But the host country got the seminal moment it deserved when Neymar dispatched his penalty to give Brazil its first-ever soccer gold medal at a tense and emotional Maracana Stadium on Saturday, finally making sense of the games for a nation that has sacrificed so much to stage them.
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“These were a marvelous Olympics, in a marvelous city”, said International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach. But the sports-mad nation outdid itself while hosting the Sydney Games in 2000, winning a record 58 medals (16 gold).
Likewise the clamour to make cyclist Laura Trott a dame has grown after she became Britain’s most successful female Olympian when she won two golds in Rio, taking her personal tally to four in total. “Thank you Great Britain and everyone else for all your support”, said British diver Jack Laugher, who won gold and silver in Rio, on Twitter.
And they can expect further royal treatment in the future, after Downing Street announced there would be no formal cap on the number of honours handed out to our heroic sportsmen and women. Because of our skepticism about Brazil’s ability to keep the athletes and thousands of spectators safe from criminals, the Zika virus, bacterial infections stemming from polluted waterways and inadequate living accommodations at the Olympic Village.
After the London 2012 Olympics, there were honours the following year for 38 British Olympians and 29 Paralympians.
In other highlights of Day 16, American wrestler Kyle Snyder won gold, becoming at 20 the youngest Olympic wrestling champion in US history.
“Title IX paved the way and created so many opportunities for women in sport”, said Felix. “These performances will inspire future Olympians, and I am just so humbled and honored to be a part of these awesome women”.
Rio’s financial challenges made frugality a hallmark of the games, with many competitions held in sparsely decorated temporary facilities. Also proving mettle without a color, American 5,000-meter runner Abbey D’Agostino received the Rio 2016 Fair Play Award, along with fellow runner Nikki Hamblin (New Zealand) and the Norwegian men’s handball team. China has finished outside of the top four of the medal standings just once (11th in Seoul 1988), and in its crowning achievement in Beijing, the Chinese won 51 gold medals, beating second-place United States by a staggering 15.
No apology will erase the fact that the USA gold-medal swimmers have brought shame on this nation. The U.S. also continued its winning traditions in basketball and water polo.
The US women’s 4x100m relay team was disqualified for dropping their baton in the semi-final heats, but after successfully arguing that other runners made them drop their baton, the team went on to qualify for and win gold in the finals.
After the Olympic Flag being passed to Tokyo, it was Japans turn on the stage to entertain the capacity crowd with an inventive light show and an appearance by the countrys Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Indeed, the only criminal incident that attracted worldwide attention was triggered by U.S. Olympic swimmers attempting to cover up their atrocious behavior by claiming to be victims.
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As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.
