The most decorated Olympian of all time came into Rio with 22 total medals and 18 gold medals and added six more to his collection, five of them gold.
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Then again, the most-chronicled episode was the one that was no crime at all but instead the unhinged exaggeration of swimmer Ryan Lochte, aka the “Lochte Mess Monster”.
Two athletes broke out into superstardom at these Olympic Games, American gymnast Simone Biles and American swimmer Katie Ledecky.
Nothing provided greater evidence of a change in the world order in badminton than the results of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
But there were moments – some great, some awful and some downright ugly – that will not, and should not, be forgotten.
More medals at the next Olympics is a feat never before achieved by a nation which has hosted the previous Games, said UK Sport, the funding partner of the British Olympic Association.
In gymnastics, where China won four gold medals in London, they won none at all in Rio, prompting comments from the sport’s boss that China need to move with the times.
The team entered the Maracana for Sunday night’s closing ceremony riding high on their success, the occasion infused with a relaxed party atmosphere that showed on the faces of the delighted stars.
He could have said the same about the charismatic Bolt.
New Zealand and Jamaica were once again the biggest overachievers.
D’Agostino finished that last mile of the race with a blown-out ACL in her right knee. D’Agostino tore a knee ligament in the fall and obviously couldn’t finish.
The silver medal in the men’s 5,000-meter final is where things got a bit sticky.
“What is not disputable is that the overall level and capabilities of the Chinese athletes in those events in which they traditionally do well have fallen sharply”. IGF president Peter Dawson said he was “hopeful and confident” that it would continue to play a part in the Olympics beyond 2020.
These were memories sweeter than the coconut juice I sipped while gazing out into the vast South Atlantic, so bonito (beautiful), so pacifico (peaceful). “And isn’t that just so fantastic?”
Despite moments of tension, such as an Egyptian athlete’s refusal to shake an Israeli rival’s hand, cross-cultural bridge-building was hailed throughout the games. “And with the Rio Olympics underway, it’s likely he’s ready to win some more”. Lochte left, others facing the music in his absence. Club France. So it would seem like not all foreign atmospheres struck him as traumatic before now. China offers about $36,000 for a gold medal win, while the United States Olympic Committee rewards gold medalists with $25,000.
Host nation Brazil took gold in the men’s after beating Germany, and Nigeria won bronze after beating Honduras 3-2.
“To do this for my country is everything”, Puig said.
When China emerged from Mao Zedong’s tumultuous Cultural Revolution and re-entered the world of global sports in the early 1980s, it was the unlikely success of the national women’s volleyball team that injected the scarred nation with a much-needed shot of goal and optimism.
Her style is simple. Even Felix herself said it was “really weird” and “running without competitors is just unusual”, the Xinhua commentary said. “Tokyo is now in my sights more than ever”.
She claimed a bronze in the women’s beam, also. “I had it on my wall and remember thinking, “I want to be Olympic champion”.
Decathlon champion Ashton Eaton of the US and his wife, heptathlon bronze medalist Brianne Thiesen-Eaton of Canada, would be a very easy selection here.
China’s silver lining came in the behaviour of their athletes, who unusually showed their human side and won new fans, at home and overseas, in the process. This is the program’s first Olympic medal, ever. I can’t believe it, I am now officially our most accomplished amateur boxer ever and it is such an wonderful feeling.
Congratulating them, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge and Prince Harry said the team was an “inspiration to us all, young and old”.
But her former coach had the ideal rebuttal. If you won, you became the hero.
A tough category, especially after Leslie Jones of “Saturday Night Live” parlayed hilarious Twitter commentary into an invite to Rio.
But the pick here is Zac Efron, who flew to Rio just to surprise the US women’s gymnastics team – particularly Biles, who doesn’t hide her enormous crush on the actor.
Also in decline but still on top was the American men’s basketball team.
“What has gone wrong?” But the games also were marred by the bad behavior and concocted stories of Ryan Lochte and his USA swimming teammates.
Stand up and cheer, City of God.
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Now that’s a made-for-Hollywood story. After Rio was awarded the Games in 2009, the Brazil economy fell into a devastating recession, greatly complicating the task of preparing venues and infrastructure.
