Despite Britain’s great overall success at the Rio Olympics, Sweeney expressed disappointment that no football team had taken part and said talks would take place to try to field teams in Tokyo in four years’ time. If the USA were divided into two countries, one male and the other female, those 27 golds for the women would tie them with Britain for most of any country, put them one ahead of China, and far ahead of the American men and everyone else.
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The full American squad – both men and women – won the most medals overall, 121, as has often been the case in the Summer Games.
Team GB’s light-up deck shoes were one of the hits of the Rio Olympics closing ceremony, and Simon Jersey, the company that designed the athletes’ outfits, says it has been stunned by the response. The British won 67 medals in Rio, 27 of them gold.
Brazil added a final flourish as they beat Italy 3-0 to win the men’s title in volleyball, one of the country’s most popular sports.
And then there was the maiden Olympic victory for Brazil’s footballers, which was probably the most important gold medal for the home nation, in the only sport Brazil really cares about. The women didn’t win a single medal in gymnastics and had no golds in track and field.
Prime Minister of Japan Shinzo Abe is seen on stage at the Rio Closing Ceremony.
Olympics chief Thomas Bach said, “These were marvelous Olympic games in the marvelous city”.
China won 26 golds, just over half as many as it won in Beijing in 2008.
Will anyone ever match such an incredible Olympic career?
Russian Federation competed with about a third of its squad sidelined, but managed to finish fourth with 19 gold medals, and 56 overall. It featured the parade of athletes as well as the dramatic extinguishing of the Olympic flame. On the same night of Phelps’ last career race, the US women’s 400-meter medley relay team of Kathleen Baker, Lilly King, Simone Manuel and Dana Vollmer made history by securing the 1,000th gold medal for Team USA at the Olympic Games in summer competition.
New Zealand and Jamaica were once again the biggest overachievers.
Of the 213 Americans who earned medals in Rio, almost 85 percent competed in NCAA collegiate athletics, with the majority of those coming in swimming, track and field, and team sports.
Having finished second in the Olympic medal table – behind the United States and finishing above Olympic rivals such as China, Russia and the United States – Britain are already looking to build on their success and are targeting even better results at Tokyo 2020, with funding plans already underway. A day later, the US women’s basketball team extended its Olympic women’s record to six straight Olympics titles and eight overall.
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Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps won his 23rd gold medal in the 4x100m medley relay in Rio.
