We go to the Far East for the first time on this edition of Olympic Wednesday as Japan hosted the Summer olympiad: 5,137 athletes from 93 countries competed in 163 events across 24 disciplines. Volleyball made its Olympic debut in Tokyo, and there were several notable performances even though we only touch upon a handful of them below. Emotionally, Yoshinori Sakai lit the flame, born in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

The Soviet Union led the way with 96 overall medals, although the United States won the most golds (36) on its way to a second-place finish on the medal table (90). A unified German team finished third with 56 medals, as the host nation came in fourth with 29 medals. Overall, 14 nations won at least 10 medals in these Games, demonstrating worldwide that outstanding athletes were coming from everywhere now.

Most Outstanding Male Athlete: Don Schollander, United States

The first swimmer ever to win four gold medals in one Olympiad, American Don Schollander won the 100m freestyle, the 400m frees, the 4x100m free relay, and the 4x200m free relay. Oddly, he was the world record holder in the 200m free, but that was not an Olympic event. He also could have won a fifth gold, but the U.S. coaches held him off the 4x100m medley relay. All in all, a dominating performance here in Tokyo.

Most Outstanding Female Athlete: Věra Čáslavská, Czechoslovakia

Five different women won at least 4 medals: Soviet gymnast Larisa Latynina (2G, 2S, 2B); Czech gymnast Věra Čáslavská (3G, 1S); American swimmer Sharon Stouder (3G, 1S); Soviet gymnast Polina Astakhova (2G, 1S, 1B); and American swimmer Kathy Ellis (2G, 2B). We have to simplify, so Stouder gets the edge on Ellis, for example, and Čáslavská won the most individual golds (3). Latynina won a single individual gold.

Of course, she was our pick here for Rome, and overall, she won 18 medals across three Olympics. But we’re giving the nod here to Čáslavská, who took gold in the individual all-around event, the horse vault, and the balance beam. She won her silver in the team all-around event. Despite the varied success of all these women, Čáslavská is our pick for the reasons above, and we’re pretty confident in the choice.

Most Outstanding Male Team: American Diving

In the 2 diving events, the U.S. men won 5 of a possible 6 medals: they swept the springboard event while winning gold and bronze in the platform. What’s more is that the 5 medals were won by 5 different divers, too: that’s incredible team depth. Here are the medalists: Ken Sitzberger (S) and Bob Webster (P) won golds; Frank Gorman won the silver; while Larry Andreasen (S) and Tom Gompf (P) won the bronzes.

Most Outstanding Female Team: American Swimming

In winning 15 medals of a possible 21 overall, the U.S. women cleaned house in Tokyo. The Americans won 6 gold medals: Ginny Duenkel (400m free), Cathy Ferguson (100m backstroke), Donna de Varona (400m individual medley), and Stouder (100m butterfly)—plus the 2 relay golds (4x100m free, 4x100m medley). In addition to Stouder and Ellis’ multiple medals, Duenkel also won a bronze in the 100m back. Impressive.