Despite all the negative anticipation Rio received questioning their crime, Zika mosquitoes, venues, security, and overall logistics, they just went on to give the world 2 weeks of the most entertaining Olympic games we have surely ever witnessed. The event was a total success from beginning to end, making the athletes the front attention, the way it should be. This is no doubt a testament to the hard work and preparation the city of Rio put towards hosting these games. They were the first South American country to host an Olympics game, and I was very proud to see them succeed. So now on to the athletes!
I believe these recent games held in Rio were quite possibly the most exciting we have ever witnessed in our modern age (perhaps even more so than Berlin 1936 or Beijing 2008) The opening ceremony wasn't quite as romantic as that of Berlin's nor as expensive as that of Beijings, however it still had it's unique moments. It was a colorful and humble celebration of Brasil's culture and roots. I was somewhat disappointed that Pele did not light the torch, however uplifted when I learned the story of marathon runner and bronze medalist Vanderlei de Lima who was interfered with at the 2004 Athens games. Nonetheless the Brazilian ceremony was a successful party that introduced their culture as well as the parade of athletes to the world.
As usual the swimming events take up the 1st week of the prime time coverage while the track and field events come in the second. I think this is a great format and it was especially exciting that these races would all be live in eastern time. I caught practically every night of prime time coverage and watched what I could during the day at work. There were many stars and great races, however the swimming headliner was once again the great Michael Phelps.
Opposite of Phelps on the female side, was an equally dominant American swimmer in Katie Ledecky. At the young age of 15 she had won gold in the London games at the 800m freestyle and was looking for much more in the prime of her career. She went on to dominate these games with 4 golds and 1 silver (Gold in the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, and silver in the 4x100m freestyle) She set several world records and demolished her competition. She surely has at least two more Olympic events and is on course to become the most decorated female Olympian of all time.
Ryan Murphy also had a very successful games, winning 3 gold medals in his specialty, the backstroke (Gold in the 100m backstroke, 200m backstroke, and 4x100m medley)
The American women repeated their gold performance in the team all-around, and their combined scored was one of the most dominant wins in Olympic gymnastics history. They became known as the Final Five referring to their coordinator Martha Karolyi retiring after 15 years as well a change to the team format in the next Olympics, which will only allow 4 competitors.
One of my new favorite sports from the London games, I was very excited to follow this tournament (especially the women's event, and especially the enticing April Ross) She was teaming up with the 3 time gold medalist, Kerri Walsh. I wasn't a big supporter of Kerri Walsh, yet was all for seeing April Ross acheive some glory.
The men's was especially dramatic, since host nation Brasil had enlisted their superstar Neymar to lead them to gold. (Each team is allowed 3 players over 23, and Neymar had to sit out of the Copa America to play in this tournament) It was no doubt a huge honor for Neymar to be not only the face of the soccer team yet once again the face of the host nation (just as he was 2 years ago at the World Cup). Brasil got off to a slow start with scoreless draws against South Africa and Iraq. However they gained steam with a thrashing of Denmark.
After their dominant performance at the 2015 World Cup, the US women were of course clear favorites to win the tournament yet again. However they were shockingly defeated in the quarterfinals to Sweden in a penalty shootout. The lowlight later became Hope Solo complaining that Sweden was a bunch of cowards. Thus making her out to be the ultimate poor sport. And so USA was shockingly knocked out.
Just like swimming has it's once in a lifetime superstar in Michael Phelps, track and field has at the same time coincidentally produced an athlete of his stature in Usain Bolt. Separate cases can be made for each of them on which is the greatest Olympian of all time. I myself lean towards Usain as a running enthusiast but in the end that's comparing apples to oranges.
In these games Bolt went on to incredibly acheive the triple triple; 3 golds in 3 games. He is a 100% gold medalist at the Olympic games, with 3 golds in the 100m dash, 3 golds in the 200m dash, and 3 golds in the 4x100m relay. He also has a fun, entertaining, and Christian personality to go with his superhuman athletic speed. He has said that this will be his last Olympic games, which I feel is the right decision to go down in history as a true undefeated champion.
Bolt was not the only superstar on the track however. He shared the spotlight with many others, including returning decathlon gold medalist, Ashton Eaton, who went on to defend his title. Eaton has a very inspiring story and a very humble character. He is the face of American track and field.
Another major superstar in the running world is the British long distance runner Mo Farrah. He achieved instant fame when he won gold in the 5000m and 10000m for his home country at the London games. After years of celebrity and endorsements everyone was gunning for him at the Rio games. In the 10000m he went down early, then quickly got up, and managed to out kick the competition to win the gold. In the 5000m he had to sprint for his life to hold off the opposition and secure yet another gold. He thus achieved the double-double, similar to Bolt he is a 100% gold medalist at the Olympic games.
It's always exciting to see new stars emerge on the world stage and that was the case for South African 400m sprinter, Wayde van Niekerk. He was trained by his grandmother and went on to shatter Michael Johnson's WR at the incredible time of 43.03. To make this more incredible is that he was in the outside lane. I'm excited to follow his career and watch him at the Tokyo games in 4 years.
Another new star to emerge was the home grown Brazilian pole vaulter, Thiago Braz da Silva. He brought gold and glory for his country and did with a new Olympic record at the event. I also believe he has a couple more Olympic games in his future.
Other notable performances was Matthew Centrowitz's gold medal in the 1500m, the first gold in the event for the USA since 1908. And David Rudisha defended his 800m title from London, by winning gold once again.
On the women's side there were also multiple stars such as Allyson Felix aiming to become the most decorated American female Athletic Olympian. She got edged by a 10th of second in the open 400m to win silver, yet collected 2 more gold medals in the 4x100m and 4x400m relay to bring her total record breaking tally to 9 medals.
British superstar Jessica Ennis Hill was hoping to defend her heptathlon title from the London games
however was edged out by Belgian Nafissatoua and won silver instead.
Another incredible world record performance came from the Ethiopian long distance runner, Almaz Ayana in the 10000m. I watched this race at work, as she broke away from the pack almost half way into the race and hung on to shatter the world record by almost a minute. She later went on to win bronze in the 5000m.
Jamaican Elaine Thompson became another rising superstar at these games, as she took the torch away from two time defending 100m sprint champion, Shelly-Ann Fraiser-Pryce (who went on to win bronze in the event). Thompson also won gold in the 200m edging out the favored Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers and silver in the 4x100m relay. She has taken her fellow Jamaican's place as the new superstar sprinter.
The grand finale marathon was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge. American runner Galen Rupp ran courageously to secure the bronze. The women's marathon was also won by a Kenyan Jemima Sumgong.
Here is the complete list of Athletic medalists, from Wikipedia;
The Indoor Volleyball is not quite as exciting as the beach volleyball, yet still a fun sport to watch. The men's gold medal was won on the last day of the games against the Italian team. This marked a clean sweep in Brasil's 3 strongest events for the men; soccer, beach volleyball, and indoor volleyball. The American men went on to win the bronze against the Russians.
There were many memorable moments outside of the incredible games. One that will be talked about for a while was when New Zealand runner Hamblin collided into D'Aogstino during the 5000m run and they helped each other finish in true Olympic spirit.
Then of course there will be the Ryan Lochte fiasco where he was arrested and lied about the whole case, putting the blame on the Rio security when it truth he was fault. The whole situation has brought further shame onto Ryan Lochte's bad boy image.
Hope Solo also had several disgraceful moments at the games, 1st when she made fun of Brasil for their Zika problem, then even worse when she called the Swedish team a bunch of cowards after their defeat. This is typical Hope Solo, one of the most classless athletes in the games. She may be a good keeper but her attitude is total trash.
The closing ceremony was also very entertaining as Rio closed the games with an ultimate party. They also passed the torch to Tokyo Japan who will be hosting the games in 2020. I think Tokyo will do a great job but the bar was set very high at these Rio games. The performances of Phelps, Bolt, Ledecky, Biles, and Brasil's mens soccer team will forever go down into Olympic lore.
In closing here is the final Rio Medal Count according to Wikipedia;
Swimming
As usual the swimming events take up the 1st week of the prime time coverage while the track and field events come in the second. I think this is a great format and it was especially exciting that these races would all be live in eastern time. I caught practically every night of prime time coverage and watched what I could during the day at work. There were many stars and great races, however the swimming headliner was once again the great Michael Phelps.
Phelps was returning for his 5th Olympics game, and eager to finish his career on a positive note. After a poor performance at London (4 golds and 2 silvers is considered poor by his standards) he fell into a dark spiral of drugs and alcohol abuse. Two years later he came out of retirement and was eager to return to the grand stage of the Olympics. With so much pressure on his back, he went on to redeem his legacy and win 5 golds and 1 silver (Gold in the 200 butterfly, 200m medley, 4x100m medley, 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, and silver in the 100m butterfly) He gracefully shared silver with two other athletes, including his arch rival Chad le Clos. He thus retired at the Rio games with a grand total of 28 Olympic medals, including 23 golds. He is without question the greatest swimmer of all time, and has made a mark that surely will never be passed.
Opposite of Phelps on the female side, was an equally dominant American swimmer in Katie Ledecky. At the young age of 15 she had won gold in the London games at the 800m freestyle and was looking for much more in the prime of her career. She went on to dominate these games with 4 golds and 1 silver (Gold in the 200m freestyle, 400m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, and silver in the 4x100m freestyle) She set several world records and demolished her competition. She surely has at least two more Olympic events and is on course to become the most decorated female Olympian of all time.
Outside of the US dominance, came a Hungarian superstar in Katrinka Hosszu who went on to win 3 golds and 1 silver (Gold in the 100m backstroke, 200m medley, 400m medley, and silver in the 200m backstroke)
Other notable swimming performances was Simone Manuel, who went on to become the 1st female African American to medal in swimming. She won 2 golds and 2 silvers (Gold in the 100m freestyle, 4x100m medley; silver in the 50m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle.
Then there was the exciting drama between IU star Lilly King calling out the Russian swimmer, Yulia Efimova for doping, and then backing up her talk to win gold in the 100m breast stroke.
Nathan Adrian was one of my favorite swimmers to watch always smiling. He went home with 2 golds and 2 bronzes at the Rio games (Gold in the 4x100m freestyle, 4x100m medley, and bronze in the 50m freestyle and 100m freestyle)
Swedish superstar Sarah Sjostrom went home with a gold, silver, and bronze medal (Gold in the 100m butterfly, silver in the 200m freestyle, and bronze in the 100m freestyle)
Gymnastics
After a dominant performance by the American female team in London, they were returning this year with an even better team. This time they were led by not Gabby Douglas, however a rising sensation in Simeone Biles. She was too young to compete at the London games, however a year later she went on to dominate at the world champions and by the time Rio had come around she was allready the most decorated American female gymnast of all time. So she was no doubt the spotlight of these events, taking away attention from the returning stars Gabby Douglas and Aly Raisman.
The American women repeated their gold performance in the team all-around, and their combined scored was one of the most dominant wins in Olympic gymnastics history. They became known as the Final Five referring to their coordinator Martha Karolyi retiring after 15 years as well a change to the team format in the next Olympics, which will only allow 4 competitors.
Simone Biles went on to acheive glory as expected winning a total of 4 gold medals and 1 bronze. (Gold in the team all around, individual all-around, vault, floor exercise, and bronze in the balance beam) She displayed immense power and precision in her acrobatics and although she was not graceful like the others, I thought she was extremely exciting to watch.
Aly Raisman, also had a successful games, in the shadow of Simone Biles, she went on to win 1 gold and 2 silvers. (Gold in the team all around, Silver in the individual all around, and floor exercise) She was very graceful and exciting to watch.
The American men fell short as usual, and were outdone by the Japanese team, led by their superstar Kohei Uchimura. He went on to win 2 golds in the team all around and individual all around. The best American male performer was Danell Leyva who won 2 silvers for the parallel bars and horizontal bars.
Beach Volleyball
Each of their games were late at night, and they appeared to be unbeatable in the first few games. That was until the semi-final match against the 2nd rated Brazilian team. Kerri Walsh had one of the worse games of her career, and practically gave the game away to the Brazilians. Walsh and Ross went on to win the bronze medal. The German pair won the gold while the Brazilian pair got the silver. It was very exciting to watch, and I wouldn't mind seeing more of the sport perhaps as a professional league.
On the men's side the Brazilian pair went on to defeat the Italians. However I didn't follow much of this event.
Soccer
I was excited for both the women's and men's tournament at these games, especially since they were being held in the home of a futbol giant, Brasil. The Olympic soccer tournament is not top quality, since their is an age restriction of under 23 (this is mostly because the World Cup wants to be the most prestigious international tournament). However it's still a very desired honor for those involved to be able to represent their countries and their prospects as future superstars.
By the elimination stage they were rolling and were matched with their arch-nemesis, Germany for the gold match. This would be especially bittersweet for Brasil to somewhat gain some redemption after their humiliating 7-1 defeat to Germany at the World Cup. The game was an extremely intense one. After a beautiful free kick goal from Neymar, they were later equalized in the 2nd half. The game went on to extra time and then the dreaded PKs. While the favor shifted to Germany's hands, Brasil was somehow able to overcome the pressure and score every one of their penalty kicks. In Hollywood fashion Neymar was the last one to shoot for his team, and his score marked victory for Brasil. The crowd at the Maracana stadium erupted in a cheer that will probably be Brasil's fondest memories of these games. It was true glory for the nation of Brasil.
As for the women, the story was not as glorious for the American or Brasilian teams. I myself was pulling for both Brasilian teams to win gold, just because I thought it would be most special for them. While I enjoy to watch the growth of American soccer, and the very attractive female soccer players such as Alex Morgan and Allie Long, I feel the women's team dominates too much. Thus I was pulling for the underdog Brasil.
Brasil was lead by their superstar Marta, who had yet to achieve a championship for her country. Their team faced a similar scare in the quarterfinals as the Americans did by going into a penalty shootout with Australia, yet they won. However their next semi-final game against Sweden once again went into penalty shootout and this time they weren't as fortunate. The gold match was thus between Germany and Sweden, of which Germany won the gold women's Brazilian weren't able to even medal as they were defeated to Canada in the bronze match.
Track and Field
As a former track athlete and current runner, the athletic events will always be my favorite Olympic sport. It's the simplest form of human competition; running, jumping, or throwing and yet it is also the most glorious. I believe what makes these events so glorious is that these Olympian track stars are the best in the world at common motor functions. Unlike the exclusive skills of diving, gymnastics, or even swimming the practice of running, throwing, or jumping are common functional skills. These Olympians have mastered those skills to run the farthest, run the fastest, jump the furthest, jump the highest, and to throw the farthest, for all to see on the biggest stage in the world. The athletic competitions are the heart of the ancient Olympic games.
As a former track athlete and current runner, the athletic events will always be my favorite Olympic sport. It's the simplest form of human competition; running, jumping, or throwing and yet it is also the most glorious. I believe what makes these events so glorious is that these Olympian track stars are the best in the world at common motor functions. Unlike the exclusive skills of diving, gymnastics, or even swimming the practice of running, throwing, or jumping are common functional skills. These Olympians have mastered those skills to run the farthest, run the fastest, jump the furthest, jump the highest, and to throw the farthest, for all to see on the biggest stage in the world. The athletic competitions are the heart of the ancient Olympic games.
In these games Bolt went on to incredibly acheive the triple triple; 3 golds in 3 games. He is a 100% gold medalist at the Olympic games, with 3 golds in the 100m dash, 3 golds in the 200m dash, and 3 golds in the 4x100m relay. He also has a fun, entertaining, and Christian personality to go with his superhuman athletic speed. He has said that this will be his last Olympic games, which I feel is the right decision to go down in history as a true undefeated champion.
Bolt was not the only superstar on the track however. He shared the spotlight with many others, including returning decathlon gold medalist, Ashton Eaton, who went on to defend his title. Eaton has a very inspiring story and a very humble character. He is the face of American track and field.
Another major superstar in the running world is the British long distance runner Mo Farrah. He achieved instant fame when he won gold in the 5000m and 10000m for his home country at the London games. After years of celebrity and endorsements everyone was gunning for him at the Rio games. In the 10000m he went down early, then quickly got up, and managed to out kick the competition to win the gold. In the 5000m he had to sprint for his life to hold off the opposition and secure yet another gold. He thus achieved the double-double, similar to Bolt he is a 100% gold medalist at the Olympic games.
Another new star to emerge was the home grown Brazilian pole vaulter, Thiago Braz da Silva. He brought gold and glory for his country and did with a new Olympic record at the event. I also believe he has a couple more Olympic games in his future.
Other notable performances was Matthew Centrowitz's gold medal in the 1500m, the first gold in the event for the USA since 1908. And David Rudisha defended his 800m title from London, by winning gold once again.
On the women's side there were also multiple stars such as Allyson Felix aiming to become the most decorated American female Athletic Olympian. She got edged by a 10th of second in the open 400m to win silver, yet collected 2 more gold medals in the 4x100m and 4x400m relay to bring her total record breaking tally to 9 medals.
British superstar Jessica Ennis Hill was hoping to defend her heptathlon title from the London games
however was edged out by Belgian Nafissatoua and won silver instead.
Another incredible world record performance came from the Ethiopian long distance runner, Almaz Ayana in the 10000m. I watched this race at work, as she broke away from the pack almost half way into the race and hung on to shatter the world record by almost a minute. She later went on to win bronze in the 5000m.Jamaican Elaine Thompson became another rising superstar at these games, as she took the torch away from two time defending 100m sprint champion, Shelly-Ann Fraiser-Pryce (who went on to win bronze in the event). Thompson also won gold in the 200m edging out the favored Dutch sprinter Dafne Schippers and silver in the 4x100m relay. She has taken her fellow Jamaican's place as the new superstar sprinter.
The grand finale marathon was won by Kenyan Eliud Kipchoge. American runner Galen Rupp ran courageously to secure the bronze. The women's marathon was also won by a Kenyan Jemima Sumgong.
Here is the complete list of Athletic medalists, from Wikipedia;
Men
Event
|
Gold
|
Silver
|
Bronze
|
|||
100 metres
details |
9.81
|
9.89
|
9.91
|
|||
200 metres
details |
19.78
|
20.02
|
20.12
|
|||
400 metres
details |
43.03 WR
|
43.76
|
43.85
|
|||
800 metres
details |
1:42.15
|
1:42.61 NR
|
1:42.93
|
|||
1500 metres
details |
3:50.00
|
3:50.11
|
3:50.24
|
|||
5,000
metres
details |
13:03.30
|
13:03.90
|
13:04.35
|
|||
10,000
metres
details |
27:05.17
|
27:05.64
|
27:06.26
|
|||
110 metres
hurdles
details |
13.05
|
13.17
|
13.24
|
|||
400 metres
hurdles
details |
47.73
|
47.78 NR
|
47.92 NR
|
|||
3000 metres
steeplechase
details |
8:03.28 OR
|
8:04.28
|
8:11.52
|
|||
4 × 100
metres relay
details |
37.27
|
37.60 AR
|
37.64 NR
|
|||
4 × 400
metres relay
details |
2:57.30
|
2:58.16
|
2:58.49
|
|||
Marathon
details |
2:08:44
|
2:09:54
|
2:10:05
|
|||
20
kilometres walk
details |
1:19:14
|
1:19:26
|
1:19:37
|
|||
50
kilometres walk
details |
3:40:58
|
3:41:16
|
3:41:24
|
|||
High jump
details |
2.38 m
|
2.36 m
|
2.33 m
|
|||
Pole vault
details |
5.98 m
|
5.85 m
|
||||
Long jump
details |
8.38 m
|
8.37 m
|
8.29 m
|
|||
Triple jump
details |
17.86 m
|
17.76 m
|
17.58 m
|
|||
Shot put
details |
22.52 m OR
|
21.78 m
|
21.36 m
|
|||
Discus
throw
details |
68.37 m
|
67.55 m
|
67.05 m
|
|||
Hammer
throw
details |
78.68 m
|
77.79 m
|
77.73 m
|
|||
Javelin
throw
details |
90.30 m
|
88.24 m
|
85.38 m
|
|||
Decathlon
details |
8893 pts OR
|
8834 pts NR
|
8666 pts
|
|||
Women
Event
|
Gold
|
Silver
|
Bronze
|
|||
100 metres
details |
10.71
|
10.83
|
10.86
|
|||
200 metres
details |
21.78
|
21.88
|
22.15
|
|||
400 metres
details |
49.44
|
49.51
|
49.85
|
|||
800 metres
details |
1:55.28 NR
|
1:56.49
|
1:56.89
|
|||
1500 metres
details |
4:08.92
|
4:10.27
|
4:10.53
|
|||
5000 metres
details |
14:26.17 OR
|
14:29.77
|
14:33.59
|
|||
10,000
metres
details |
29:17.45 WR
|
29:32.53 NR
|
29:42.56
|
|||
100 metres
hurdles
details |
12.48
|
12.59
|
12.61
|
|||
400 metres
hurdles
details |
53.13
|
53.55 NR
|
53.72
|
|||
3000 metres
steeplechase
details |
8:59.75 AR
|
9:07.12
|
9:07.63 AR
|
|||
4 × 100
metres relay
details |
41.02
|
41.36
|
41.77 NR
|
|||
4 × 400
metres relay
details |
3:19.06
|
3:20.34
|
3:25.88
|
|||
Marathon
details |
2:24:04
|
2:24:13
|
2:24:30
|
|||
20 kilometres
walk
details |
1:28:35
|
1:28:37
|
1:28:42
|
|||
High jump
details |
1.97 m
|
1.97 m
|
1.97 m
|
|||
Pole vault
details |
4.85 m
|
4.85 m
|
4.80 m NR
|
|||
Long jump
details |
7.17 m
|
7.15 m
|
7.08 m NR
|
|||
Triple jump
details |
15.17 m
|
14.98 m
|
14.74 m
|
|||
Shot put
details |
20.63 m NR
|
20.42 m
|
19.87 m NR
|
|||
Discus
throw
details |
69.21 m
|
66.73 m NR
|
65.34 m
|
|||
Hammer
throw
details |
82.29 m WR
|
76.75 m
|
74.54 m NR
|
|||
Javelin
throw
details |
66.18 m NR
|
64.92 m
|
64.80 m
|
|||
Heptathlon
details |
6810 pts NR
|
6775 pts
|
6653 pts
|
|||
Athletics Medal table
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States | 13 | 10 | 9 | 32 |
| 2 |  Kenya | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13 |
| 3 |  Jamaica | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 4 |  China | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 5 |  South Africa | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 6 |  Great Britain | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 7 |  Croatia | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
 Germany | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | |
| 9 |  Ethiopia | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| 10 |  Canada | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
Other Sports
Diving:
American/Indiana superstar David Boudia had hopes to defend his gold medal performance at London. However in Rio he fell short of gold. He still walked away with a silver in the synchronized 10m platform and bronze in the 10m platform.
As per usual China dominated the diving events, winning gold in 7 of the 8 events for men and women.
Tennis:
Andy Murray went on to defend his gold medal performance at London by defeating the Argentine, Juan Martin del Potro for gold. The men's double event was won by the Spanish team of Rafael Nadal and Marc Lopez.
On the women's side, the favorite Serena Williams was shockingly defeated in the third round. Madison Keys made it to the semi-finals however lost the bronze medal to a Czechoslovakian. The gold went to Monica Puig defeating the German Angelique Kerber and winning her first ever gold medal for her country of Puerto Rico.
The women's doubles were won by the Russian team of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina. The mixed doubles were won by the US duo of Bethanie Sands and Jack Sock.
Rugby:
I don't know much about Rugby besides what I learned from the film Invictus however do enjoy watching this fusion sport of soccer and football.
Indoor Volleyball:
The Brazilian women's team were not able to emulate the men's success and were defeated in the quaterfinal match to China. The American women were also favored to win their first ever gold medal in the sport, however fell short. They were able to win the bronze against Netherlands. The final match was China against Serbia, of which China won the gold.
The Rest:
While I love to see many of these unique sports, I have to question the inclusion of some over others. For instance there's a few I support yet chose not to follow such as the cycling, archery, wrestling, water polo, etc. Then there's those I just can't get behind such as equestrian, field hockey, handball, sailing, badminton, or table tennis. These are uncommon sports mostly for less athletically gifted or wealthy people. I also think for basketball there should be an under 23 rule, the same as there is for the men's soccer. However this discussion over which sports should and shouldn't be included is a whole other topic for another post someday.
Other Rio Highlights
There were many memorable moments outside of the incredible games. One that will be talked about for a while was when New Zealand runner Hamblin collided into D'Aogstino during the 5000m run and they helped each other finish in true Olympic spirit.Then of course there will be the Ryan Lochte fiasco where he was arrested and lied about the whole case, putting the blame on the Rio security when it truth he was fault. The whole situation has brought further shame onto Ryan Lochte's bad boy image.
Hope Solo also had several disgraceful moments at the games, 1st when she made fun of Brasil for their Zika problem, then even worse when she called the Swedish team a bunch of cowards after their defeat. This is typical Hope Solo, one of the most classless athletes in the games. She may be a good keeper but her attitude is total trash.
The closing ceremony was also very entertaining as Rio closed the games with an ultimate party. They also passed the torch to Tokyo Japan who will be hosting the games in 2020. I think Tokyo will do a great job but the bar was set very high at these Rio games. The performances of Phelps, Bolt, Ledecky, Biles, and Brasil's mens soccer team will forever go down into Olympic lore.
In closing here is the final Rio Medal Count according to Wikipedia;
| Rank | NOC | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  United States (USA) | 46 | 37 | 38 | 121 |
| 2 |  Great Britain (GBR) | 27 | 23 | 17 | 67 |
| 3 |  China (CHN) | 26 | 18 | 26 | 70 |
| 4 |  Russia (RUS) | 19 | 18 | 19 | 56 |
| 5 |  Germany (GER) | 17 | 10 | 15 | 42 |
| 6 |  Japan (JPN) | 12 | 8 | 21 | 41 |
| 7 |  France (FRA) | 10 | 18 | 14 | 42 |
| 8 |  South Korea (KOR) | 9 | 3 | 9 | 21 |
| 9 |  Italy (ITA) | 8 | 12 | 8 | 28 |
| 10 |  Australia (AUS) | 8 | 11 | 10 | 29 |
| 11 |  Netherlands (NED) | 8 | 7 | 4 | 19 |
| 12 |  Hungary (HUN) | 8 | 3 | 4 | 15 |
| 13 |  Brazil (BRA)* | 7 | 6 | 6 | 19 |
| 14 |  Spain (ESP) | 7 | 4 | 6 | 17 |
| 15 |  Kenya (KEN) | 6 | 6 | 1 | 13 |
| 16 |  Jamaica (JAM) | 6 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| 17 |  Croatia (CRO) | 5 | 3 | 2 | 10 |
| 18 |  Cuba (CUB) | 5 | 2 | 4 | 11 |
| 19 |  New Zealand (NZL) | 4 | 9 | 5 | 18 |
| 20 |  Canada (CAN) | 4 | 3 | 15 | 22 |
| 21 |  Uzbekistan (UZB) | 4 | 2 | 7 | 13 |
| 22 |  Kazakhstan (KAZ) | 3 | 5 | 9 | 17 |
| 23 |  Colombia (COL) | 3 | 2 | 3 | 8 |
| 24 |  Switzerland (SUI) | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 |
| 25 |  Iran (IRI) | 3 | 1 | 4 | 8 |
| 26 |  Greece (GRE) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 27 |  Argentina (ARG) | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 28 |  Denmark (DEN) | 2 | 6 | 7 | 15 |
| 29 |  Sweden (SWE) | 2 | 6 | 3 | 11 |
| 30 |  South Africa (RSA) | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10 |
| 31 |  Ukraine (UKR) | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11 |
| 32 |  Serbia (SRB) | 2 | 4 | 2 | 8 |
| 33 |  Poland (POL) | 2 | 3 | 6 | 11 |
| 34 |  North Korea (PRK) | 2 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| 35 |  Belgium (BEL) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
 Thailand (THA) | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| 37 |  Slovakia (SVK) | 2 | 2 | 0 | 4 |
| 38 |  Georgia (GEO) | 2 | 1 | 4 | 7 |
| 39 |  Azerbaijan (AZE) | 1 | 7 | 10 | 18 |
| 40 |  Belarus (BLR) | 1 | 4 | 4 | 9 |
| 41 |  Turkey (TUR) | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
| 42 |  Armenia (ARM) | 1 | 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 43 |  Czech Republic (CZE) | 1 | 2 | 7 | 10 |
| 44 |  Ethiopia (ETH) | 1 | 2 | 5 | 8 |
| 45 |  Slovenia (SLO) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 46 |  Indonesia (INA) | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| 47 |  Romania (ROU) | 1 | 1 | 3 | 5 |
| 48 |  Bahrain (BRN) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
 Vietnam (VIE) | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 50 |  Chinese Taipei (TPE) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 51 |  Bahamas (BAH) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
 Ivory Coast (CIV) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
 Independent Olympic Athletes (IOA) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | |
| 54 |  Fiji (FIJ) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
 Jordan (JOR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Kosovo (KOS) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Puerto Rico (PUR) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Singapore (SIN) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
 Tajikistan (TJK) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | |
| 60 |  Malaysia (MAS) | 0 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| 61 |  Mexico (MEX) | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 62 |  Algeria (ALG) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
 Ireland (IRL) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | |
| 64 |  Lithuania (LTU) | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 65 |  Bulgaria (BUL) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
 Venezuela (VEN) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 67 |  India (IND) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
 Mongolia (MGL) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 69 |  Burundi (BDI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Grenada (GRN) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Niger (NIG) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Philippines (PHI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
 Qatar (QAT) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 74 |  Norway (NOR) | 0 | 0 | 4 | 4 |
| 75 |  Egypt (EGY) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
 Tunisia (TUN) | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 | |
| 77 |  Israel (ISR) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 78 |  Austria (AUT) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Dominican Republic (DOM) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Estonia (EST) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Finland (FIN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Morocco (MAR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Moldova (MDA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Nigeria (NGR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Portugal (POR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 Trinidad and Tobago (TTO) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
 United Arab Emirates (UAE) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total (87 NOCs) | 307 | 307 | 360 | 974 | |
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