RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Brazil secured its 20th medal Friday, August 6, in Tokyo, with the women’s volleyball team beating South Korea in the semifinal match. Thursday, skateboarder Pedro Barros had won the silver medal, bringing the number of podium finishes to 19, the same as five years ago, when Rio de Janeiro hosted the Games.
Of the medals already guaranteed, four are still undecided. In boxing, Hebert Conceição and Beatriz Ferreira have already won at least silver, as has the men’s soccer team and now the women’s volleyball team.
In the general classification in Japan, Brazil has so far won 4 gold, 4 silver, and 8 bronze medals. The final result of Rio 2016 was 7 gold, 6 silver, and 6 bronze medals. It isn’t easy, but the chances are good that the country can follow up the gold medal performance of 2016 if it reaches four finals.
The number of first-place finishes is considered the main indicator for ranking countries in many rankings, although the U.S. calculates rankings by the total number of medals. The total number of Brazilian medals has now surpassed that of Rio 2016, and the country can still win medals in men’s volleyball (it is in contention for bronze), and canoeing. There may also be surprises in track and field.
Brazil’s campaign in Tokyo 2020 has been buoyed by the inclusiion of new sports in the Olympic program, such as surfing and skateboarding. In addition to Italo Ferreira’s gold medal in surfing, Brazil won two silver medals in street skateboarding with Rayssa Leal and Kelvin Hoefler and silver in park skateboarding with Pedro Barros. With an expanded program, 10.8% more gold medals will be awarded in Tokyo than in Rio.
In general, the number of medals in countries decreases after hosting the event in the following Olympic Games, even if it is higher than before hosting the competitions. The feat achieved by Brazil in Tokyo, of winning more medals than in the Rio Games, is only surpassed by what Great Britain achieved after it hosted the event.
At the 2012 Olympics, when they hosted, the British won 65 medals. At the next edition in Brazil, they did even better with 67 podium finishes.
BRAZILIAN MEDALS AT THE TOKYO-2020 GAMES
Total so far: 16*
4 gold medals*
Italo Ferreira – Surfing
Martine Grael and Kahena Kunze – Sailing
Rebeca Andrade – artistic gymnastics (jumping)
Ana Marcela Cunha – Water Marathon
4 silver medals*
Kelvin Hoefler – street skateboarding
Rayssa Leal – Street Skateboarding
Pedro Barros – Skater Park
Rebeca Andrade – artistic gymnastics (single general)
8 bronze medals
Mayra Aguiar – Judo
Daniel Cargnin – Judo
Thiago Braz – Pole Vault
Alison dos Santos – 400m hurdles
Bruno Fratus – swimming (50m freestyle)
Fernando Scheffer – swimming (200m free)
Laura Pigossi and Luisa Stefani – tennis
Abner Teixeira – boxing
*Brazil has already secured four more medals (gold or silver), as boxers Hebert Conceição and Bia Ferreira reached the finals of their categories, as did the men’s soccer team and the women’s volleyball team.