After a competitive couple of weeks, at least nine Olympians with close ties to the Commonwealth are returning home as Olympic medalists for Team USA.
Nearly two dozen athletes from Massachusetts made their way to Tokyo for this year’s summer Games, which were pushed back from 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The most decorated of the bunch from these games is Gabby Thomas, who is origianally from Florence, Mass., went to Harvard and became one of the United States’ brightest track stars over the course of the Games. She won the bronze medal in the women’s 200 meters and anchored the 4x100 meter relay team that brought home the silver.
Thomas is the first woman from Harvard to take home two medals from a single Olympic Games.
❤️💙❤️💙 https://t.co/2YvNLjSsgO
— Gabby Thomas (@ItsGabrielleT) August 6, 2021
Another bright star among the bunch is Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, who scored 19 points in the U.S. men’s basketball team's victory over France in the gold medal game.
Speaking to reporters after the game, Tatum acknowledged the struggles the team went through early on.
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy, and we weren’t perfect, but we figured it out,” he said. “That’s all that matters. We came here, we got what we wanted, and it’s time to go home.”
Jayson Tatum with EMPHASIS 😤
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 7, 2021
(via @NBCOlympics)pic.twitter.com/N4lZ4eYhez
These Games also saw history made by Molly Seidel, the Boston runner who became the third American woman in Olympic history to medal in the women’s marathon after taking home the bronze with a time of 2:27:46.
Wadeline Jonathas, the first former UMass Boston athlete to qualify for the Olympics, also had a stellar showing at the Games. Although she didn’t run as part of the 4x400 meter relay team that brought home the gold, she’s still getting a medal as she was part of the squad that qualified the U.S. for the final.
Sisters Kristie and Sam Mewis from Hanson were part of a U.S. women’s national soccer team that was disappointed to be stopped short of its goal of bringing home a gold medal, but they still helped the team contribue to a bronze medal finish.
Michael Hixon, who is from Amherst, took home the
silver medal in 3-meter synchronized springboard diving with his partner and Triston Casas and Jack Lopez, who
both play for Red Sox minor league affiliates, were part of a U.S. baseball team that took home the silver medal.