At the pandemic-delayed Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Cuban judo legend Idalys Ortiz once again reached the women's +78kg heavyweight final, this time falling to Japan's Akira Sone by ippon (one point) in front of the host nation, earning Ortiz her second consecutive silver medal in the division following her runner-up finish at 2016 Rio. The result made Ortiz one of only a handful of judoka in Olympic history to win four career medals in the sport (gold in 2012, silver in 2016 and 2020, bronze in 2008). Getty image 1234316228 shows Ortiz on the podium with this very medal draped around her neck.

The 2020 Summer Olympics was originally scheduled to be held in Tokyo from July 24 to August 9, 2020. Instead, due to COVID, it was postponed until the summer of 2021, marking the first time in history an Olympic Games was rescheduled (previous Games had only ever been cancelled entirely). Another first was the fact that almost every event took place behind closed doors with no public spectators due to Japan’s COVID-19 safety measures. The 2020 Summer Games were the fourth Olympics in Japan, and Tokyo became the first Asian city to hold the Summer Olympics for a second time (1964). For branding purposes, these Games maintained the original Tokyo 2020 slogan.

Offered here is the silver medal awarded to Ortiz for her Tokyo 2020 performance. Designed by Junichi Kawanishi, the obverse has “Games of the XXXII Olympiad Tokyo 2020” in raised characters above the Olympic rings and a winged Nike flying over Panathenaic Stadium with the Acropolis in the background. The reverse has the Tokyo Games logo on a polished stone surrounded by curved lines that represent different patterns of light and energy from the participating athletes and nations. The name of the event “JUDO, Women’s +78kg” is etched along the bottom edge. The robust medal made of gilt silver has a diameter of 85 mm and is 12 mm thick. It comes attached to its original multicolored ribbon bearing the traditional Japanese design motifs found in ichimatsu moyo (harmonized checkered patterns) and kasane no irome (traditional kimono layering techniques). Altogether with the ribbon it weighs 580 grams (20.). The medal is very well-preserved with just some minor wear on the revers its surface.

The original navy blue wooden presentation case (NM-MT) is included, which comes enclosed in an outer cardboard case of the same color. Inside the case is a a small gold-plated 2020 Olympic pin. A remarkable companion piece to her 2016 Rio silver medal (Lot 532), together these winners' medals document one of the most consistent runs in modern Olympic judo history.  Our consignor acquired both medals directly from Ortiz.