The best and most bizzare moments of the Tokyo Olympics

From Emma Twigg's success to a surprise gold from the Men's Eight and Abdullah Al-Rashidi making middle-aged men proud, RNZ Staff look back at some their high points from the Tokyo Olympics.

Favourite moment

Stephen Hewson, sports editor: The men's eight winning gold. Not a bad result for a team that only qualified at the last chance regatta in May, ending a wait of almost 50 years since New Zealand last won this event.

In fact it was touch and go as to whether NZ Rowing were going to bother with the crew at all.

Built around veteran Hamish Bond - a two time Olympic gold medallist with Eric Murray in the pair - Bond inspired and was inspired by his young teammates as he achieved a hattrick of Olympic gold.

Maja Bury, sports reporter in Tokyo: High Jumper Gianmarco Tamberi. The Italian did his best to get the sparse crowd at the main stadium involved in a slow clap before his jumps and then would leap into the air after every success, expressing excitement levels I thought were only reserved for Lotto winners. But that was just the warm-up to his reaction to sharing the high jump gold medal with Qatar's Mutaz Essa Barshim. He leaped into Barhsim's arms, belly-flopped onto the track, rolled around a few times and screamed before finding as many people to kiss and hug as he possibly could. I would love to have this guy at my next birthday party.

Jeremy Rees, RNZ news editor: Abdullah Al-Rashidi is an inspiration to middle-aged men everywhere. At age 58, he won bronze in the skeet shooting. He looked cool, composed and absolutely in the moment. "Everybody love me because I am old and see me in Olympic Games," he told the AP. Al-Rashidi should be the pin-up boy in sheds around the world.

Clay Wilson, sports reporter in Tokyo: The best moments are the ones you don't expect. Not that our men's rowing eight weren't considered contenders, but I'm not sure many outside of the crew themselves knew just how fast they were. Sitting in the stands at the Sea Forest Waterway, watching them surge into the lead, I edged further forward in my seat. Watching them cross the line in front, out of my seat. It's been all but 50 years since that Munich magic. Finally another big win in rowing's blue-ribband event.

Joe Porter, sports reporter: Ruby Tui after Black Ferns Sevens win gold, speaking with BBC's Jill Douglas after beating the Russian Olympic Committee in the women's sevens quarter final. Tui's engaging and hilarious interview racked up more than 300,000 views on Twitter.

"Don't be fooled, that was not an easy game, lots of running. My GPS blew up, that's how hard it was."

Brenton Vannisselroy, sports reporter: Sifan Hassan's remarkable performance in the heats of the women's 1500m. The Dutch runner's attempt at an unprecedented medal in the 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m was almost over in her opening race. Hassan fell inside the final lap, picked herself off the track and sprinted home to win the heat and progress to the next round.

Most emotional moment

Clay Wilson, sports reporter in Tokyo: Emma Twigg's road to Olympic glory has been long. Ninth in 2008, fourth in 2012 and fourth again in 2016. The disappointment was enough to force Twigg into retirement. It only lasted a couple of years. She came back, worked harder than ever and promised herself to leave no stone unturned. Here in Tokyo, no-one got near her. The tears of Mahe Drysdale and Eric Murray were proof enough of just what this one meant.

Felicity Reid, sports reporter: Emma Twigg was emotional along with her friends, family and team mates were emotional. A special mention for the emotions shown by David Nyika after he was presented with the korowai to be a late replacement for Hamish Bond as flag bearer.

Stephen Hewson, sports editor: Shot putter Maddi Wesche. When we talk about emotion in these things we often think about tears, but Wesche competed with a joie de vivre that was refreshing. She had fun and did it all with a smile.

First Up presenter Nathan Rarere and sports reporter Barry Guy both agree on The Black Ferns Sevens winning their Gold after a 5 year wait. Nathan said: "Tyla Nathan-Wong's tears of joy will stay with me forever." Barry said: "They overcame a couple of near upsets in Tokyo and showed the dignity and camaraderie during and afterwards that made me proud."

Jeremy Rees: The Women's Sevens was hugely emotional, but I would single out the moving waiata and haka performed by the Men's Sevens team to the successful rowers returning to the team hotel after their extraordinary "golden hour" of two gold medals and a silver.

Brenton Vannisselroy: Hayden Wilde's first interview after claiming bronze in the men's triathlon. How could you not get emotional when Wilde burst into tears as he dedicated his bronze to his dad, who never got to see him race. Also gets my award for being the best media talent in the New Zealand Olympic team.

Memorable performance by a New Zealander

Maja Bury: Dunedin student Erika Fairweather, 17, smashed the national record in the heats of the 400 freestyle, her gobsmacked reaction said it all. Her Kavanagh College schoolmates paused their classes to support her in the final and will be keen to praise her on her return to classes.

Barry Guy: Emma Twigg, the fact that she'd finished fourth in the singles sculls in the two previous Games was tagged that she was never going to shake at these Games. She appeared so much in control leading up to the final and I wondered if that pressure to pick up a medal would be too much for her. However she said afterwards that thanks to those around her she never felt under pressure and wanted to enjoy herself, she had changed her philosophy on life and it proved successful. A well deserved gold medal.

Clay Wilson: Young track cyclist Ellesse Andrews' silver medal in the keirin was the one that got my attention. The keirin can be a game of cat and mouse but, at just 21-years-old at her first Olympics, what Andrews lacked in experience she more than made up for in sheer speed. She couldn't stop crying. My guess is she wasn't the only one.

Joe Porter: Men's eight. The most famous 'boat' in rowing. After 49 years, NZ won again in the men's eight with the crew of Tom Mackintosh, Hamish Bond, Tom Murray, Michael Brake, Dan Williamson, Phillip Wilson, Shaun Kirkham, Matt Macdonald and coxswain Sam Bosworth taking gold at Tokyo Olympics.

It was NZ's second Olympic gold in the men's eight, after a memorable victory in Munich in 1972.

Brenton Vannisselroy: Campbell Stewart's incredible silver in the men's omnium. His performance was the one that gave me goosebumps. Stewart wasn't even supposed to ride in the event, only getting the 11th hour call-up when Aaron Gate was forced to withdraw with a broken collarbone. He has pedigree in the four-discipline event, being the 2019 world champion, but his performance was still a surprise, forcing his way on to the podium by getting a lap on the field late in the points race, even surprising the commentators.

Surprise performance

Stephen Hewson: Trampoline bronze to Dylan Schmidt. New Zealand's first gymnastics Olympic medal. Should trampoline be an Olympic sport? I don't know. But there's certainly a long list ahead of it that shouldn't be... so well done Dylan.

Felicity Reid: New Zealand has a track record - and an expectation - of winning Olympic medals in certain sports. Before Tokyo, trampoline and tennis weren't on that list. In Paris they might be. Marcus Daniell and Michael Venus winning New Zealand's first Olympic medal in tennis and Dylan Schmidt backing that up with the country's first gymnastics medal in any discipline was success for the underdogs.

Barry Guy: Not one particular performance but the arrival of skateboarding and sport climbing. I must admit I was a bit dubious about their inclusion along with surfing, but I kind of get it now. The youngsters taking part in skateboarding in particular just astounded me. More surprising was the friendship and camaraderie shown by the teenage athletes. A pleasant shock that warmed my heart.

Brenton Vannisselroy: Ellesse Andrews' silver in the women's keirin. Andrews had finished fifth in the event at last year's world champs, but I thought the Olympic final would be a step too far for the young Canterbury track cyclist. Not only did she make the final but she was far from daunted by the occasion and was a worthy silver medallist.

Best international story

Stephen Hewson: I'm going for two - Tamberi and Barshim sharing the high jumping gold, purists say there should have been a jump off, maybe they're right but its a nice yarn two mates showing sportsmanship. The other story is not so heart-warming, Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya claimed her team was trying to force her on a plane out of Tokyo after she criticised some coaches, she refused to leave and was granted a humanitarian visa by Poland.

Felicity Reid: American gymnast Simone Biles has been through a lot. She has previously been open about the issues within her sport and spoken up when others couldn't or wouldn't. This Olympics was an opportunity for her to make history with her predicted medal haul - instead we witnessed an athlete dealing with her mental health on the biggest stage and making people take notice for a different reason. Her bronze medal on the beam - the same result she achieved on the beam in Rio - was a fitting sign-off to her limited involvement in Japan.

Barry Guy: Laurel Hubbard certainly gained many headlines as she became one of the first openly transgender athletes to compete at the Olympics. I was happy to see that the international media and the athletes were generally accepting and accommodating to have the New Zealand weightlifter competing. It would have been interesting to see how the media and public would have reacted had she won a medal.

Nathan Rarere: No positive drug tests ... probably hasn't happened since Milo of Croton was winning the wrestling.

Brenton Vannisselroy: Sifan Hassan. After falling in her 1500m heat, the Dutch runner went on to win gold in the 5000m that night. Four days later Hassan claimed bronze in the 1500m and then won gold in the 10,000m the next day. An unprecedented three medals in three of the toughest events of the Games.

Bizarre moment

Clay Wilson: What do ya mean, red flag? What no throw? They were questions New Zealand's Tom Walsh was left asking, and Kiwis at home were left shouting at their TV screens, during the qualification rounds of the men's shot put. The 2017 world champion was on the brink of a shock early exit. Thankfully, the right decision was eventually reached. Walsh reckons it took a few years off his life. You're not alone, Tom.

Stephen Hewson: Not sure if this comes under oddest Olympic moment of the Games... perhaps the scariest.

But the general consensus among the equestrian riders was that their horses were getting spooked by a giant sumo wrestler - the number 10 jump during the showjumping round.

Just to the side of the fence was a ready-to-engage figure of a man in the traditional pose and outfit. After seeing horses have issues with the jump it prompted one trainer to trot his horses over to the fence ahead of jumping and introduce them to the sumo wrestler to familiarise them with the jump.

Barry Guy: The Russian Olympic Committee team... so Russia was officially banned from international sporting events for four years in 2019 for a state-sponsored doping programme, the ban was later reduced to two years. They still had 334 athletes in Tokyo and finished fifth on the medal table with 20 gold and 71 in total. Why? Surely a ban is a ban and the only way to make change is to make it complete. Moscow is still calling the Tokyo Olympics a success for the country. They need to be remorseful for what they've done and should not have been there. What are the chances that a Russian athlete will later fail a doping test taken in Tokyo.

Brenton Vannisselroy: Handlebars break at the track cycling. Australian Alex Porter was the unfortunate rider to land face first on to the track at the Olympic velodrome in Izu when his handlebars detached from his bike early in their men's team pursuit heat. I've never seen something like it before in years of watching track cycling. Australia were granted a re-ride and ultimately claimed bronze at New Zealand's expense.