And Sunday capped double gold for the first couple of the Olympic boxing tournament.
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The British, they had a Games to savor as well.
Shields remains uncertain about what’s next for her career after winning gold in Rio, but for now, she seems happy to bask in her hard-earned victory.
Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya sloshed his way to the gold medal in the men’s Olympic marathon as Rio de Janeiro began its grand goodbye to the 2016 Games in clammy conditions that did nothing to dampen Brazil’s frenzied mood.
“I’m going to let the world know and they’ll never forget that I have two Olympic gold medals”, she said. Ringside judges Fathi Madfoua of France and Natalya Tsoy of Kazakhstan handed in cards of 39-37, while China’s Meng Wang scored it a 40-36 shutout.
SNYDER YOUNGEST TO WIN GOLD: American wrestler Kyle Snyder won gold Sunday, becoming the youngest Olympic wrestling champion in US history.
Shields showed off her two golds.
By now, the Americans winning the medal race is nearly commonplace.
Dusmatov, 23, beat Yurberjen Martinez of Colombia to win the first gold medal of the 2016 Olympics, showcasing class the whole way through the tournament.
Late in the fight, Shields acted like she was begging Fontijn to fight. The British won 67 medals in Rio, 27 of them gold. Uzbekistan had just one gold ever in the Olympics.
She slipped it over her head, looked down at both medals at her chest and let out a huge smile.
A blustery storm swept in before the start of the closing ceremonies at Maracana Stadium, where Rio de Janeiro handed the torch to Tokyo, host of the 2020 Games.
American wrestler Kyle Snyder’s run to the world title in 2015 was so surprising that some wondered if it was something of a fluke.
“From a group of young kids, it’s fantastic”, said U.S. Coach Billy Walsh, who was hired last winter to salvage a program that was floundering. Snyder beat Khetag Goziumov of Azerbaijan 2-1 in the 97-kilogram final.
The last American boxer to win two gold medals was Oliver Kirk, who claimed bantamweight and featherweight titles at the same 1904 St. Louis Olympics, where only US boxers took part.
The 21-year-old from Flint became the first American boxer to win two Olympic gold medals, and she made sure everyone knew it when she took the podium to accept the second while wearing the first.
Shields was a cut above once again as she took her record as an amateur to 77 victories and just one defeat, with her only loss coming back in 2012.
While French fiancées Tony Yoka and Estelle Mossely both won gold, and Uzbekistan and Cuba won three each, the USA tally of a gold, silver and bronze represented an improvement on 2012 for the former powerhouse. Fontijn offered little resistance and the round served as little more than a coronation for the American face of women’s boxing. It is a very hard process to manage the amateur boxing officials, but more thought and efforts need to go into the games. This is the first medal for the United States in the men’s marathon since 2004.
A bronze for men’s volleyball: The U.S. Men’s Volleyball team played a gritty match against Russian Federation, coming back down 2-0 to win 3-2.
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Rio now has less than three weeks to prepare for Paralympics, the pinnacle of the disability sport calendar.
