Italy’s haul of medals is the most the country has ever won, beating the previous record of 36 set in Los Angeles 1932 and Rome 1960.
The national team won a total of 10 golds, 10 silvers and 20 bronzes, putting it in 10th place on the table, despite having the same number of gold medals as the Netherlands, France and Germany, ranked seventh to ninth place respectively.
The US finished at the top of the table with 113 medals overall (39 of which are gold), followed by China (88), Japan (58), Great Britain (65), ROC (71) and Australia (46).
Italy’s Olympic Committee (CONI) will award a total of around €7 million in prize money to its champion athletes.
Each gold medal is rewarded with €180,000 while silver gets €90,000 and bronze €60,000.
“We have made a country happy,” CONI boss Giovanni Malagò said.
Malagò also celebrated the diversity of Italy’s national team.
“For the first time we brought athletes from all regions and autonomous provinces of Italy and athletes born in all five continents,” he said.
From cycling and sailing to fencing and karate, Italy’s gold medals came pouring in while overall the nation medalled in 16 of the 33 sports.
There was no single day at the Games without at least one Italian medal in an unprecedented run for the country.
Signs of Italy’s strength were evident even before the Games, when a record 384 athletes earned a qualifying spot for Tokyo.
Their previous best was 367 from the Athens Games in 2004.
Lamont Marcell Jacobs, who made history winning the individual 100m men’s final and taking Usain Bolt’s crown as the world’s fastest man, was Italy’s flag bearer for the closing ceremony on Sunday.
Lamont was also part of the winning team in the 4x100m relay race, along with Lorenzo Patta, Eseosa Desalu and Filippo Tortu.
Other gold medallists include: race walkers Massimo Stano and Antonella Palmisano; high jumper Gianmarco Tamberi; karateka Luigi Busà; taekwondo athlete Vito Dell’Aquila; cyclists Simone Consonni, Filippo Ganna, Francesco Lamon and Jonathan Milan; rowers Federica Cesarini and Valentina Rodini; and sailors Ruggero Tita and Caterina Banti.
Italian President Sergio Mattarella will hold a ceremony to celebrate the success of the national team at the Quirinal Palace on September 23, ending an unforgettable summer of sporting glory that began with Italy winning the Euro 2020 championships.
Italy will host the 2032 Winter Olympics.
Le medaglie.
— ItaliaTeam (@ItaliaTeam_it) August 8, 2021
I colori.
Le note.
Noi, #ItaliaTeam. #StuporMundi | #Tokyo2020 pic.twitter.com/jhkZPcFPFZ