Athletes who impressed
Caeleb Dressel (USA, Swimming)
He has been crowned the new swim king with five golds (men's 50m freestyle, 100m freestyle, 100m butterfly, men's 4x100m freestyle relay, men's 4x100m medley relay) and is the most bemedalled athlete at the Tokyo Games.
Momiji Nishiya(Japan, Skateboarding)
The 13-year-old became the youngest gold medallist at Tokyo 2020 when she captured the women's street competition, winning hearts and new fans.
She is the second-youngest athlete to win Olympic gold after diver Marjorie Gestring, who won at Berlin 1936 at 13 years and 268 days of age.
An San (South Korea, Archery)
Targeted on social media for cutting her hair short, the archer brushed off her critics in winning style by becoming the first in her sport to claim three golds (individual, team, mixed team) in Tokyo.
Elaine Thompson-Herah (Jamaica, Athletics)
The sprint queen won the 100m and 200m in Tokyo to become the first female track and field athlete to win consecutive double-double titles at the Olympics.
She added a third gold in Japan in the 4x100m relay.
Annemiek van Vleuten (Netherlands, Cycling)
The Dutchwoman had celebrated too early after crossing the finish line in the women's road race, only to realise she had finished behind Austria's Anna Kiesenhofer due to confusion in the peloton.
She made up for that disappointment - and her disastrous crash in 2016 - by winning the time trial gold days later.
Italo Ferreira (Brazil, Surfing)
The reigning world champion, hugely popular with over a million Instagram followers, recovered from a broken board to beat local favourite Kanoa Igarashi to win the first surfing gold medal at the Olympics.
Viktor Axelsen (Denmark, Badminton)
The Danish delight, a former world and European champion, beat defending champion Chen Long of China to claim his first Olympic gold after finishing third in Rio in 2016.
Sunisa Lee (USA, Artistic gymnastics)
The Olympic debutante stepped up to fill teammate Simone Biles' very big shoes after the latter pulled out of the team, all-around and other individual events due to mental health concerns.
The daughter of Hmong immigrants, she helped the US win a team silver, won the coveted all-around gold and bronze in uneven bars.
Mijain Lopez (Cuba, Wrestling)
The Cuban wrestler is the first male athlete to win four Olympic gold medals in the sport after claiming the men's Greco-Roman 130kg title in Tokyo and Rio 2016, and 120kg golds in London 2012 and Beijing 2008.
Favourites who missed out
Kento Momota (Japan, Badminton)
The Japanese badminton world No. 1 was tipped to win gold after recovering from a serious car accident in January last year.
But the top seed was bundled out at the group stage after a shock loss to South Korea's world No. 28 Heo Kwang-hee.
Kohei Uchimura (Japan, Artistic gymnastics)
"King Kohei" had been the dominant force in men's gymnastics but the two-time Olympic all-around champion chose to focus on only the horizontal bar owing to injuries.
But his reign came to a disappointing end as he fell during his routine and failed to qualify for the final.
Novak Djokovic (Serbia, Tennis)
The world No. 1 came to Tokyo with the aim of keeping his bid for the Golden Slam (all four Majors and the Olympic gold) alive after winning the Australian Open, Wimbledon and French Open.
But he left empty-handed, losing in the singles semi-finals and bronze play-off while throwing a tantrum and destroying two rackets.
Naomi Osaka (Japan, Tennis)
The face of Japan at the Tokyo Games, Osaka was given the honour of lighting the Olympic cauldron.
But the world No. 2 crashed out in the third round after losing to 42nd-ranked Marketa Vondrousova of the Czech Republic.
Simone Biles (USA, Artistic gymnastics)
The sport's G.O.A.T was expected to win six gold medals in Tokyo to add to four from Rio 2016 but shocked the world when she pulled out of the team event after her first vault, before also withdrawing from the all-around and three other individual events, citing mental health issues.
She eventually returned to compete in the beam final, winning a bronze.
Notable moments
Caring is sharing
The Tokyo Games saw the first shared gold medal in athletics since 1912 when high jumpers Mutaz Barshim of Qatar and Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi were tied in first place with no failed jumps at earlier heights.
They were offered the option of a jump-off but the duo, who are close friends, decided to share the gold.
Athletes make a statement
American shot putter Raven Saunders, who won a silver, raised her arms and made a cross gesture while on the podium to represent "the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet".
The International Olympic Committee has suspended initial investigations into the protest after Saunders' mother died.
A number of athletes and teams, including the British and US women's football sides, have taken the knee in protest against racism and online hate.
Media reports said that the IOC and Tokyo 2020 organisers had banned their social media teams from posting the photos but that has since been reversed.
