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With three gold medals on the final day, the United States won China at the Olympic Games in Tokyo with 39:38 in gold.
Indiana women say:
You’re welcome, America.
More:David Woods’ top 10 Olympic moments, from Molly Seidel to the dancing horse
It was another momentous Olympiad for the Hoosiers. And for boiler makers and cardinals (Chirp Chirp!). And for the fight against the Irish.
Indiana’s population of 6.7 million would rank 110th among the nations. His eight gold medals and 20 medals would occupy 11th and 13th place respectively.
The United States won a total of 113 medals – a record 66 for women – versus China’s 88.
It would have been difficult to beat the 19 medals that Indiana athletes – including their hometowns, residences, and colleges – won at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Team Indiana did so, however. 16 of the 20 medals went to women.
The number of medals in Indiana exceeded those of international sports powers such as Ethiopia (115 million inhabitants), Turkey (84 million), Kenya (51 million) and Spain (46 million).
Team USA’s 39th gold was the first time ever in women’s volleyball.
Elkhart’s Annie Drews, an All-American at Purdue, led the Americans with 15 points in their 3-0 win over Brazil on Sunday.
“It’s a special time to be an athlete in the United States,” said Drews. “I am grateful to the US that we have the support system and we have examples of women doing well while they have children, have successful careers and are successful athletes at the same time.
“So I’m looking forward to the USA and I’m excited to see where this will lead in my life in sport.”
Previously, the United States had expanded its record to seven consecutive gold medals in women’s basketball, beating Japan 90:75. This team included two Notre Dame alumni, Jewell Loyd and former IndyStar Miss Basketball Skylar Diggins-Smith.
Notre Dame brought three more gold medals in Tokyo – Jackie Young in 3×3 basketball, Lee Kiefer in fencing, Adriana Leon from Canada in soccer – as well as a bronze medal in Molly Seidel’s marathon and in men’s fencing.
Another Indiana bronze was delivered by another Canadian former Ball State softball player Jennifer Gilbert.
Indiana University swimmers and divers accounted for 10 medals, most for the program since 16 in 1972, when Mark Spitz won seven gold medals. (For the overall standings, IndyStar 2021 counts as seven medals, as two Hoosiers won medals in three teams.)
The IU total includes gold in two seasons from Zach Apple and Blake Pieroni, and Lilly King’s three medals. Evansville’s King has won the most Hoosier-born medals since Indianapolis swimmer Kathy Ellis won four medals in 1964, also in Tokyo.
King and Ellis are the only Indiana women to have won more medals in a single Olympics than Indianapolis sprinter Lynna Irby, who won gold and bronze by running relay prelims.
It was a cliché to claim that Indiana only includes basketball, and these Olympics underscore that. Indiana had medalists in 10 sports, from cycling and wrestling to soccer and volleyball. Indiana also produced rowing medalists in 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2016, and two gymnasts, Bridget Sloan and Samantha Peszek, in a silver medal in 2008.
Though television viewers were at an all-time low, a geotagged map of Twitter data from sportsinsider.com showed Indiana was the state with the greatest interest in the Olympics. Next came Hawaii, Utah, Vermont, and Connecticut.
I can’t wait for Paris in 2024.
Contact IndyStar reporter David Woods at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @ DavidWoods007.
Medal scoring
(Gold silver bronze)
113 United States (39-41-33)
88 China (38-32-18)
70 Russia (20-27-23)
65 Great Britain (22-21-22)
58 Japan (27-14-17)
46 Australia (17-7-22)
40 Italy (10-10-20)
37 Germany (10-11-16)
36 Netherlands (10-12-14)
32 France (9-12-11)
24 Canada (7-6-11)
21 Brazil (7-6-8)
20 INDIANA (8-4-8)
20 New Zealand (7-6-7)
20 Hungarians (6-7-7)
20 South Korea (6-4-10)
Team Indiana Medals
GOLD (8)
3×3 basketball
Jackie Young, Notre Dame / Princeton
basketball
Skylar Diggins-Smith, Notre Dame / South Bend and Jewell Loyd, Notre Dame
fencing
Lee Kiefer, Notre Dame, custom slide
Soccer
Adriana Leon, Notre Dame (CANADA)
swim
Zach Apple, IU, 4×100 freestyle and 4×100 medley relays
Blake Pieroni, IU / Chesterton, 4×100 freestyle and 4×100 medley relay
Lynna Irby, Indianapolis, 4×400 relay
volleyball
Annie Drews, Elkhart / Purdue
SILVER (4)
Dive
Andrew Capobianco and Michael Hixon, IU, Synchro 3-meter
Jessica Parratto, IU, Synchro 10-meter
swim
Lilly King, IU / Evansville, 200 breaststroke and 4×100 medley relay
BRONZE (8)
To go biking
Chloe Dygert, Brownsburg, team chase
fencing
Gerek Meinhardt and Nick Itkin, Notre Dame, team slide
Soft ball
Jennifer Gilbert, Ball State (CANADA)
swim
Lilly King, IU / Evansville, 100 breaststroke
Annie Lazor, Bloomington, 200 Breaststroke
athletics
Lynna Irby, Indianapolis, 4×400 mixed relay
Molly Seidel, Notre Dame, marathon
Wrestling
Sarah Hildebrandt, Granger, 110 pounds
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