This past Sunday the summer Olympic Games wrapped up and left the world until 2020. There were so many memorable moments from these games. Viewers witnessed incredible performances from Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, Usain Bolt, and Katie Ledecky. Along with record-breaking showings from athletes, there was also an unexpected controversy concluding the games.
There was also some major controversy revolving Ryan Lochte as he caused an international olympics scandal. Lochte is a four time olympian and was a very highly respected athlete. Lochte fabricated a story about him and three other olympic swimmers being robbed at gunpoint. One of the people involved in the scandal was forced to donate eleven thousand dollars to a Brazilian charity because of the story. Two of Lochte’s biggest sponsorships, Speedo and Ralph Lauren, have already dropped him off their roster.
Brazil beat Germany in penalties to obtain the gold medal in men’s soccer. It was redemption for them after their devastating loss in the 2015 World Cup semi-finals. In women’s soccer, Team USA got upset in the quarter finals, this coming only a year after they won the World Cup. The women’s national team was and is regarded as one of the best teams in the world. They lost in penalties to Sweden. Christen Press missed the ending penalty kick, so it was Sweden’s Lisa Dahlkvist that delivered the game clinching goal.
Another big story was the U.S’s beach volleyball team losing under Kerri Walsh Jennings. The loss to Brazil was Jenning’s first ever olympic match loss. However, it turned into an amazing story when Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross battled through the adversity and managed to take home the bronze medal.
The U.S maintained their basketball dominance taking home the gold in both men’s and women’s basketball. For the men’s team, this is their third gold medal in a row. Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, and Carmelo Anthony showed up big in the gold medal run, and picked the team up when they were down. Carmelo Anthony became the USA men’s basketball all time scoring leader. He has been on the team for each of the three last gold medal runs. The women’s team easily dominated competition winning every game by at least 19 points. The team was led by Diana Taurasi, Maya Moore, and Brittney Griner.
Usain Bolt joined Carl Lewis and Paavo Nurmi as the only three Olympic Track Athletes with nine gold medals. Bolt is nine for nine in olympic finals. He still won by insane amounts and sometimes it didn’t even look like he had to try. No one should be surprised if we see him again in another four years trying to maintain his dominance.
The Olympics were headlined by some major stories as well as some major controversy including the Ryan Lochte scandal, and the Zika virus in Rio. Michael Phelps assured that he is the greatest olympian of all time. Usain Bolt showed he is still the fastest man alive. Katie Ledecky took over the women’s side of swimming with her incredible olympic performance. Simone Biles and the U.S maintained their gymnastics dominance. It remains to be seen if Usain will run in four years in Tokyo. As we prepare for the 2020 Olympics, we will see if the U.S will dominate the field once again.
To read another sports article read, Football team set to transition back to 11 man
This author can be reached via twitter: @DawsonTriplitt and via email: Dawson Triplitt.
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