Another dazzling showdown comes to an end, bringing the entire world together for a moment, making Rio’s slogan ‘A new World’ a momentous reality.
The best athletes from around the globe contested on the grandest stage, upholding the highest values, scripting an extravaganza never to forget. As sixteen eventful days come to a close, let’s take look at the most memorable moments from Rio Olympics 2016.
A resounding 207 teams (205 NOCs) competed for 306 events in 28 sports during the 31st Olympiad.
The 2016 Olympics commenced with a vibrant opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro. Among the well-known flag bearers at the parade of nations such as Michael Phelps, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce, it was Tonga’s Pita Nikolas Taufatofua who caused a media frenzy with his oil smeared topless body.
A loud cheer reverberated when the Refugee Team entered the stadium. Ten athletes formed the team while Rose Lokonyen Nathike was the flag bearer in the historical occasion. The Maracana exploded with noisy chants when the home team arrived at last. Modern Pentathlon athlete Yane Marques was the flag bearer for Brazil. The cauldron was lit by the Pierre de Coubertin medalist and hero from Athens 2004 Vanderlei de Lima.
Thrasher kick-starts Rio, early shocks on the stage
America’s 19 year old Virginia Thrasher became the first gold medalist at Rio 2016, winning the women’s 10m air rifle event. She beat two time gold medalist Li Du of China by a mere point.
Venus Williams, Jack Sock, Agnieszka Radwanska and Novak Djokovic suffered shocking early exits on the tennis courts.
Samir Ait Said of France broke his leg during a gruesome vault accident while Andranik Karapetyan of Armenia dislocated his elbow during a horrific weightlifting accident.
Majlinda Kelmendi of Kosovo won here nation’s 1st ever medal, in their 1st games; a gold in Judo.
South Korea dominates Archery, Gymnastics and Rugby 7s take new turns
South Korea won all 5 gold medals available at Archery events. Kim Woojin broke the world record and Olympic record, scoring 700 points at the individual event. This was the first record broken at Rio 2016.
Spearheaded by Simon Biles, the USA won gold in women’s team Gymnastics, the star teenager further won three gold medals and a bronze at individual events. Kohei Uchimura claimed his eighth straight Olympics/ World Championship gymnastics all-around title.
The Australian women won the first ever Rugby 7s gold medal while Fiji went on to win the gold medal at the men’s event beating Great Britain 43-7 in the final.
Swimming takes the center stage, Phelps reaches superhuman heights
Britain’s Adam Peaty who broke his own world record with a timing of 57.55s in the 100m breaststroke heats, then bettered it with a 57.13s swim on the following day, securing the gold for the event.
Syrian swimmer from the refugee team, 17 year old Yusra Mardini, who swam for her life to a Greek island less than a year ago, won her heat but failed to reach the semi-finals.
The Campbell sisters, Cate and Bronte, led Australia to their 2nd consecutive gold in the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay while Michael Phelps began his medal run when the USA men won the 4x100m freestyle relay.
Phelps brought his career gold medal haul to 21 by winning the 200m butterfly gold, an event he couldn’t conquer in 2012 and the US continued their domination in the 4x200m freestyle relay.
Teenager Katie Ledecky won her second individual gold, this time in the 200m freestyle. She had already secured the world record and gold for the 400m freestyle event.
The ‘Iron Lady’, Katinka Hosszu of Hungary earned 3 golds and a silver. Simone Manuel and Penny Oleksiak tied for gold in the 100m freestyle.
Michael Phelps won his 4th consecutive 200m IM gold medal while Katie Ledecky shattered her own world record at the 800m freestyle to win her fourth gold. For once, Phelps was outclassed and it was in the 100m butterfly where Joseph Schooling from Singapore grabbed the gold. Phelps was in a three way tie with Chad le Clos and Laszlo Cesch for silver. In what was said to be his final race, Michael Phelps and his US teammates won the 4x100m medley event, taking his career tally to a startling 23 golds. He ended his run with a total of 28 Olympic medals, 13 in individual events to become the most decorated Olympian ever.
The fastest event, the 50m freestyle, was won by veteran swimmer Anthony Erwin 16 years after his gold at Sydney.
The diving events were best remembered for the algae incident which turned the diving pool green.
‘Lightning Bolt’ hits Rio
The track and field events began with the women’s 10,000m event. Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana won gold, smashing a 23-year old world record. Elaine Thompson took the 100m dash while defending champion Shelly-Ann Fraser settled for bronze. Thompson further personified her domination, claiming gold in the 200m final as well.
Despite tumbling during the race, Mo Farah was unruffled during his course to defend his 10,000m title from London 2012. American Jeff Henderson narrowly won the gold in long jump while Christian Taylor won gold in Triple Jump.
Jamaican sprint star Usain Bolt yet again proved that he is the fastest man in the world by winning the 100m event (9.81 seconds). His pace was unchallenged when later he won the 200m (19.78 seconds) and teamed up to win the 4x100m relay. He became the first ever person to win three consecutive golds in 100m, 200m and 4x100m and equaled Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi’s record for 9 gold medals in athletics.
Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa routed the 17-year old world record in 400m final (43.03 seconds) while Omar McLeod bagged Jamaica’s first title in 110m hurdles. Americans Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali, Kristi Castlin clean swept the women’s 100m hurdles event.
During a controversial 400m final, Shaunae Miller dived over the finish line to go past Allyson Felix for Gold.
The USA team won women’s 4x100m relay. After being disqualified for dropping the baton in the heats the Americans made an appeal and the race referee decided to award the USA women’s team a chance to run the race on the same lane but they had to clock a better time than the 8th placed Chinese team which clocked 42.70. The quartet came out with a stunning performance in the re-run racing against themselves to qualify for the final topping the qualifier times with a finishing the event in 41.77 and eventually win gold with the 2nd fastest time in history.
In the men’s pole vault, world record holder Renaud Lavillenie’s new Olympic record (5.98m) was broken within a few minutes by Thiago da Silva (6.03m) who claimed the gold medal. Anita Włodarczyk of Poland set a new world record in women’s Hammer Throw (82.29m) winning gold in the event.
USA’s Ashton Eaton defended his Olympic decathlon title, becoming only the third man in history to win consecutive golds in the taxing competition. His wife, Brianne Theisen-Eaton won bronze in Heptathlon.
In the 5000m, Nikki Hamblin crashed with Abbey D’Agostino where both helped each other to complete the race, displaying the true Olympic spirit.
Other moments and memories
In the oldest team sport at the Olympics, Serbia secured Water Polo gold beating defending champions Croatia 11-7 in the finals. Montenegro, who stunned 9-time champions Hungary in a shootout, lost the bronze medal match to Italy. USA won the women’s gold beating Italy 12-5.
Added to the games after more than a century, Golf took place at Rio, sealing gold for Britain’s Justin Rose in the men’s category. South Korea’s Inbee Park won women’s gold.
In a thrilling women’s field hockey final, Great Britain beat favourites Netherlands in a penalty shootout following 3-3 full time score. The Argentines won the men’s event. They beat Belgium 4-2 in the final.
Brazil made history by winning the men’s football gold medal for the first time, a moment the 5-time world champions had failed to achieve before. They beat Germany in a penalty shootout at the end of a 1-1 stalemate. Sweden, who stunned USA and Brazil in the knockouts were beaten by Germany 2-1 in the women’s final.
In Tennis, Andy Murray won gold in men’s singles defeating Juan Martin del Potro in the final while Nadal and Marc Lopez won men’s doubles. Monica Puig of Puerto Rico won the women’s title while Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina of Russia won women’s doubles.
It was heartbreak for world number one Lee Chong Wei as he was forced to settle for silver for the third straight time as world number 2 Chen Long defeated him to win the Badminton men’s singles title. Lee Chong Wei beat the gold medalist from Beijing 2008 and London 2012 Lin Dan to reach the final. Viktor Axelsen of Denmark beat Lin Dan to win bronze.
Alistair Brownlee of Great Britain won the men’s triathlon event. His brother Jonny Brownlee won silver. Gwen Jorgensen won the women’s event while defending champion Nicola Spirig Hug won silver.
Denmark won its first gold in men’s Handball. They beat 2012 champions France 28-26 in the final. In the women’s tournament, Russia claimed gold over France (22-19).
The number one Volleyball team in the world, Brazil reigned supreme throughout the tournament. In the final they beat Italy in straight sets to recompense for their silver at London 2012. China, who surprised 2012 champions Brazil in QFs, beat Serbia 3-1 to win women’s Volleyball gold.
Both men’s and women’s Basketball teams of USA comprehensively won gold in both tournaments. The star studded USA side which narrowly escaped Serbia in the group stage vanquished them 96-66 in the final while the women’s team defeated Spain 101-72 to grab gold.
An Olympic Games to remember
After an exciting two weeks of sporting action, USA prevailed at the top of the medals table with a total of 121 medals; it included 46 gold, 19 more than its closest rival Great Britain, 37 silver and 38 bronze. Britain claimed 67 medals (27 gold) while China earned the third place with 26 gold medals. China’s total medals stood at 70. Russia, at a moment where the entire track and field contingent was banned, secured the fourth place with 19 golds (56 in total). Germany stood at fifth.
A total of 19 world records and 65 Olympic records were broken during 2016 Rio Olympics.
As the Rio carnival comes to a close, the world awaits for another stirring showdown at Tokyo 2020 while relishing the truly amazing moments of yet another successful summer Olympic edition.
