Press Release by Mr Husain Al Musallam, Director General, Olympic Council of Asia

OCA praises Asian athletes for dedication and determination in chasing Olympic dreams

Tokyo, Japan, August 8, 2021: As the Olympic Games in Tokyo prepares for the Closing Ceremony on Sunday evening, the Olympic Council of Asia would like to congratulate the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee on the success of the Games.

The OCA has always stood by the IOC, first in the decision to postpone the Olympic Games by one year, and then to go ahead with the Games while observing strict health protocols and adopting countermeasures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The OCA feels that the decision to proceed with the Games has proved to be correct.

The OCA would also like to praise the National Olympic Committees of Asia for their hard work before and during the Games to make sure all the health protocols and requirements were observed.

The pandemic has created unique challenges for our sports administrators, and the OCA congratulates the NOCs for creating the best environment possible for their athletes to produce their best performance.

The OCA is also proud of the performances of our NOCs and Asian athletes.

Twenty-two of our NOCs have won medals, including 12 with gold medals.

China has excelled in several sports, winning seven gold medals in both diving and weightlifting, and has proved their prowess and excellence in several other sports such as shooting and table tennis with four gold medals in each sport.

Japan has enjoyed a wonderful home Olympics in their capital, with nine judo gold and five wrestling gold among the record medal haul and stirring victories in the popular team sports of baseball and softball. They also won four gold medals in two of the new sports – skateboarding and karate.

Korea was dominant in archery with four gold medals, including three for 20-year-old An San in mixed team, women’s team and women’s individual, while the Islamic Republic of Iran, Chinese Taipei, Uzbekistan and Qatar all won multiple gold medals.

It was a particularly proud moment for Qatar and the Philippines, winning the first Olympic gold medals in their history.

The weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz produced one of the highlights of the Olympic Games for Asia, winning gold at her fourth Olympics. After leaving the Rio Olympics in 2016 with a silver medal, Diaz continued to chase her Olympic dream and succeeded in Tokyo, releasing unbridled pride and joy around the Philippines and among the millions of Filipinos worldwide.

This proved the power of sport to unite the people and to inspire youngsters to aim for the top.

Several other NOCs, including India, Hong Kong China and Jordan, have enjoyed their most productive Olympics in terms of multiple medals, while Turkmenistan claimed their first ever Olympic medal at Tokyo 2020 – a silver in weightlifting.

The OCA would like to congratulate the President of Turkmenistan and Turkmenistan Olympic Committee, His Excellency Mr. Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov, on this success which represents a rich reward for his efforts to develop sport and sports infrastructure in his country.

The success stories of Asian athletes have been followed and admired throughout the continent and the world and the OCA would like to thank them for their dedication, hard work and determination to keep chasing their dreams in the challenges of the recent past.

END

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