With the Rio 2016 Olympics drawing to a close, it leaves behind many moments: good, bad, and everything in between, that we can cherish for the next four years to say the least, if not a lifetime.
There was the usual dosage of Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, which made us forget for a moment that this would be the last Olympics we would be seeing them. Or maybe made us cherish them all the more because it would be the last time.
Phelps brought his Olympic medal count to 28, becoming the greatest Olympian ever, while Bolt had the rare feat of a ‘triple triple’, having won three golds in the very same categories in three consecutive Olympics.
Then there was the unforgettable smile on swimmer Yusra Mardini’s face having won the heat in the 100m butterfly. The 14-year-old was a part of the refugee contingent and is originally from Syria, a country she had to leave after her home was destroyed. She recalled swimming in the sea for survival when the boat carrying her capsized.
And then there was Nikki Hamblin from New Zealand, who in the process of falling accidentally brought down America’s Abbey D’Agostino in the 5000m semi-final, causing D’Agostino to injure her leg.
Hamblin helped D’Agostino to her feet, stayed with her, and the two runners completed the race together. Because of this, they were given fair play awards.
On the flip side, there were people like Ryan Lochte, the US swimmer with 12 medals under his belt, and Patrick Hickey, the President of the European Olympic Committee.
Lochte got caught attempting to pass off a wild story of being confronted by armed robbers in an effort to hide his drunkenness along with 3 other swimmers from his team. Patrick Hickey was captured from his hotel while in a naked, ass-revealing state for selling hundreds of tickets for high fees, making a profit of about $3 million.
As for Lochte, he seems to be in for some serious trouble, with the United States Olympic Committee not at all pleased with his behavior down in Rio, as can be understood from the statements of USOC CEO Scott Blackmun.
While he said that Lochte had let all Americans down along with his fellow offenders, and taken the attention away from the achievements of the country in this Olympics, he did not say exactly what would be done with him.
For the USA, with 121 medals, is yet again the country to have the highest medal wins. With 46 golds, 37 silvers and 38 bronze, the country has been so up to the mark in its leading streak which it started in 1996 that it has simply become very boring for many Americans!
China is in second place with a distant 70, while Great Britain finished third with 67, up from London 2012’s 65. However at 27 golds it has the second highest number of gold medals.
The European Union faced a lot of ridicule in adding the medal haul of the nation which had just recently voted for Brexit to show that it is the biggest prize winner. This was done in a message which appeared on the official Twitter account of the EU Parliament.
The EU medal tally of 325 medals had been produced by a German PR company Euro Information, which has the European Commission and European Parliament amongst their biggest clients, but had never been commissioned by any EU body to go ahead with this dubious finding.
The closing ceremony of the Rio Olympics was held at the Maracana, at a budget one-tenth that of the London Olympic closing ceremony, and here everyone turned out by braving the bad weather.
It was a colorful ceremony, showcasing Brazilian art and people-centric culture, and featured an extremely lively carnival parade.