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The closing ceremony of the Olympics also marks the end of one of the biggest sporting events of all time, and that doesn’t come without some memorable moments.
USA took the lead with a total of 121 medals, 46 of which are gold, with Britain passing China by one extra gold medal coming to a total of 67 medals, and China in third place with 70 medals including 26 gold ones. Due to Russia’s state-sponsored doping that had been revealed before the Olympics, only 270 athletes had been cleared to compete, yet Russia still finished strong in fourth place with 56 medals.
Competition brings out the best in athletes, and when athletes from all over the world are pitted against one another, they perform to the best of their ability. 27 world records were set this year, with American swimmer Ledecky setting new records in the women’s 400-meters and 800-meters and Ethiopia’s Almaz Ayana taking 14 seconds off the 1993 record time.
Besides winning glory for the countries, the games did not come without other touching moments.Chinese diver Qin Kai proposed to his girlfriend He Zi immediately proceeding her win in the 3-meter women’s springboard.Lee Eun-ju from South Korea and Jong Un-jong from North Korea posed a selfie that went viral, showing unity even with the great animosity between the two countries.Rami Anis, a swimmer from the refugee team that fled from Syria to Turkey received a standing ovation after he set a personal best in the 100 meter freestyle.Joseph Schooling from Singapore, who has idolized Micheal Phelps for years, bypassed Phelps by taking the gold in the 100 meter butterfly.New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin and USA’s Abbey D’’Agostina helped each other up when they bumped into each other in the women’s 5000 meter race.
Lastly, the closing ceremony ended on an interesting note when Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe walked out in a Super Mario costume, leaving everyone in great anticipation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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