How Alabamian Olympians performed in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics

Tokyo Olympics
The end of the Olympics and we brought the gold. Photo via Unsplash

The 2021 Tokyo Olympics have drawn to a close, and if you’ve been watching you know that Alabama athletes had a great run. If you didn’t see the closing ceremonies, we’ve got you covered with a round up of how our Alabamian Olympians performed in Tokyo.

Bringing home the gold

Tokyo Olympics
Suni Lee grabs the gold for the United States. Photo via Suni Lee

Alabama’s athletes brought home six gold, six silver and six bronze medals in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics for a total of sixteen medals overall for the USA.

Auburn University student Suni Lee came out on top winning three of the overall medals with her impressive gymnastic performances. She earned gold in the women’s all-around, silver on the women’s team competition and bronze in the women’s uneven bars while competing on team USA in artistic gymnastics.

Former Auburn University swimmer Zach Apple won two gold medals as he swam the anchor leg for the United States team in the men’s 4-by-100 freestyle relay and the men’s 4-by-100 medley relay.

Troy University graduate, Vincent Hancock secured his gold medal in men’s skeet which was the third gold medal of his Olympic career.

Final outcomes-Swimming

Tokyo Olympics
Swimming it to the win. Photo via Alabama Swim and Dive

UNITED STATES

  • Zach Apple (Auburn): Along with winning gold, Apple swam the third leg in the gold-medal race in the men’s 4-by-200 freestyle relay, where the US placed fourth. He made it to the semifinals of the men’s 100-meter freestyle, where he placed sixth.
  • Zach Harting (Bob Jones High School, Madison): Harting finished fourth in a semifinal race in the men’s 200-meter butterfly.
  • Annie Lazor (Auburn): Lazor brought home the bronze medal in the women’s 200-meter breaststroke.
  • Paige Madden (UMS-Wright in Mobile): Madden won a silver medal in the women’s 4-by-200 freestyle relay. Madden set a national record as she swam the second leg. She finished seventh in the women’s 400-meter freestyle gold-medal race.
  • Rhyan White (Alabama): White’s skills won her a silver medal in the women’s 4-by-100 relay. She helped the United States qualify for the finals and finished fourth in the women’s 100-meter backstroke final as well as fourth in the women’s 200-meter backstroke final.

ARGENTINA

  • Santiago Grassi (Auburn): Grassi won a heat of men’s 100-meter butterfly, but was unable to advance to the semi-finals. He also finished sixth in a heat of the men’s 50-meter freestyle.

BRAZIL

  • Marcelo Chierighini (Auburn): Chierighini swam the anchor leg helping Brazil finish eighth in the men’s 4-by-100-meter freestyle relay.

BULGARIA

  • Diana Petkova (Alabama): Petkova finished eighth in a heat of the women’s 50-meter breaststroke and eighth in a heat of the 200-meter individual medley.

CYPRUS

  • Kalia Antoniou (Alabama): Antoniou finished fourth in a heat of the women’s 50-meter freestyle and first in a heat of the women’s 100-meter freestyle but did not advance to the semi-finals.

GERMANY

  • Leonie Kullman (Alabama): Kullman finished eighth in a heat of the women’s 400-meter freestyle and swam the second leg of the women’s 4-by-200 freestyle relay for Germany, which finished sixth in the medal race.

GREECE

  • Kristian Gkolomeev (Alabama): Gkolomeev finished sixth in the men’s 50-meter freestyle. He also swam the anchor leg for Greece in its eighth-place heat finish in the men’s 4-by-100 freestyle relay.

GUATEMALA

  • Luis Martinez (Auburn): Martinez finished seventh in the men’s 100-meter butterfly.

ICELAND

  • Anton McKee (Alabama): McKee finished second in a heat race of the men’s 200-meter breaststroke but was not able to advance to the semi-finals.

KUWAIT

  • Abbas Qali (Alabama): Qali finished fourth in a heat of the men’s 100-meter butterfly.

LUXEMBOURG

  • Julie Meynen (Auburn): Meynen finished third in a heat of the women’s 50-meter freestyle and seventh in a heat of the women’s 100-meter freestyle.

US VIRGIN ISLANDS

  • Adriel Sanes (Auburn): Sanes finished third in a heat of the men’s 100-meter breaststroke and eighth in a heat of the men’s 200-meter breaststroke but did not advance.

Final Outcomes-Track & Field

Tokyo Olympics
Never stop running for number one. Photo via Unsplash

BAHAMAS

  • Donald Thomas (Auburn): Thomas cleared 2.21 meters in the qualifying round of the men’s high jump, but did not advance to the medal round.

CANADA

  • Natassha McDonald (Alabama): McDonald finished seventh in a heat of the women’s 400-meter dash.

GRENADA

  • Kirani James (Alabama): James won the bronze medal in the men’s 400-meter dash to become the first athlete with three Olympic medals in the events.

JAMAICA

  • Nathon Allen (Auburn): Allen ran the anchor leg as Jamaica finished sixth in the men’s 4-by-100 relay.
  • Remona Burchell (Alabama): Burchell won a gold medal in the women’s 4-by-100 relay. She helped Jamaica qualify for the finals by running the third leg in a third-place showing in the qualifying heat.

TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO

  • Kai Selvon (Auburn): Selvon ran the third leg for Trinidad and Tobago and finished eighth in a heat race of the women’s 4-by-100 relay.
  • Jereem Richards (Alabama): Richards finished eighth in the gold-medal race of the men’s 200-meter dash. He also ran the second leg, helping Trinidad and Tobago finish eighth in the men’s 4-by-400 relay gold-medal race.
  • Portious Warren (Alabama): Warren finished 11th in the women’s shot put after qualifying with his personal best.

UNITED STATES

  • Quanesha Burks (Hartselle High School, Alabama): Ranked 13th best in the women’s long jump
  • Rachel Dincoff (Auburn): Had a best throw of 56.22 meters in women’s discus, but did not qualify for the medal round.
  • JuVaughn Harrison (Columbia High School in Huntsville): Finished fifth in the men’s long jump and seventh in the men’s high jump.
  • Daniel Haugh (Alabama): Finished 11th in the gold medal round of the men’s hammer throw.
  • Shelby McEwen (Alabama): Finished 12th in the medal round of the men’s high jump.

Final Outcomes-Gymnastics

Tokyo Olympics
Flying high at the Olympics. Photo via Unsplash

UNITED STATES

  • Suni Lee (Auburn): Along with winning gold, Lee also won a silver medal in the women’s team final and a bronze medal in the women’s uneven bars. She finished fifth in the women’s balance beam. In the women’s team final, Lee competed in uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise and posted the best score in each for the United States. She tied for the best score overall on uneven bars and was second-best on balance beam.

CANADA

  • Shallon Olsen (Alabama): Olsen finished seventh in the women’s vault final.

Final Outcomes-Tennis

GERMANY

  • Tim Puetz (Auburn): Puetz won a first-round match in men’s doubles with partner Kevin Krawietz.

Final Outcomes-Golf

IRELAND

  • Stephanie Meadow (Alabama): Meadow finished seventh in the women’s tournament.

UNITED STATES

  • Justin Thomas (Alabama): Thomas finished tied for 22nd in the men’s tournament.

Final Outcomes-Softball

ITALY

  • Emily Carosone (Auburn): Batted 0-for-10 as the designated player in Italy’s five opening-round games, which were all losses.

UNITED STATES

  • Haylie McCleney (Mortimer Jordan High School in Kimberly, Alabama): Won a silver medal after the United States lost to Japan 2-0 in the gold-medal game. She finished second in the tournament and had the most hits.

Final Outcomes-Women’s Soccer

NETHERLANDS

  • Merel van Dongen (Alabama): Played the entire game as a midfielder in the Netherlands’ 10-3 victory over Zambia and 8-2 victory over China.

Final Outcomes-Women’s Basketball

SERBIA

  • Yvonne Anderson (Hoover): Scored 24 points in Serbia’s 91-76 loss to France in the bronze-medal game after netting 15 in a 79-59 loss to the United States in the semifinals. Anderson scored 55 points as Serbia defeated Canada, Korea and China and lost to Spain.

Final Outcomes-Baseball

UNITED STATES

  • Brandon Dickson (Marbury High School in Deatsville, Central Alabama Community College): Won a silver medal after the United States lost to Japan 2-0 in the gold-medal game. Dickson made three appearances out of the bullpen in the United States’ six games.
  • David Robertson (Paul Bryant High School in Cottondale, Alabama): Won a silver medal after the United States lost to Japan 2-0 in the gold-medal game. Robertson made three appearances out of the bullpen in the United States’ six games, and he picked up saves in a 4-2 victory over Korea and a 3-1 victory over the Dominican Republic.

Final Outcomes-Shooting

Toyko Olympics
Hancock wins the gold for Team USA. Photo via Vincent Hancock

UNITED STATES

  • Amber English (Phenix City resident): Won the gold medal in women’s skeet by hitting an Olympic record 56 of 60 shots.
  • James Hall (Jacksonville State): Finished 10th in qualifying in 10-meter men’s air pistol. Hall also placed 10th shooting with Sandra Uptagrafft in the qualification stage for the 10-meter air pistol mixed team event.
  • Vincent Hancock (Troy): Won the gold medal in men’s skeet by hitting an Olympic record 59 of 60 shots.
  • Sandra Uptagrafft (Troy): Finished 49th in qualifying for the women’s 10-meter air pistol, 24th in women’s 25-meter pistol precision qualification and 33rd in women’s 25-meter pistol rapid qualification.

Final Outcomes-Weightlifting

UNITED STATES

  • Sarah Robles (Alabama): Won a bronze medal in the women’s plus 87kg competition. That made her the first US woman with two Olympic weightlifting medals.

What was your favorite Olympic event? Let us know by tagging us @thebamabuzz

Miranda Shaffer
Miranda Shaffer
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