2021 in Photos: emotional stories from the Tokyo Olympics

The Tokyo Olympics, originally scheduled for 2020 and moved to 2021 because of the pandemic, were a bright moment in a tumultuous year. Here are a few of its highlights that will bring tears to your eyes.

It was the semi-final of the 800 metres and two of the favourites, who were at that moment in the middle of the group, stumbled and fell to the ground. Isaiah Jewet (USA) and Nijel Amos (Botswana) lost all chance of qualifying. The whole world looked on, holding its breath and awaiting the athletes' reactions as time stood still with both on the ground.

The first up was Nijel Amos, who stumbled over Jewet already on the ground. He smiled, looked into the distance but stayed calm. The American, after checking that there are no serious injuries, tried to get up. He was also cool, calm and collected.

They looked at each other and Amos offered Jewet his hand. They both smiled with a knowing look on their faces. The athletes then embraced and walked together towards the finish line. They had lost years of preparation in a fall but they have earned the respect of millions of people. They walked to the finish together and that image will go down in history.

Gymnastics with handlebars, BMX freestyle was a new event at Tokyo 2020, like skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing. The tournament focused on younger audiences and let the geeks go mainstream. The new discipline of BMX freestyle delivered some of the most impressive images of the Games. Riders rotated head-over-pedals with the five rings of the Olympics as a sensational backdrop. One of them was Charlotte Worthington.

Worthington fell when she tried the never-before achieved 360 backflip in her first run but did not hesitate to attempt the dangerous trick again, knowing that a second slip would leave her podium hopes in tatters. “I think it’s been gold medal or nothing this whole journey. I think as soon as we set the goal of gold medal it’s go big or go home,” she said.

Less than five years earlier, Charlotte Worthington had been making peoples lunch. Now, she cooked up one of the most remarkable moments in BMX history. The 360 backflip had the whole world watching and had been the unachievable objective in the women's freestyle division - until Charlotte landed it at the Tokyo Olympics.

Cheering her on was her teammate, Declan Brooks who had nothing but praise for her when interviewed after his performance. Worthington later returned the favour, watching with her fingers crossed in the stands as the 25-year-old took the bronze in the men’s event to cap a triumphant Olympics for British BMX. Bethany Shriever had won a gold in women’s BMX racing two days earlier, with Kye Whyte taking the men’s silver. “We got so emotionally invested in those guys,” Brooks said. “It definitely spurred us on.”

As Yulimar Rojas, the Venezuelan athlete, prepared to do her triple jump, she was watched closely by the Spanish Ana Peleteiro at the side of the pit. Yulimar Rojas had already secured the gold medal (along with the best Olympic performance), but she wanted more - she wanted to go for the world record. Anyone watching might think that Ana Peleteiro was analysing her rival, or even trying put her off, but nothing could be further from the truth: she only wanted the best for her friend.

As it turned out, Yulimar Rojas not only surpassed the Olympic record, but she beat it by a huge 17 centimetres. She overtook Inessa Kravets' world record of 15.50 metres to leave the mark at a historic 15.67 metres that will take decades to surpass. A legendary leap.

What was her rival, Ana Peleteiro's reaction? To celebrate more than Yulimar Rojas herself, join her in an embrace and wipe away her tears of joy. Then they both posed for the cameras like the warriors they are.

But where does this friendship come from? Their comradeship originated in the Spanish city of Guadalajara, where they both share training with Ivan Pedroso, the former Cuban athlete who'd won gold in Sydney 2000. Training together on a daily basis made them close friends and, now, medallist friends.

The motto of the Olympic Games is 'Citius, altius, fortius', i.e. 'Faster, higher, stronger'. In the case of the high jump final, Italy's Gianmarco Tamberi and Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim chose to forget the 'Altius' part and share the gold in a historic decision.

The two finalists both ended up with 2.37m as their best mark, after failing to clear 2.39m. To resolve the tie, the judge gave them two options: compete until one of them won or share the gold medal. There was no hesitation and the agreement was signed by an emotional hug between the two medallists.

What not everyone knows is that both athletes had serious injuries on their path to Tokyo. Tamberi broke his ankle in 2016 and it was Barshim who stopped him from returning immediately to the sport and advised him to go slower and at his own pace, ignoring external pressures.

Two years later, Barshim tore his ankle ligaments, possibly jeopardising his presence in Tokyo. Tamberi supported his friend, filling Instagram with supportive posts and having constant contact with his fellow athlete.

And so it transpired that the medal shared by the two jumpers was more than just a gold for the pair. It was the chance to stand at the top of the podium, representing your country, side-by-side with a true friend.

South Africa's Tatjana Schoenmaker made history in the 200m breaststroke, taking an unexpected gold medal. The best part is that when she took off her goggles, she realised that she had also set a new world record. The swimmer lowered the record set by Denmark's Rikke Moller Perdersen in 2013 by 16 hundredths of a second.

The emotion was overwhelming and soon her colleague, rival and friend Kaylene Corbett arrived at her side. Americans Lilly Rey and Annie Lazor, second and third in the race, also approached Tatjana Schoenmaker to hug and congratulate her. The winner's tears of joy streamed down her face and flowed into the water of the pool.

Knowing how to deal with such victory is important. Knowing how to deal with defeat is even more so, and these four swimmers have shown millions of people how to do both.

Tom Daley, one of the UK's best athletes, has brought pride to the flag - not just the Union Jack, but for the LGTBIQ+ flag, too.

The 27-year-old diver has never hidden his sexual orientation and in Tokyo he once again confirmed this fact. “I feel incredibly proud to say that I am a gay man and also an Olympic champion. When I was younger I didn’t think I’d ever achieve anything because of who I was. To be an Olympic champion now just shows that you can achieve anything.”

His words were applauded around the world, even though, as the athlete himself has acknowledged, there are now more openly gay athletes in this Olympics than in Rio 2016.

Now, if you thought that his brave words were going to be his best moment in Tokyo, perhaps you did not imagine that Tom Daley was going to entertain himself by knitting in the stands, while his team-mates were training or competing. And the best thing is that, among other things, he has knitted the flags of his countries for his fellow competitors. It takes away the stress.