Athletes pose for photos at the closing ceremony in the Maracana stadium at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Sunday, Aug. 21, 2016.
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The ceremony, lasting nearly three hours, displayed lovely firework, participants danced and celebrated Brazil’s arts.
And then there was the arrest of 71-year-old International Olympic Committee (IOC) member Pat Hickey in a dawn raid, as part of a Brazilian police investigation into ticket touting.
We’ve spent the last 16 days in awe watching world class athletes compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics.
The games had almost 11,000 participants from 205 countries, including a first-ever refugee team, featuring in 306 events of 42 sporting disciplines.
Furthermore, Bach dropped more lovely words for Rio, saying that the city is leaving a unique legacy and that the history will have to mention about how Rio was before and how Rio has become better after the 2016 Olympics.
The Rio Olympics wrapped up with a stunning closing ceremony as Tokyo was handed hosting duties for 2020.
Claressa Shields became the first American boxer of either gender to win gold medals in two consecutive Olympic competitions.
Women’s ice hockey captain Kate Richardson-Walsh taken the flag for Great Britain, who completed the Matches with 67 medals – their best tally at an Olympics that are worldwide. Russian Federation and Germany closed the top five on fourth and fifth place, with 56 and 42 medals in total, respectively. Great Britain finished on second spot with 27 Gold, 23 Silver and 17 bronze. As always, Cycling was a huge success with six gold medals, including three for Jason Kenny.
A very honourable mention also goes to Phelps’s compatriot Katie Ledecky, who won four golds and a silver at Rio 2016, setting new world records in the 400m and 800m freestyle events.
That was followed by an impressive 12-minute showcase of Tokyo, which included Prime Minister Abe’s star turn. Thank you for your warm hospitality.
The athletes were cheered to the rafters while Brazil’s diversity and natural beauty were celebrated in style. And tonight, it’s full of people who came out to enjoy the unique spectacle the Olympics brings.
After 16 days of competition, the 2016 Rio Olympic Games came to an end.
“Rio did history, he shows his beauty and confidence to organise the most important sporting event in the world”.
The previous record for USA medals at a fully attended Olympics was 110, set at Beijing eight years ago.
Perhaps the moment that exemplified the Olympic spirit the most in Rio was when Abbey D’Agostino of the United States and New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin helped each other from the floor after the pair had collided during the 5000m heats. And the margin between first and second in the overall medals race this year tops all others (the boycotted games of 1980 and 1984 excluded) since the Americans won 67 more medals than Italy did at the 1932 Los Angeles Games. From the USA gymnasts to Katie Ledecky to the Americans’ dominance on the basketball court, here are the 16 most memorable moments from the Olympics.
And 10 teams – including the independent team – won their first golds, including Monica Puig in women’s tennis for Puerto Rico. “We are winning medals across sports you would not have even have dreamed of even 10 years ago”. There were also national anthems – of Brazil, of Greece, of Japan, and of Kenya (during a medal ceremony for marathon).
And they finished on a high as the men’s volleyball team beat Italy for gold on the closing day of the Games.
It was their first men’s Olympic football gold medal.
For those packed into the Maracana, added joy was Brazil’s gold victory in soccer against Germany.
It was a spectacular show from a country clouded in controversy in the Games build-up regarding its stuttering preparation, economic angst, security concerns and worries over the Zika virus.
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Ryan Lochte and the other three US swimmers hijacked media coverage for the second half of the Games by lying about being robbed at gunpoint to cover up for a drunken night.
