Brazil’s iconic Maracana Stadium hosted the closing ceremony of Rio Olympics 2016 on Sunday. The grand sports event ended with an official handover to Tokyo for 2020.
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“We are in a hard moment as a country right now, we can’t hide that, but the Games were scheduled and I’m glad we could enjoy them”, said Alessandro Freitas, also from Rio. These Games were a celebration of diversity.
Off-field scandal also struck during the Games as police seized passports, phones and computers in a raid on the Irish Olympic office, following the arrest of Irish International Olympic Committee member Patrick Hickey over an alleged black market tickets scam.
“These Olympic Games are leaving a unique legacy for generations to come”. “History will talk about a Rio de Janeiro before and a much better Rio de Janeiro after the Olympic Games”.
The stadium was transformed into a street carnival as the ceremony showcased Brazil’s art, music and dance. Model Izabel Goulart alongside hundreds of other women and dancers joined a sound truck as they parade at the Olympics closing.
Russian Federation won in those events which were not affected by doping scandals and where its athletes no problems with the admission to the Olympics.
Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes returned the Olympic flag to Bach before it was passed to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike.
The ceremony closed with a firework and confetti show.
Only three other gymnasts have won four gold medals in a single Games, most recently Ekaterina Szabo in 1984.
Ryan Lochte and the other three USA 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.
Rain drenched performers and hundreds of athletes as they entered the party, many with medals hanging around their necks, like the USA men’s basketball team which won gold on Sunday.
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt said farewell to the Olympics by winning an unprecedented sprint “triple triple” in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, adding to his golds from Beijing 2008 and London 2012.
Americans Michael Phelps and Katie Ledecky were the stars in the pool, while Simone Biles won four gymnastics gold medals.
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That poor return played a major role in China slipping behind Great Britain to finish third in the medals table – the first time they have finished outside the top two since the Sydney Games in 2000. Taking their place in history, Allyson Felix took home three medals to become the all-time winningest woman in Olympic track and field with six golds and nine overall, while Ashton Eaton tied an Olympic record to become the first US decathlete to repeat as Olympic champion since Bob Mathias (1948 and 1952).
