The closing ceremony Sunday celebrated the 16-day spectacle that was the Rio Games, which combined numerous highlights with ugly and even weird episodes that sometimes overshadowed competition.
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The nagging showers and a strong wind failed to dampen the spirit of the 11,000-odd athletes who mingled freely in the true spirit of Olympic camaraderie and bade farewell to one another cutting across national barriers. Propelled by four medals from individual all-around champion Simone Biles, the nine medals are the most won by any nation since 1972 (Soviet Union, 10).
The Brazilians closed out the Rio Games in style Sunday. The closing ceremony, which lasted for about three hours, began with a similar kind of a countdown that took place in the opening ceremony, followed by cave-paintings display on Maracana Stadium’s floor.
“When I saw players withdraw with uncalled-for remarks, feeble excuses – when you think that these same players play in Asia and Africa with big appearance money, thousand times more serious (threats) with malaria than Zika – I was very sad”, Player said.
Joy did come for many Brazilians, however, on the final day and fittingly in football. He then popped out of a green pipe in the 2016 Rio Olympics closing ceremony stadium.
Samba legend Martinho da Vila, whose tunes make their way into many popular telenovelas, sang “Carinhoso”, or “Affectionate”.
Britain’s performance in Rio was the best by any country that had hosted the immediate preceding Olympics and Robertson, now a vice-president of the British Olympic Association (BOA) said the knock-on effect from London had played a part.
The show widened its lens to greater Brazil, a massive country with a land mass slightly larger than the continental United States. His lie enraged Brazilians and Americans alike. Holding small umbrellas, dancers jumped and marched while performing acrobatics.
The seating plan caused little disruption though, with Team GB athletes all smiles as they departed in Rio, and the method has been seen as another incentive for athletes planning to compete in Tokyo in four years’ time to push even harder in order to gain similar recognition among their teammates. “I’m the first Simone Biles”, after breaking onto the scene with her sheer dexterity and winning her own weight in gold medals, 19-year-old Simone Biles marked herself down as her own person.
Majlinda Kelmendi on winning Kosovo’s first Olympic gold medal at its maiden Games.
But Blackmun was thrilled by the results, and he wasn’t the only one leaving Rio happy. An impeachment vote in coming days could lead to the permanent ouster of suspended President Dilma Rousseff.
He was the man of the Games, from the moment he touched down at Rio International Airport, until he completed an unprecedented “triple-triple” by winning the 100 metre, 200m and 4x100m titles at a third successive Olympics. But there’s also worry in Japan over whether the Olympics will eventually further drag down an economy that has been struggling for decades.
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Despite the glitz and glamour and Bach s upbeat comments, the Olympics brought no relief for the two million residents of Rio who live below the poverty line amid political deadlock and economic meltdown. People went insane on social media in a debate that is still not over. It is considered to be one of the legacies of the Rio Games.
