2020 U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Collegiate Resources
Olympic And Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 Overview #
For the first time in 57 years, the city of Tokyo welcomed athletes from across the world to participate in the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. One year and one day after its original scheduled date, the Games of the XXXII Olympiad kicked off July 23 and ran through Aug. 8, 2021. During this time, more than 11,000 athletes from 206 nations gathered to compete across the region. Several new sports were added to the Olympic schedule, including softball, which made its return to the Olympic Games for the first time since 2008. Three-on-three basketball also made its Olympic debut, where the U.S. women's team earned the first-ever gold in the sport, while the women’s water polo team captured its third-consecutive Olympic gold medal.
Shortly following the Olympic Games, Japan welcomed 4,400 athletes from around the world to participate in the Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020. The Paralympic Games began Aug. 24 and ran through Sept. 5, 2021. Following a strong Paralympic performance in 2016, the U.S. expected to once again showcase a highly competitive team in Tokyo. The 2020 U.S. Paralympic Team was comprised of 240 athletes – many of whom competed collegiately. Returning for her sixth Paralympic appearance was wheelchair racer Tatyana McFadden (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign), who earned four medals in Tokyo, bringing her total haul to 20 medals across both the summer and winter Games. Meanwhile, the men's wheelchair basketball team defended its gold medal from Rio.
College pushed my boundaries of who I thought I was, as well as who I wanted to be
Jessica Heims, University of Northern Iowa
Throughout the Olympic Games and in the windows of time between them, the USOPC collegiate partnerships department provides schools and conferences with information and resources to aid their coverage of Team USA competitions. For those interested in revisiting their student-athlete performances in Tokyo, or for those looking to get information on the next international event, the following information may be helpful:
- Team USA news: Get the latest from Team USA, including performance updates and feature stories, in the news section of TeamUSA.com.
- NGB press officers: Have a question about a particular athlete or sport? School and conference communicators may reach out to National Governing Body press officers for additional information and requests. The full contact list for NGB press officers is available in the media section of usopc.org.
- Full 2020 Olympic results: The 2020 Olympic Games results, broken down by sport and by medal-winning events, is located in the results section of the official Tokyo Olympic Games website.