>Luka Magic alive in Tokyo</strong></div><p>Debuting on a team with just 2 active NBA players per FIBA basketball roster, the only pity was the 22-year old’s Olympic debut wasn’t graced by rabid Slovenian fans. Carrying his newly qualified team (who had to go through 5 grueling qualifying games, topped off by that classic vs host Lithuania in the final) with only one other recognized NBA player, Vlatko Cancar, Dallas Maverick superstar Doncic affirmed his status as the next face of basketball. Americans and Slovenians alike felt the pain of watching games from the other side of the world, as they had to stay up at past midnight or even as early as 3 a.m. just to watch Slovenia upset one basketball giant after another. </p><p>Missing the gold medal round in an excruciating ending, Doncic and Slovenia still provided an opening salvo to their global presence for years to come.</p><p>The Luka legend continues to grow.</p><div><strong>Caeleb dressed to the show</strong></div><p>With 5 gold medals in Tokyo, Caeleb Dressel returned home No. 1 from these Games, the 24-year-old posting the best individual performance, and becoming just the fourth swimmer to win 5 gold medals in a single Games (per Olympedia).</p><p>The graceful and down-to-earth swimmer always dedicated his wins to his teammates.</p><p>“I think I reached my potential here at these Games,” Dressel said. “And it was really fun racing. I’ll give myself a pat on the back. Then I just want to go home, put it away and, you know, move forward.”</p><p>Paris 2024, watch out. Le magnifique Caeleb arrive.</p>

Which was the more accomplished USA basketball side — the men or the women? Which country had the most 4th-place finishes? 