Rio 2016 Olympic Update (Day 16)
The Olympics have officially come to a close as the greatest sports showcase has closed up and most have left Brazil.
With the end of the games comes the inevitable look back to take a look at what happened throughout the two weeks of sports.
To look back though there needs to be a look at what the games were about when they started out.
That is especially important for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games that started out as the most controversial games in the modern era.
There were always issues with Olympic Games before as worries about money, living conditions, safety, and protests of the games are present every two years.
This year though it seemed like the Rio Games were some of the most worrisome in recent memory as the country was in the worst recession they had ever seen while also seeing their President being kicked out of office for corruption.
The Brazilians were to be the first ever host from South America and for many there was a reason for that streak.
South America is a beautiful country with great aspects to every country but they are also fraught with crime and financial issues so spending money on the Olympic Games may not be the best idea.
Brazil took the first shot and worries about money and violence dominated headlines only days before the games began.
There was little change about that throughout the games as for the first time ever the games did not overcome the negative press.
Yet, for the most part, the reports were not founded as the games were not dangerous and went off pretty well.
Aside from a few false reports and some reported robberies that were less about violence and more about being aware in any foreign country.
The safety concerns were overblown even if the country has a reputation of violence and crime.
The organisers ensured that they were not going to be embarrassed by having an incident that proved what so many thought about the country.
As for the money concerns the Olympics Games were not affected too much as the Brazilian organisers were set to start a new era for the Olympics in creating games on a more sensible budget.
They did it with success but might have done it at a cost to another set of games.
The Paralympic Games are ready to start in a few weeks but the Rio Games had dipped into their funds to pay for the Olympic Games and have put the Paralympic Games at risk.
Some of that money was earmarked to help the travel costs for certain teams and without it, these teams may not go to the Paralympic Games.
That would be a disaster but the Rio organisers have said they have ways of figuring it out if they can the games are sure to be an overall success for everyone involved.
On the field of play for Brazil, it was also a success as wins by the Beach Volleyball, Volleyball, and Soccer teams made the worries and the debates subside a little.
The games seemed to always have this cloud over them for the entire two weeks that they were on as every seemed to be just waiting for the bad thing to happen.
At every turn, there seemed to be some people just waiting to turn something into a negative.
Whether it be the loud cheering, or more importantly the loud booing, of the fans or the sometimes less than great conditions at venues.
There have never been perfect games but for some reason, there seems to be a feeling that these were worse than other games.
That is simply not true as the Brazilian organisers did a great job especially considering the outside issues they had to deal with while leading into the games.
Overall the games were a success as no major incidents occurred while fans and athletes remained safe.
Instead of the sense of doom surrounding the games should be replaced with the memories of great achievements and amazing sportsmanship from all of the athletes in every country.
That should be the legacy of these games the fact that the Brazilians did more with less and turned what could have been a major embarrassment into a success.
The Canadian Story:
The Summer Olympics have never been a favourite of Canadians as the country is simply not summer sports one. There are plenty of great coaches and facilities for summer sports but when a country is in the middle of winter for at least four months out of the year it is tough to find time to train. As a result, the medal count is usually lower for Canada at the summer games than it is at the winter games. That doesn’t mean that there aren’t a number of great athletes who participate in the summer games. This year these stars made themselves known as the Canadians had better games than almost ever before. The 22 total medals they earned were the most for Canada in any non-boycotted Olympics. Andre De Grasse emerged as the future of sprinting in his first Olympics as most look forward to seeing what he can do in 2020 when the Games travel to Tokyo. Legends like Adam van Koeverden, Mark Oldershaw, and Christine Sinclair may have all seen their last games. The major theme, though, was the power of the women participating in the Olympics for Canada. Led by closing ceremonies flag bearer Penny Oleksiak, who earned a Canadian record 4 medals, the women accounted for an overwhelming majority of the 22 medals. For more than a week the women were the only ones to earn medals for Canada as the Canadian team was inspired by great female performances. The Canadians are progressively becoming better and better in every Olympic cycle. With Own the Podium, Canadian athletes are getting the support they need and every games are showing that it is working. With the Rio games over it is time to look ahead and hope that the development continues into Tokyo where Canadians hope to expand on their 22 medals earned in Brazil.
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Day 16 Medal Events: |
| Athletics Men’s Marathon 1. Eliud Kipchoge (KEN) 2. Feyisa Lilesa (ETH) 3. Galen Rupp (USA) Basketball Boxing Cycling (Mountain) Handball Rhythmic Gymnastics Wrestling Volleyball |
The Sport Addiction 