50 Fun Facts About Tokyo 2020 Olympics

In which year were the Tokyo 2020 Olympics actually held?

The one-year delay made it the only Games ever staged in an odd-numbered year.

On what date was the postponement of the Games announced?

The announcement came 122 days before the planned opening, in a joint statement by the IOC, the organisers and Shinzo Abe.

Why were the events held without spectators?

It remains the only Olympic Games held with no official spectators.

Roughly how much did the Tokyo Games cost in total, making them the most expensive ever?

The postponement and pandemic measures pushed the bill well past any previous Games.

In which city did the IOC vote to award the Games to Tokyo in 2013?

Tokyo beat Istanbul 60 votes to 36 in the final head-to-head round.

Which city did Tokyo defeat in the final round of the host vote?

Madrid and Istanbul tied for second in round one, and Madrid lost the run-off.

Tokyo 2020 was the fourth Olympics in Japan; which of these was NOT one of the previous three?

Tokyo became the first Asian city to host the Summer Games twice.

Which nation topped the Tokyo 2020 medal table?

The Americans won 39 golds and 113 medals in total, one gold ahead of China.

How many gold medals did host nation Japan win, a national record?

Japan's 27 golds and 58 medals in total were both the most it had ever won.

Under what name did the Russian delegation compete?

The acronym stood for the Russian Olympic Committee, though the full name could not be used.

Which of these nations won its first-ever Olympic gold medal in Tokyo?

Bermuda, the Philippines and Qatar all struck gold for the first time; the other three won their first medals of any colour.

Which weightlifter won the Philippines' first Olympic gold?

She lifted her way into history in the women's 55 kg class.

Which swimmer won the most gold medals in Tokyo, with five?

Emma McKeon won the most medals overall, with seven.

Which Australian swimmer won seven medals, tying the record for a woman at one Games?

She matched Soviet gymnast Maria Gorokhovskaya's seven medals from 1952.

Which four sports made their Olympic debut in Tokyo?

Baseball and softball also returned for one Games only, for the first time since 2008.

How many medal events were held at Tokyo 2020?

They were spread across 33 sports and 51 disciplines.

Which sport did the IOC vote to drop in 2013, only to reinstate it for 2020 months later?

Its reinstatement beat baseball/softball and squash, 49 votes to 24 and 22.

Who lit the Olympic cauldron at the opening ceremony?

The tennis star's cauldron was used only at the ceremonies; a second one burned in public on the Odaiba waterfront.

Who formally opened the Games?

The ceremony also held a moment of silence for victims of the pandemic, the 2011 tsunami and the Munich massacre.

What Olympic first happened with the flag bearers at the opening ceremony?

The change came out of Thomas Bach's Agenda 2020 reforms.

To which city were the marathon and race walks moved because of heat concerns?

Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike accepted the IOC's decision while saying the races should have stayed in Tokyo.

The Tokyo medals were made from metal recovered from what?

The programme aimed to collect eight tonnes of metal, much of it from mobile phones.

Who designed the Tokyo 2020 medals?

Their ribbons carried one, two or three silicone lines so gold, silver and bronze could be told apart by touch.

The podiums were 3D-printed from what donated material?

Some 400,000 bottles were collected over nine months, and the rings were made from recycled aluminium from 2011 disaster housing.

What was the slogan of the Tokyo 2020 torch relay?

The flame spent the postponement year in a lantern on display in Fukushima and then Tokyo.

In which prefecture did the torch relay restart in March 2021?

It set off from Naraha, in the region hit by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami, almost a year late.

Which swimmer carried the flame lantern in a 2020 video after recovering from leukaemia?

The video drew a parallel between her comeback and emergence from the pandemic.

Who resigned as head of the organising committee in February 2021 after sexist remarks?

The former prime minister was replaced by Seiko Hashimoto.

Which architect's stadium design was scrapped in 2015 over cost and criticism?

Critics compared the design to a bicycle helmet; Kengo Kuma's temple-inspired replacement was chosen instead.

Why was the original 2015 Tokyo 2020 emblem withdrawn?

Belgian designer Olivier Debie claimed it copied his Théâtre de Liège logo; Asao Tokolo's checkered ring replaced it.

The final emblem's indigo checkered design echoes which Edo-period pattern?

The pattern was popular in Japan between 1603 and 1867.

What was the name of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic mascot?

Its name combines the Japanese words for "future" and "eternity", and it can supposedly teleport.

Who chose the mascots from the three shortlisted pairs?

2,042 designs were submitted before the children made the final call in 2018.

What was the official slogan of Tokyo 2020, unveiled in February 2020?

"Discover Tomorrow" had been the bid slogan; the official one was used only in English.

What were venue volunteers known as?

City volunteers were "City Cast"; around 10,000 of 80,000 volunteers quit before the Games.

What was the name of the IOC and Tokyo task force set up to handle the postponement?

"Ready, Steady, Tokyo" was the banner for the test events.

By how many days were all events delayed to keep the same days of the week?

One day less than a full year preserved the weekday schedule.

Why were swimming finals held in the morning in Tokyo?

NBC's $7.75 billion deal through 2032 gives it sway over scheduling; Japanese broadcasters were unhappy.

Which country skipped Tokyo 2020 citing COVID-19, its first Summer Games absence since 1988?

It was later banned from the 2022 Winter Olympics for failing to attend.

Which Belarusian sprinter refused to be sent home and fled to Poland during the Games?

She was granted a humanitarian visa by the Polish embassy and flew to Warsaw on August 4.

How many athletes competed at Tokyo 2020?

They came from all 206 National Olympic Committees.

Which ceremony director was dismissed the day before the opening over a 1998 Holocaust joke?

His predecessor Sasaki had already quit over comments about Naomi Watanabe, and the composer Oyamada resigned too.

The opening ceremony music featured arrangements from what kind of Japanese source?

The inclusion of Dragon Quest music drew criticism because of its composer's politics.

What share of the National Stadium's plywood was admitted to come from endangered rainforests?

Petitions with 140,000 signatures protested the use of Malaysian tropical wood.

Who composed the music for the Tokyo 2020 medal ceremonies?

He deliberately avoided distinctively Japanese musical elements so every medallist would feel at ease.

The sunflowers in the victory bouquets were grown in which prefecture?

They were planted by families whose children died in the 2011 disaster; gentians came from Iwate and eustomas from Fukushima.

How many people did the Games reach as a global broadcast audience?

Digital platforms logged 28 billion video views, earning Tokyo the tag of the first "streaming Games".

Where was the public Olympic cauldron displayed during the Games?

It was only the second time the cauldron was not kept in the athletics stadium, after Rio 2016.

Which Algerian judoka was banned for 10 years after refusing to face an Israeli opponent?

His coach Amar Benikhlef received the same suspension from the International Judo Federation.

Which pharmaceutical company announced in May 2021 it would donate vaccine doses to Olympic teams?

China had earlier offered to cover the cost of its own vaccines for athletes.