What medal in Tokyo for someone NOT from your country would be the most fun for you?

[rafalgorka 1,821]

What medal in Tokyo for someone NOT from your country would be the most fun for you?

[Makedonas 2,262]

I have a few:

 women's water polo (I'm sure everyone on this website secretly wants them to break the 4th place curse)

 

 Simona Halep - tennis (I love to watch her play and I know it is so important for her)

 

 Zorana Arunovic - shooting (For the amazing career she's had, it is crazy that she never won any Olympic medal)

 

 Novak Djokovic - tennis (It is crazy that in his career so far he only won one bronze. Of course I want Tsitsipas to win gold but I'd also like to see Djokovic win silver or bronze )

 

 Darya Klishina - long jump (I always wanted her to win an Olympic medal)

 

 Mariya Lasitskene - high jump (She deserves an Olympic medal in her career)

 

 Kendra Harrison - 100 hurdles (I thought she was so unlucky in 2016 that she missed the Olympics despite breaking the world record a few weeks prior)

 

 Helen Maroulis - wrestling (Of course she is half Greek, and she was going to compete for us after not being selected for London but there were some delays in her paperwork, anyways she won gold for USA in 2016 and they named the main square after her of the town in Greece where her grandparents live)

 

 Alex Kesidis - wrestling (He is also Greek and actually his brother competes for Greece and was in the qualifying tournaments but didn't make it to Tokyo)

 

 Orlando Ortega - 110 hurdles (His coach is Greek)

 

 women's basketball (Their coach is Greek. She was born in Canada but her parents are Greek and she used to play professionally in Greece so she is quite well known in Greek basketball)

[LDOG 2,477]

-Some peruvian in the surfing.

-India in field hockey (men) after 40 years. 

-Italy gold in women's volleyball.

-Flora Duffy in the triathlon.

-Something for Kuwait in shooting after they were "stolen" 2 medals in 2016.

-Any nation that can win first medal, of course.

 

[intoronto 6,891]

For me its hard to cheer for someone else from another country, mainly because I really do not know their bg story. However, anyone with personal hardship in getting to the games and medaling would be fun

[thiago_simoes 1,458]

 Matvei Petrov in gymnastics. Not impossible, but unlikely. However, he had a HUGE score in the latest World Challenge Cup stage, so he definitely has a chance.

[Griff88 2,021]

Tai Tzu Ying & Lee Yang/Wang Chi Lin (Badminton)

 

winning gold would be nice, to stop some dumb Indonesians mocking them

 

Vladimir Samsonov - although probably it's super hard

 

Any country winning their first medal

[Makedonas 2,262]

3 hours ago, intoronto said:

For me its hard to cheer for someone else from another country, mainly because I really do not know their bg story. However, anyone with personal hardship in getting to the games and medaling would be fun

You can always support  Anneta Kyridou in the women's single sculls (I don't think Canada is participating in this event either). She has faced so many hardships and yet she still qualified for the Games. She might not win a medal but I am looking forward to supporting her after she overcame years of physical and psychological abuse from coaches (which she made public and created a scandal in Greece), changed categories three times in the last two years because her partners kept getting injured, all while her single mother was battling cancer and the federation was fighting against her and her mother during all of this.

 

Still just 22 years old which is young for rowing, especially for an event like single sculls so maybe in the future it will be more likely that she wins an Olympic medal 

 

Anyways, I hope this was enough to sell her story to you 

[Dolby 757]

Tai and Minions in badminton
 

Petar Gorsa in Shooting

[dcmdtruefan 41]

As a Thai-American, I can think of a few that would be fun:

 

-Carlos Yulo of the Philippines winning a medal in Gymnastics, because Southeast Asia has never won a medal in the sport and to win it in a mainstream sport means a lot for the region (At least in my opinion).

 

-Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei winning the Women's Singles in Badminton. Some badminton observers would say Ratchanok Intanon is the best technical player in that division. But Tai ups her game to a higher level in comparison to her peers. She works hard on her technical game and physical fitness and it shows on the court. She embodies what it means to be a professional and rarely lets outside stuff like social media comments distract her unlike Ratchanok. She is basically an upgrade version of Ratchanok with less stamina and mental issues. For a neutral, Tai is very easy to root for. 

 

-Belgium winning men's field hockey. Because that sport badly needs a new country to win the Olympic gold medal.

 

-Naomi Osaka winning the Women's singles in tennis. A title win to cheer her up after her off-court fight with the media at large. 

 

-Ireland winning any medal with Rowing, Sailing or any other sport besides boxing because I have a soft sport for that country and they need to win medals in events they haven't won before. 

 

-Any medal won by someone from a Refugee Olympic Team because that would be historic and weird in the same time that a person without a country can win an Olympic medal. 

 

-Anyone who could beat China in Table Tennis because it's been 17 years since someone else won a gold medal in that sport.

[intoronto 6,891]

34 minutes ago, Makedonas said:

You can always support  Anneta Kyridou in the women's single sculls (I don't think Canada is participating in this event either). She has faced so many hardships and yet she still qualified for the Games. She might not win a medal but I am looking forward to supporting her after she overcame years of physical and psychological abuse from coaches (which she made public and created a scandal in Greece), changed categories three times in the last two years because her partners kept getting injured, all while her single mother was battling cancer and the federation was fighting against her and her mother during all of this.

 

Still just 22 years old which is young for rowing, especially for an event like single sculls so maybe in the future it will be more likely that she wins an Olympic medal 

 

Anyways, I hope this was enough to sell her story to you 

Canada is in this event too but stories like these make me more interested.