Tokyo Olympics 2020 | Olympians in motion from above and below
Agony, ecstasy and everything that lies in between—these pictures capture athletes as they make a splash in the pool, ace the balance beam, make an unsuccessful lift and run the race of their life
Associated Press
July 31, 2021 / 13:54 IST
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Olympic athletes can be enthralling from many angles. Some perspectives say more than others. (Image: AP)
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Like an overhead shot of Chinese divers Wang Zongyuan and Xie Siyi entering the water. Only their feet remain above the surface, equal in height at the end of a near-perfectly synchronised performance. (Image: AP)
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Here is US gymnast Sunisa Lee leaping off the balance beam, her face pointed toward the ceiling — no eyes on her 4-inch-wide landing target. (Image: AP)
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Or the popping lat muscles that propel Tatjana Schoenmaker’s breaststroke, taken days before the South African set a world record in the 200-meter. (Image: AP)
The Associated Press is using 13 robotic cameras and over 30 remote devices to capture images at the Tokyo Games. Some are suspended from trusses built into venue ceilings. Others are weighted to the bottom of pools. They’re at sport climbing and weightlifting, basketball and boxing. (Image: AP)
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Using joysticks and remote viewing monitors, AP photographers can capture the precision required to clear the high bar, the speed at which divers fall toward the water or the agony of a lifter who failed to raise her weight. (Image: AP)
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Naomi Osaka lights the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 23, in Tokyo. (Image: AP)
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Sabine Beate Kusterer of Germany gestures after an unsuccessful lift during the women's 59kg weightlifting event, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 27, in Tokyo, Japan. (Image: AP)
Gold medal winners Britain's Thomas Daley and Matty Lee compete in the synchronised 10-meter platform diving final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 26, in Tokyo. (Image: AP)
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Takashi Eto, of Japan, competes during a preliminary round of the men's high jump at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 30, in Tokyo. (Image: AP)
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Viktoriia Listunova, of the Russian Olympic Committee, performs on the floor during the artistic gymnastics women's final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 27, in Tokyo. (Image: AP)
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Mun Yen Leong and Pandelela of Malaysia compete during the women's synchronised 10-meter platform final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 26, in Tokyo, Japan. (Image: AP)
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Ned Azemia, of Seychelles, competes during the first round of the men's 400-meter hurdles at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 30, in Tokyo. (Image: AP)
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Australia's Kyle Chalmers dives in at the start of a 100-meter freestyle heat at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 27, in Tokyo. (Image: AP)
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Milad Karimi, of Kazakhstan, performs on the rings during men's artistic gymnastic qualifications at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 24, in Tokyo. (Image: AP)
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Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, of Jamaica, Ajla Del Ponte, of Switzerland, Nzubechi Nwokocha, of Nigeria, and Gina Bass, of Gambia, compete during the first round of the women's 100-meter the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 30, in Tokyo. (Image: AP)
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Kaylee McKeown, of Australia, is congratulated by teammate Emily Seebohm after winning the final of the women's 100-meter backstroke at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 27, in Tokyo, Japan. (Image: AP)
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Shi Zhiyong of China celebrates after winning the gold medal in the men's 73kg weightlifting event, at the 2020 Summer Olympics, July 28, in Tokyo, Japan. (Image: AP)
