User:Rielliott/2016 olympic highlights

General

 * The United States finished top of the medal table for the second successive time and the 17th time overall, with 43 gold medals and 116 medals overall.
 * Fiji, Jordan and Kosovo all won their first Olympic medals. There was also a first gold medal for an Independent Olympic Athlete when Fehaid Al-Deehani won the men's double trap shooting.
 * A Refugee Olympic Team competed. The team comprised 10 athletes selected from refugee communities around the world by the IOC.
 * Swimmer Michael Phelps won 6 medals (5 gold and 1 silver) to bring his Olympic medals total to 28, becoming the most decorated Olympian ever.

Track and Field

 * Usain Bolt completed a unique "triple triple" on the track by winning gold medals in the 100 metres, 200 metres and, as part of the Jamaican team, in the 4 x 100 metres relay for the third consecutive Olympic Games. His total of 9 gold medals equals the record held by Paavo Nurmi and Carl Lewis. Bolt would later lose one medal after the Jamaican 4 x 100m relay team were stripped of their gold medals when Nesta Carter tested positive for a banned substance.
 * Elaine Thompson won gold medals in the 100m and 200m, becoming the first woman to do so since Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988.
 * Two long standing athletics records were broken; South African athlete Wayde van Niekerk broke the record for the men's 400 metres (set in 1999) and Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana took 14 seconds off the record for the women's 10,000 metres (set in 1993).
 * Mo Farah won both the 5,000m and 10,000m at his second consecutive Olympic games, a feat last accomplished by Lasse Virén in 1976.
 * In the second heat of the women's 5,000 metres, athletes Abbey D'Agostino and Nikki Hamblin fell after colliding. Hamblin stopped to help D'Agostino back to her feet and the two spurred each other on to finish the race. Although being the last two athletes to finish, both were awarded places in the final. Hamblin eventually finished the final in 14th place but D'Agostino was unable to take up her place due to injury. Both were awarded the Fair Play Award by the International Fair Play Committee.
 * In the women's marathon twin sisters Kim Hye-song and Kim Hye-gyong from North Korea crossed the line together to take 10th and 11th positions. While Anna and Lisa Hahner of Germany also crossed the line together to finish 81st and 82nd. Also in the same race were triplets Leila, Liina and Lily Luik from Estonia.

Other Sports

 * American swimmer Katie Ledecky won 4 golds and 1 silver and set two new World Records.
 * American gymnast Simone Biles won 4 golds and 1 bronze medal on her Olympic debut.
 * Competitors from South Korea completed a clean sweep of gold medals in archery, winning all four events.
 * Andy Murray defeated Juan Martin del Potro to become the first player to successfully defend an individual Olympic tennis title.
 * China's Wu Minxia became the first diver to win 5 gold medals when, together with Shi Tingmao, she won the women's 3m synchronised springboard.
 * Great Britain dominated the track cycling events, winning 6 out of 10 events and taking a total of 12 medals. The women's pursuit team set new world records three times on their way to the gold medal.
 * Brazil's men's team won the football tournament for the first time in their history, defeating Germany in a penalty shoot-out after a 1-1 draw. Neymar scored Brazil's goal in normal time and also scored the decisive penalty in the shoot-out.
 * Golf made a return to the Olympic Games after a 112 year absence. Justin Rose and Inbee Park won gold medals in the men's and women's events respectively.
 * Rugby Sevens was featured for the first time. Fiji won the men's competition and Austalia won the women's event.
 * The host nation's first gold medal of the games was won by Rafaela Silva in the Women's 57kg Judo. She became the first Brazilian judoka to win an Olympic gold medal.
 * Singapore swimmer Joseph Schooling won the gold medal in the men's 100m butterfly ahead of Michael Phelps, Chad Le Clos and Laszlo Cseh who were all awarded silver medals in a three-way tie for second place.
 * British equestrian Nick Skelton, aged 58, became the oldest gold medallist at the 2016 games and the second oldest British medallist ever, behind 61 year old Joshua Milner at the 1908 games.