Leila Fadel

NPR's team in Tokyo put together our favorite moments of the Games, where participants showed their athleticism, sportsmanship, and what motivated them to compete.

The pandemic has kept the venues at the Tokyo Olympics mostly empty of spectators. But team officials and athletes are allowed to attend and countries have found creative ways to amplify the cheering.

Fields crashed last Friday during a semifinal heat at the Tokyo Olympics. He was rushed to a hospital's intensive care unit after he'd suffered a brain hemorrhage and broken rib.

Outside of Tokyo's Olympic Stadium, a small mockup of the Olympic rings has stood for the past year. But it wasn't until last week that people began to line up to take pictures.

Biles looked happy and relieved after dismounting the balance beam, smiling and waving at the crowd to roaring applause. She's still experiencing the "twisties" but has found ways to cope.

Hammer thrower Gwen Berry is arguably the most outspoken Team USA athlete on social justice, posting a video accusing the International Olympic Committee of taking advantage of athletes to make money.

The swimmers are now leaving Japan and the spotlight moves to the track and field events at Olympic Stadium. We'll walk you through the biggest things to watch for until the closing ceremony.

Olympic organizers are under intense pressure to end a ban on protests on the podium at the Tokyo Games. U.S. shot-putter Raven Saunders became the first to defy the ban after winning a silver medal.

Saunders said she's been open about her mental health struggles so others don't feel alone. It's also why she wears her identities so proudly as a gay Black woman.

Some of the athletes who tested positive for the coronavirus were first-time Olympians. They all must wait in a "quarantine hotel" for up to 10 days and watch their teammates compete without them.

The defending gold medalist crashed during a semifinal heat on Friday. He suffered a brain hemorrhage and a broken rib, and spent the night in intensive care.

For athletes in Tokyo, the games aren't just defined by competing but by COVID-19 — and avoiding it long enough to participate. Already 20 athletes have had their Olympic dreams dashed by the virus.

Olympic officials say they want "sport appeal, not sex appeal." That's why the head of broadcasting at the Tokyo Games will stop close-ups on female athletes' bodies.

How did a kid from Corsicana, Texas end up playing under the Japanese flag at the Olympics. It was an athlete's journey to a chosen home.

Texan Ira Brown always dreamed of wealth and a place that felt safe. He found it in Japan. Brown got Japanese citizenship in 2018 and is now representing Japan at the Olympics in basketball.

Two of the winners are 13; the other is 16. It "could very well be the youngest Olympic podium ever," the official Olympics news outlet says.

Many athletes on Team USA are vocal about the struggles of being a mom and a star athlete, as are mothers from other nations. At the Tokyo Olympics, they're using their platform to make a change.

Scores of mothers competing in the Olympics and Paralympics are speaking out about the challenges they face as working mothers in sports. Some are using their platform to make a change.

Dutch rower Finn Florijn had already raced and was scheduled to compete again on Saturday when his positive test came back. "Now it's over in an instant," he said.

The youngest Olympian at the Tokyo games was knocked out during the women's table tennis singles preliminary round. But Syrian player Hend Zaza said she will train, get better and try again.