“Every Olympics has its own set of issues”, said Meghan Musnicki, a member of the US gold medal-winning eight rowing team, which competed in the most-discussed water on the planet.
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Brazilian music and dancing left numerous more memorable moments, however, as athletes paraded out into the infield as the rain poured down.
IOC President Thomas Bach speaks during the Closing Ceremony.
“We have calculated that 93 per cent of Team GB’s medallists were supported by the EIS during the Rio cycle which is up from the 86% which were supported in the London cycle”.
The PM’s official spokeswoman said: “We have had an wonderful fortnight at the Rio Olympics and we should be looking at the differing ways that we can recognise and reward the athletes for all they have achieved, and honours are there to recognise and reward people”. “I am sure she will be keen to see the success there recognised and rewarded”.
Farah was pushed hard in the 5,000m before he kicked home in the final straight to become the first man since Finnish great Lasse Viren in 1976 to retain two Olympic distance titles.
“I can’t believe it”, he said after the race. “We’ve not see this since”.
Dina Asher-Smith, 20, who won bronze in the women’s 4x100m relay, said: “I feel really proud to have been part of such a successful Team GB team”. With 29 golds, London 2012 just edges it in that sense, but Great Britain came third to China – a performance they have improved on this time.
In a final symbolic act, the Olympic flame that had burned since August 5 was then extinguished in a downpour of artificial rain.
At the colorful closing ceremony, which opened with schoolchildren singing Brazil’s national anthem, Rio will pass the Olympic flame to Tokyo for the 2020 Games.
Earlier, Hosszu smashed the 400m individual medley world record with a timing of 4:26.36 to land the gold medal that had always eluded her. Hosszu, who has 11 long and short-course world titles, remarkably had never won an Olympic medal in three previous Games.
– Michael Phelps after winning his 23rd gold medal.
When this year’s games began in Rio, state media lamented the lack of golds on the opening day, but Chinese sports fans stayed nonchalant.
She said: “The worlds in London will have that home effect”.
The athletics programme produced three world records, including stunning runs in the 400m by South Africa’s Wayde van Niekerk and women’s 10,000m by Almaz Ayana that both erased marks set last century.
Richardson-Walsh, the team’s flag bearer at the ceremony, added: “We hope to inspire boys, girls, all ages to go out and look at all the array of sports we won medals in, we are so good at so many different sports”.
Almost a third of the Russian team was barred from Rio due to a doping scandal and that’s reflected in the medal count.
We know this will be an ongoing process and a final decision on golf’s future in the Olympics won’t be made until September 2017 when the International Olympic Committee finalizes the Games’ program beyond 2020 during its session in Lima, Peru. Dozens of Team GB members partied with thousands of athletes from 207 competing nations in front of a less than capacity crowd in the famous Maracana stadium.
Or the residents of a notorious Rio slum who watched one of their own win Brazil’s first gold, in the judo arena.
Gold medal winners among flag bearers from other nations included 4ft 9in gymnastics superstar Simone Biles from the USA and South African runner Caster Semenya. From young athletes winning their first medals to veterans going to the podium just one more time to news and upsets no one expected, there’s no other sporting event as full of suspense and surprises than the Olympics.
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“We agree that winning gold is not the only benchmark, but we also recognize the Olympic motto is faster, higher and stronger after all”, said Liu Peng, China’s sports minister, in Rio on Saturday. “I will definitely miss the sport, miss the Olympics because it’s the biggest stage”, the charismatic Jamaican said. “These Olympians are inspiring the next generation”. The race is on for tickets!
