Tokyo Olympics: Wrapping up the Olympics for AAPI athletes

Japanese American Michael Norman won a gold medal as a member of the 4x400 relay.

The Tokyo Olympics ended Sunday. Some athletes got all the media attention they could handle. NBC didn't bother with the lesser known sports because Americans were not in contention for a medal. 

Some AAPI athletes medaled, others simply tried their best and that is all we can expect from these Americans of Asian descent. Nevertheless, they are all champions and role models. They left their stamp on these Games and in the world of sports.

The  Olympics of 2021 were like no other Olympics, with the cloud of the coronavirus hanging over the entire event. 

Athletes retire and others begin the long road to prepare for the next Olympics in 2024 that will be staged in Paris.

We met several AAPI athletes as their names were splashed throughout American media outlets: Suni Lee, Lee Kiefer, Carissa Moore and Sky Brown among them and many who this blog overlooked. AAPI athletes competed without the glory and the spotlight for their country or the identification of their ethnic background. There are probably more that could be added to the stories written by this blog. My apologies if I didn't tell their stories, all of which tell the story of America.

Track: 4x400 men's relay wins gold

It's been a nightmare for the U.S. men’s track and field team, but Japanese American Michael Norman took it especially hard.  

He heard all the criticism back home. Questions about if this is the worst U.S. men’s team of all time and their lack of gold medals. He had expected to win a medal in the 400m individual race but had to settle for fifth place. Norman was so upset, he couldn't speak to the interviewer after the race. He was clearly upset because he so badly wanted to perform well for his relatives in Japan as well as for the U.S.

Some even claimed the U.S. sprinters choked in their races. 

However, in the last track and field event of the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday, Norman and teammates, Michael Cherry, Bryce Deadmon and Rai Benjamin got redemption in the finale of the 4x400 men's relay leaving the competition in the dust to win the U.S. men's first gold medal in the sprints at the Tokyo Games.

“What we did on the track today was phenomenal. I’m proud of the guys. On the track, today was about the 4x400 and USA track and field. You got to put your own selfish interests to the side and just go out there and really run for others,” Norman said. “I’m glad we were able to accomplish this goal."

Justine Wong-Orantes saves the ball before it hits the floor.

Volleyball: U.S. women beat Brazil in final to win first-ever gold

All that was missing was a cape; the way Justine Wong-Orantes was flying around the court saving out-of-bound balls back into play or diving for impossible digs. 

Spikers may get all the glory but the U.S. wouldn't have won the gold without the play with the Olympics No. 1 libero.

The play-by-play announcers kept repeating praises for the play of Wong-Orantes allowing the Americans to beat a strong Brazil team, 3-0, to win the program's first gold medal.

Badminton: A serious injury hurts chance at advancing

The best hope for the U.S. to get its first medal in badminton went down in flames in the round of 16 for women's singles when America's Beiwen Zhang suffered an injury that forced her to withdraw from the match against China's He Bing Jiao.

Zhang won the first set and was in the midst of winning the second set when the scary injury occurred.

She suffered an Achilles tendon tear that required surgery. She was flown back to the U.S. immediately for the surgery.

“Beiwen is already focusing on what is next and immediately getting back to the States to begin the recovery work and to return to the court.” said team leader Alistair Casey.

Jordan Windle of the U.S. diving team

10m Platform: Diving for two countries and his foster father

Jordan Windle finished 9th in the 10-meter platform diving competition but that didn't make his story any less compelling.

Windle said he was diving for two countries, the U.S. and Cambodia, the land of his birth. He was also competing for his single father, who is gay. Windle was adopted when he was 2-years old, sickly and weighing only 1i6 pounds.

“Without him making all the sacrifices that he has, and his love and support the whole time we’ve been together, I really wouldn’t be where I am today," Windle said about his father. "I have him to thank for everything, all my accomplishments. It’s been an amazing journey with him, and we’re still rolling.”

Skateboarding: No. 1 ranked skateboarder fails to make finals.

Despite his No. 1 ranking prior to the Olympics and reigning world champion, Heimana Reynolds of Hawaii, did not make it to the finals of the Olympics’ inaugural men’s skateboarding park competition in Tokyo today.

The 23-year old Reynold's score of 63.09 was second in his preliminary heat (the first of four flights of five skaters each). But high scores in the ensuing rounds knocked Reynolds out of the top eight who advanced to the finals.

Reynolds, who is of Tahitian, Hawaiian, Filipino and Chinese heritage. fell on his first two attempts. But on his third and final 45-second try he performed an impressive and clean run for a 63.09 score. At the time, it put him second behind fellow American Zion Wright, who scored 67.21 on his first attempt.

Table tennis: Still waiting

The U.S. is still without a medal in table tennis. Liu Juan, seeded 67 out of 70, gave it her best shot, advancing to the round of 16 before losing to 14th seed Yu Mengyu of Singapore.

The U.S. hasn't reached the quarterfinals since 2008. The highest-ranked player is 21-year old Kanak Jha, ranked No. 25 in the world. Among the women, Lilly Zhang is ranked No. 28. 

Other members of the U.S. Olympic Table Tennis team are Huijing Wang, Nikhil Kumar and Xin Zhou.

Related stories for this Olympic Games:

Sky is the limit for 13-year old skateboarder

For karateka, the journey is as important as the quest for a medal

Libero is unsung hero of the U.S. women's volleyball; men disappointed in showing

Taiwanese American fencers lead U.S. team to a bronze medal

Asian Canadian swimmers secure medals for their country

Hmong American Suni Lee wins gold for women''s all-around gymnast

Japanese American swimmer wins silver in 1,500m freestyle 

Paige McPherson battles her way to fourth in taekwando

Filipino American cyclist pedals her way to seventh in road race

Surfing super star Carissa Moore brings medal home to Hawaii

Huge upset as Naomi Osaka beaten on Olympic tennis

With Simone Biles out, all eyes turn to Suni Lee

Filipino American fencer Lee Kiefer wins gold and makes history

Despite surge of hate, AAPI athletes proud to represent United States

Volleyball bonds Shoji brothers with other AAPI teammates

Naomi Osaka lights torch at Olympic stadium

U.S. fencing team has led by Asian Americans

Hawaiian skateboarder jumping and rolling towards an Olympic medal

U.S. AAPI shuttlers hope for first medal in badminton

British Golf Open champion Colin Morikawa flying to Tokyo

Asian Americans form nucleus of US. table tennis team

Tokyo Olympics: Asian Americans form the U.S. table tennis team

U.S. OLYMPICS TEAM

Kanak Jha, 21, is the top-ranked U.S. table tennis player.

No other Olympic sport has a greater Asian American presence than table tennis. All six members and the two alternates are Asian Americans.

The highest-ranked player is 21-year old Kanak Jha, ranked No. 25 in the world. Among the women, Lilly Zhang is ranked No. 28. Both were on the U.S. team in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Other members of the U.S. Olympic team are:

• Juan Liu
• Huijing Wang
• Nikhil Kumar
• Xin Zhou
• Alternates - Chen Wang & Yijun Feng

No American has ever won an Olympic medal in the sport dominated by China but both Zhang and Jha earned Youth Olympic bronze medals.

“The U.S has never been very strong in table tennis, so for me to win a medal for the U.S. is amazing," said Jha.

“For me and Lily to both win a medal shows, that the U.S. is slowly getting better and can hopefully do well at the senior level in the future.”

U.S. TABLE TENNIS

The United States table tennis team members and their coaches will compete at the Tokyo Olympics.

Kumar, 17, is the youngest member of the team. He became the first American born in in this century to qualify for an Olympics. 

Wang, 39, is set to become the second-oldest woman U.S. Olympic table tennis player since it was added to the program in 1988. Liu is a former Chinese national team player who became a U.S. citizen in 2016, according to TeamUSA.org.

While Jha and Zhang are the highest ranked U.S. players, Liu may be the surprise for the U.S. team.

Liu, who became a citizen of the U.S. in 2016 and is co-owner of the New York Indoor Sports Club in College Point, has become one of the most dominant players in the U.S. She won both the national championship and US Open title in 2018, and reached the US Open semifinals in 2019. She has not lost to a U.S. woman, and she helped the U.S. defeat Canada last year to lock down a team quota spot for Tokyo.

While she was still in China, Liu played in the Super League for almost 10 years. Now, in New York, it’s a balance of table tennis and family. She didn’t even know until last year whether she would be eligible for the Olympics as a U.S. athlete.

“The high level of competition and training really have helped me a lot in recovering my physical condition and training technique, but the game and the skills have developed since the time when I was in the national team in China, so I still have to work on many things,” Liu said.