MORE than Sydney, fewer than Athens, London or Peking, Spain has matched its Olympic medal haul from Rio 2016 and Atlanta 1996, with fewer golds than at the last Games but more diplomas, with 179 of Spain's 322 competitors – 56% in total – netting top eight positions.
Tokyo 2020 closing ceremony
Sporting achievements are always more than the colour of the award – in Tokyo 2020, competitors such as Pablo Carreño (men's tennis) and David Valero (mountain-biking) earned bronzes that represent more blood, sweat and tears than the easily-won golds of others; an eighth-place diploma in a huge field of some of the best players in their discipline of far more personal value than a medal gained against a small number of rivals where the standard was relatively low.
It's all relative, and whilst Spain always hopes to top its record of 22, with 13 golds and ranking sixth in the world, from its hitherto sole home-turf Games – Barcelona 1992 – those who flew back from Japan with decorations are justifiably delighted.
From medal 10 to medal 17 inclusive
We revealed the first nine medal-winners in our article here, but since then, Spain upped its gold reserves by 200% - from one to three – and nearly doubled its collection overall, to 17.
Number 10 went to Nico Rodríguez and Jordi Xammar, who earned a bronze in men's 470 sailing, behind Sweden's Dahlberg and Bergström who took the silver, and successfully fighting off their nearest threat, New Zealand, the only rival near enough to put their podium position in jeopardy – they finished on 45 points to Sweden's 41, but none of the field had a hope of catching Australian duo Belcher and Ryan, who got the gold with 21 points.
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