It was followed by the official protocol of speech giving before a carnival parade entertained the spectators.
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Brazil was where two of the world’s greatest sporting legends, Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, whose feats will, perhaps, never ever be matched, performed for the last time in an Olympics.
He rose out of a huge green pipe in the stadium.
The most poignant moment of course was when the Olympic flame was extinguished bringing a hush in the stadium.
Or try telling any one of the nine athletes who clinched their country’s first Olympic golds, or Team GB who finished second in the medal table with their best performance in more than a century with golds across an unrivalled 15 sports.
China’s gold medal tally climbed to 28 in Sydney, 32 in Athens and 51 in Beijing.
South Korea were in eighth place with 21 medals made up of 9 gold, 3 silver and 9 bronze.
At the 2004 Athens Olympics, Romania got 8 gold medals, 5 silver, and 6 bronze.
However, like so many events in Rio, the closing ceremony took place in front of a half-empty stadium. But as Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, has said: “The Games weren’t organized within a bubble, but in a city with social problems, where real life continues during the Olympics”.
Just a few hours earlier, the U.S. basketball squad won the last gold of the Games, boosting their country’s place on top of the medals table.
“We come from a tropical experience, the Latin ways of Brazil, which sometimes made the International Olympic Committee members a little bit insane”, Paes said.
The athletes were cheered to the rafters while Brazil’s diversity and natural beauty were celebrated in style. “These Olympic Games are leaving a unique legacy for generations to come”.
The 10-strong refugee team that competed under the Olympic flag were welcomed to the Games Village in classic Brazilian style: warmly and with plenty of music and dancing.
“But it was a challenge with success”.
Those members of the successful squad who had remained in Rio beamed as they waved to the crowds – with bronze-winning gymnast Nile Wilson perched on a team-mate’s shoulders for a better view.
The Japanese city’s presentation ended with the call “see you in Tokyo, 2020”, summing up the mood at the stadium.
The team also won gold medals in synchronized swimming, rhythmic gymnastics and judo. There was the relief of having concluded South America’s first first Games. And American gymnast Simone Biles, the US flag bearer in the closing ceremony, kicked off her Olympic run by tying the record of four gold medals in a single Games.
A very honourable mention also goes to Phelps’s compatriot Katie Ledecky, who won four golds and a silver at Rio 2016, setting new world records in the 400m and 800m freestyle events. Tennis player Monica Puig gave Puerto Rico their first gold at a Games; hammer thrower Dilshod Nazarov did the same for Tajikistan as did Cheick Sallah Cisse for Ivory Coast in taekwondo.
José Maria Beltrame, Secretary for Public Safety, has revealed his main concern for a post-Olympics Rio. Brazilians were a happy lot as on the final few days, gold medals were won in men’s football and volleyball.
The Pacific Islanders were hotly-tipped to win gold and duly crushed Great Britain 43-7 in the final, sparking scenes of joy among the 900,000 population and heaps of praise on social media.
Russian swimmer Yuliya Efimova, who had been banned for doping, was repeatedly booed.
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A low point for Rio came when Ryan Lochte, one of America’s most decorated swimmers, said he was robbed at gunpoint.
