Four years ago, I jokingly claimed to deserve a gold medal for the exhausting marathon of watching and writing about London 2012 — over 150 hours of viewing and 14 consecutive days of commentary. That was when my younger self had better eyesight. Therefore, it’s clearly foolhardy that I did the same this year, despite my documented health concerns. Which of course is the very definition of addiction.
But enough about me!
Track and Field
The Men’s Marathon highlighted this final day of competition. What I found most interesting was watching Galen Rupp run for most of this race in the slipstream the usual contenders from Ethiopia and Kenya created. He stood out like a doe in a pride of lions. You knew (he knew) they would eventually eat him up.
So here’s to Rupp for fighting off all but two of the Africans and giving the USA its best result since 1908.
- Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya won gold in 2:08:44; Feyisa Lilesa of Ethiopia, silver; and Galen Rupp of the USA, bronze.
Basketball
It came as little surprise that the American men and women crushed their respective opponents in gold medal games.
- Team USA won gold in Women’s Basketball yesterday, defeating Team Spain 101-72; and Team USA won gold in Men’s Basketball in similar fashion today, defeating Team Serbia 96-66.
These gold medals were the surest of any during these Games, notwithstanding the men’s lackluster play in two early round games, which had fans fearing a repeat of the nightmares of Olympics past (namely Seoul 1988 and Athens 2004).
FINAL MEDAL COUNT: USA – 121; China – 70; Great Britain – 67 (Host nation Brazil – 19)
Closing remarks
Women ruled!
Women athletes made up the majority of teams, not least medal-count winner Team USA. Even more significant, however, is the extent to which women won the most medals for their respective teams. For example, women won the majority of Team USA’s haul, including 26 of its 46 gold medals.
Of more personal interest, even though men got the most attention, women won the majority of Team Jamaica’s 11 medals; and Shaunae Miller won the only gold for Team Bahamas at these Games (its men’s 4×400 relay won the only other medal, bronze).
Bravo Brazil!
No doubt polluted waters and empty seats were eyesores. But even these seemed hospitable given the pre-Olympic drumbeat of perils and hazards, which media reports had everyone fearing.
Of course, Rio can thank USA swimmer Ryan Lochte for his Olympian lies about being mugged. After all, his lies made Rio’s well-documented menace of street crime seem like just a condescending stereotype concocted by the foreign press.
Still, all things considered, there’s no denying that Brazil acquitted itself well as the host nation.
Closing Ceremony
Frankly, every four years I’m left to wonder why they even bother. Hell, even Mother Nature showed her disinterest by passing wind and pissing rain all over this closing ceremony.
The point is that, by now, most people are usually so strung-out on anything related to the Olympics, they’d just as soon watch The Simpsons.
Granted, some athletes probably welcome this opportunity to celebrate the end of competition in a state of bonding revelry.
Never mind that the vast majority of those who bother to attend are usually mere qualifiers who spent more of their Olympics partying in local bars than competing in sports venues. No surprise then that Usain Bolt was seen departing at the airport as these athletes were marching into the stadium.
But it speaks volumes that, while I can remember almost everything that happened during the opening ceremony in Beijing, I cannot remember anything that happened during the closing ceremony. The same is the case with respect to London 2012; and will no doubt be the case with respect to Rio 2016.
Nothing telegraphs this quite like NBC covering it as if Simone Biles, a tiny gymnast struggling to carry the flag for Team USA, were the highlight.
To be fair, though, NBC’s coverage reflects the fact that even the girls from Ipanema – with their samba gyrations in feathered costumes – can be overplayed. But one can hardly blame organizers for using beautiful dancers to stimulate as much interest as possible.
Yet, am I the only one who thinks the best part of this Rio 2016 Closing Ceremony was the Tokyo 2020 Preview Presentation?
Apropos of which, I appreciate the importance of thanking the host city, as well as the symbolism of passing the Olympic flag over to the next one.
But iPINIONS sees no point in doing this as part of a show designed to rival the pantomime of the opening ceremony. Especially given that the only thing the athletes want to do at this point is be let loose for one last night of partying … without the entire world watching.
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