Olympics 2016: Heroes of Team GB return triumphant from Rio

Chinese divers bag gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

This was the final Olympic outing for American legend Phelps and his counterpart on the track, Jamaican great Usain Bolt, signalling the end of an era for two of the greatest athletes of this or any generation.

The honour of bearing the Indian flag came to Sakshi as silver medalist shuttler P V Sindhu had left yesterday as about 50 Indians, including the men’s and women’s hockey teams, the wrestlers and boxer duo of Shiva Thapa and Manoj Kumar, participated in the athletes’ parade.

“We are in a hard moment as a country right now, we can’t hide that, but the Games were scheduled and I’m glad we could enjoy them”, said Alessandro Freitas, also from Rio.

US women left Rio with 27 golds – by far the most among any team of female Olympians at these games – and 61 medals total.

A total of 87 Olympic nations won medals, a record, and 10 won the first gold medals in their countries histories.

China won the gold medal for the women’s volleyball at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, bringing pride to the Chinese public amid reports that the country had a disappointing performance at the sporting event.

But the host country got the seminal moment it deserved when Neymar dispatched his penalty to give Brazil its first-ever soccer gold medal at a tense and emotional Maracana Stadium on Saturday, finally making sense of the games for a nation that has sacrificed so much to stage them. You could wake up early in the mornings to marvel at the two greatest athletes in history, Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, as they pushed the boundaries of human excellence in the winter of their careers. USA track star Allyson Felix, now a six-time gold medalist and a victor of nine medals in all, was particularly delighted to learn that women are bringing more medals home to American than the men.

The previous record for US medals at a fully attended Olympics was 110, set at Beijing eight years ago.

A low point for Rio came when Ryan Lochte, one of America’s most decorated swimmers, said he was robbed at gunpoint.

Four years ago in the London Olympics, the team was beaten into third place by China.

“The atmosphere at the GB house has been awesome in the village”, said Mo Farah, who won gold for Britain in the 5,000- and 10,000-meter races to match the feat he pulled off at London in 2012.

Rio won the right to host the Games in 2009, when the economy was booming and millions were pushing into the middle class.

In the African milieu, Kenya tops the chart with 13 medals: 6 gold, 6 bronze and 1 silver. “In accordance with tradition, I call upon the youth of the world to assemble in four years time in Tokyo, Japan to celebrate the Games of the 32nd Olympiad”, Bach said to the huge applause of the packed gathering at the iconic Maracana Stadium on Sunday night.

And 10 teams – including the independent team – won their first golds, including Monica Puig in women’s tennis for Puerto Rico.

“Today leaves me with some regrets”, said Lee, putting on a fearless face following his defeat to second-ranked Chen, who became Olympic champion for the first time.