Silver Medal Olympic Games in Tokio 2021 - Proof

The Olympics are always held in even-numbered years, but 2021 is an exception. The Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were postponed by a year due to a coronavirus pandemic, are commemorated by a silver commemorative medal from the Czech Mint. Although the year has changed, the official name of the Olympic Games still includes the year 2020.

The thirty-second Summer Olympic Games were to be held in 2020 in Tokyo, Japan. However, athletes and sports fans had to miss them in the interests of public health, as the world was hit by a coronavirus pandemic. World-changing events have already affected the Olympics many times. In 1908, the Games had to be moved from Rome to London because of the devastating explosion of Vesuvius. In 1916, 1940 and 1944 they were cancelled due to the ongoing world wars. During the Cold War, boycotts by rival superpowers affected them in 1980 and 1984. But 2020 marks the first time in the 124 years history of the modern Olympics that they have been postponed by a year... The first Summer Olympics were held in Tokyo in 1964, and the capital of the "Land of the Rising Sun" will become only the fifth metropolis in history to host the Olympics for a second time in 2021. It will join Athens, Paris, London and Los Angeles. The Games programme will include 33 sports and 324 disciplines - baseball and softball, which are extremely popular in Japan, will return, while climbing, karate, surfing and skateboarding will be new sports.

The author of the commemorative medal is Mgr. Petr Horák, a teacher and medal maker, who has extensive experience with sports themes. His studio has produced, among other things, four medals of the Czech Mint dedicated to the Olympics. The first commemorated the XXX Summer Olympic Games in London 2012, the second commemorated the XXII Winter Olympic Games in Sochi 2014, the third the XXXI Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and the fourth the XXIII Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang 2018. The obverse side of this Japanese medal presents the new national stadium in Tokyo, which will become a major Olympic and Paralympic sporting venue, supplemented with a sakura blossom.

Traditionally, the Czech Olympic Committee is the partner of the issue, to which the reverse side of the medal is dedicated.