At multippl, we’ve been closely following the fortunes of all the exceptional half Asian athletes who competed at the games, and have created a list of all the half Asian medallists at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The so-called pandemic games may have been lacking cheering crowds, but they still brought all the excitement and entertainment we’ve come to expect at the world’s biggest sporting event.
According to the Olympics website, 11,656 athletes from more than 200 countries competed at this year’s games.
Our research indicates that roughly 90 of those athletes are of mixed Asian heritage. It’s a spectacular achievement to compete at the Olympics – at the highest level of international sport – and many half Asian athletes enjoyed spectacular success in this Olympiad, some even securing medals.
In total, 19 half Asian athletes won 22 medals: 10 gold, nine silver and three bronze.
Jump ahead to
Swimming
Torri Huske – American & Japanese
Torri Huske, who is half Chinese, half American, won silver in the women’s 4x100m medley relay.
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Jay Litherland – New Zealand-American & Japanese
Jay Litherland, who has a Japanese mother and New Zealand-American father, came second in the 400m individual medley.
Erica Sullivan – American & Japanese
Erica Sullivan, whose mother is Japanese, won silver in the women’s 1500m freestyle. She describes herself as the epitome of American person: “I am multicultural, I am queer, I am a lot of minorities in that sense.”
Siobhan Bernadette Haughey – Hong Kong & Irish
Siobhan Bernadette Haughey, 23, clinched two silver medals in the 100m and 200m freestyle. She was born in Hong Kong to an Irish dad and HongKonger mum. Watch her 100m final here.
Judo
Aaron Wolf – Japan & America
The half Japanese half American Judoka Aaron Wolf won the men’s 100kg and came second in mixed team alongside his Japanese teammates. Japanese Judo made history these games winning nine gold medals.
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Triathlon
Alex Yee – British & Chinese
Alex Yee, who studied Sports and Exercise Science at Leeds Beckett University, has Chinese and English heritage. He won silver in the men’s individual triathlon and won gold in the inaugural mixed relay race alongside fellow Leeds Beckett alumni, Jonny Brownlee.
Volleyball
Justine Wong-Orantes – Filipino-Chinese & Mexican
Justine Wong-Orantes, the setter for the American women’s volleyball team, led the team to its first ever gold medal. She was born in Torrance, California, to a Filipino-Chinese mother and a Mexican father.
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Hockey
Stella van Gils for the Netherlands
Stella van Gils, 22, won gold in women’s hockey. Her ethnicity is unknown; her mother is of Asian descent (as can be seen on her Instagram) and her father is presumably Dutch.
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Rugby
Tyla Nathan-Wong – New Zealand & Chinese
Tyla Nathan-Wong, 27, who won gold in women’s rugby sevens, has been vocal about her mixed heritage. In an event run by the New Zealand Chinese Association, she said: “I’m proud of being Chinese and proud of being Maori as well, which is on my father’s side. I’m proud of who I am and where I’ve come from.” The half Asian athletes scored a try in the final. Watch the full match here.
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Football
Jayde Riviere – HongKonger & Dominican
Jayde Riviere, 20, won Gold for Canada in women’s football, beating Sweden on penalties. Her HongKonger mum and Dominican father moved to Canada before she was born.
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Pentathlon
Joe Choong – British & Malaysian
multippl have covered Joe’s incredible gold for Great Britain in a separate post. Read more here!
Surfing
Carissa Moore – American & Japanese
Carissa Moore, who won a gold medal in surfing the year it made its Olympic debut, thanks her American dad for teaching her all she knows about surfing. In 2018, Carissa reconnected with her Japanese roots to relearn the language her mother taught her when she was younger.
Athletics
Michael Norman – American & Japanese
Michael Norman Jr., 23, helped the American team to victory in the 4x400m with a season’s best of 2.55:70, but shared his disappointment with his individual 400m performance on social media. His Japanese mother, Nobue Saito, competed in sprints back in her high school days. His father, Michael Norman Sr. is African-American.
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Fencing
Lee Kiefer – American & Filipino
We have already reported on Lee Kiefer’s gold medal here, as she became the first mixed Asian at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics to stand on the podium.
Gerek Meinhardt – American & Taiwanese
Her husband Gerek Meinhardt, 31, who has a Taiwanese mother and an American father, helped the men’s foil team to win bronze. The foiling power couple were very supportive of each other, as can be seen here.
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Softball
Janie Reed – American & Japanese
The half Japanese, half American left fielder and the USA’s softball number two at bat was instrumental in the women’s softball team winning silver.
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Basketball
Monica Okoye – Japanese & Nigerian
Monica, 22, who represents Japan in women’s basketball, achieved a silver medal at Tokyo 2020. The small forward has a Nigerian father and a Japanese mother and comes from a sporting family: her brother Louis has played for Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles in Japan’s national baseball league.
Diving
Melissa Wu – Australian & Chinese
Melissa Wu, 29, competed in the women’s 10m diving. A score of 371.40 secured her the bronze medal. She has an Australian mother and a Chinese father.
Skateboarding
Sky Brown – British & Japanese
Half Asian athletes Sky Brown, 13, became Great Britain’s youngest Olympic medallist in history. Read more about her success here.