For those packed into the Maracana, added joy was Brazil’s gold victory in soccer against Germany. “Overall, these have been a terrific Games – the venues have been spectacular and the volunteers were very friendly and did a fantastic job”.
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Women’s hockey captain Kate Richardson-Walsh carried the flag for Great Britain, who finished the Games with 67 medals – their highest tally at an overseas Olympics.
“These Olympic Games are leaving a unique legacy for generations to come”, he said. “There have been so many first-time performances by so many athletes in different sports and our hats go off to the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for creating an environment in which our athletes could thrive and reach their potential”.
He now has 28 medals in total but told fans on Facebook that there would be no more.
Eight other nations earned their first Olympic gold medal: Bahrain in the women’s steeplechase, Fiji in the men’s Rugby Sevens, Ivory Coast and Jordan in the men’s taekwondo, Kosovo in women’s judo, Puerto Rico in women’s tennis, Tajikistan in men’s hammer-throwing and Vietnam in men’s shooting. Winning five of the six relays, the USA garnered almost half of the 34 gold medals up for grabs, while no other country won more than three.
It was the United States Phelps who set the first week on fire when he took his unmatched career haul to 23 gold medals with another five in Rio and now heads into retirement.
Like most Olympics, Rio too had its glitches and controversies but on Sunday, Brazil could go to sleep content that it had pulled off the games quite spectacularly.
Among the highlights were Tokyo’s impressive showcase and a vibrant carnival parade.
It is also worth mentioning that Cameroon won its first Olympic medal in 1968 at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, its second in 1984 in Los Angeles, a third in 2000 in Sydney, then 2004 in Athens and finally in 2008 in Beijing.
American gymnast Simone Biles was the breakout star of Rio, winning a record-equalling four golds for a female gymnast at a single Games.
Making her task even more hard, a wave of athletes stopped Biles to take selfies.
One of the major concerns for Brazilians is what will be the final cost of the Games for a country in the midst of its deepest economic recession since the 1930s and how much they actually helped improve the city’s infrastructure.
A lovely, multi-coloured representation of the Olympic Rings.
But before the curtain comes down for another four years, there’s the showbiz glitz of the closing ceremony to come – and a few more gold medals to be decided.
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The nation also ruled in the pool, winning 33 of the 104 medals awarded, which is 32%.
