RIO DE JANEIRO – In chronological order, my 16 favorite highlights from the Olympics:
1. The Refugee Olympic Team
Only host nation Brazil received a greater ovation than the Refugee Olympic team at the Opening Ceremony. Marching immediately in front of the host nation, Rose Nathike Lokonyen, an 800m runner originally from South Sudan, carried the Olympic Flag into the Maracanã. The team included five athletes from South Sudan, two from Syria, two from the Democratic Republic of Congo and one from Ethiopia.
2. Vanderlei de Lima lights the cauldron
Most thought Pelé would have the greatest honor of the Games, lighting the cauldron at the end of the Opening Ceremony. The soccer legend (who never played in the Olympics) ended up missing out, citing health issues at age 75 in skipping the event. In stepped the man most deserving to ignite the first Games in South America, 2004 Olympic marathon bronze medalist Vanderlei de Lima. Lima, whose inspirational story is here, told Brazilian media he was asked to light the cauldron on one hour’s notice. Lima told this to Brazilian media while buying beer at a gas station shortly after the Opening Ceremony ended, still wearing his Rio 2016 outfit.
3. Kohei Uchimura wins, his mom faints
It’s not that I’m unpatriotic, but I prefer covering non-American athletes at the Olympics. That’s because we see Phelps, Ledecky, Biles, etc., compete domestically multiple times per summer. Somebody like Kohei Uchimura, I see less often, but he is certainly no less talented. So when Uchimura competed in the all-around, seeking the first repeat gold since 1972, I wanted to find the best possible way to get a sense of the Japanese great. I decided to do that I would sit as close as possible to his cheering section, and, specifically, his mom. When Uchimura won, by a very slim margin, his mother fainted in her seat. Then she was surrounded by Japanese photographers. But watching her throughout the two-hour competition was the eye-opener for me.
4. Simone Biles shares in her all-around celebration
Of Biles’ four gold medals, and five overall medals, the most emotional was her all-around title. Tears were shed. But credit to Biles, in maybe the most overwhelming moment of her life (well, before she met Zac Efron), for thinking of teammate Aly Raisman. The Olympic Arena crowd showered Biles with applause and cheers shortly after her final score came up. Biles stepped up on the competition floor to acknowledge it and then motioned for the silver medalist Raisman to join her.
5. Kim Rhode, her fifth medal and her son
At Rhode’s first Olympics, pagers were the rage in the athletes’ village in Atlanta. This time, she and her teammates played Pokemon Go. Much has changed for Rhode in the last 20 years, but winning Olympic medals remained a constant. Rhode became the first athlete to win an Olympic medal on five continents with a skeet bronze, her most impressive performance yet. Afterward, Rhode carried her son, Carter, while doing interviews. Three years ago, Rhode had gall bladder surgery after a difficult pregnancy and was told by a doctor not to lift anything greater than five pounds, including Carter (eight pounds) and her gun (nine pounds).
6. Katie Ledecky finally cracks, after her final race
Ledecky did everything she set out to do – four golds, one silver, with two world records. Her 200m freestyle win over Swede Sarah Sjöström in a meeting of world-record holders was the most memorable of all her swims. But what I’ll never forget were the tears in her eyes when speaking about the end of her four-year journey. Same, too, for her coach, Bruce Gemmell, whom she greatly admires. Ledecky is leaving Gemmell to swim at Stanford, beginning a whole new cycle that will require a whole new set of goals.
7. Michael Phelps retires after 28 medals, 23 golds
My favorite singular moment from Phelps’ fifth and final Games was not his ready-room death stare, nor him carrying the U.S. flag into the Opening Ceremony. It was actually after the only event he didn’t win during a very successful Games (five golds, one silver). When Phelps and his two biggest active international rivals – Hungary’s Laszlo Cseh and South Africa’s Chad le Clos – held hands and climbed onto the silver-medal step of the 100m butterfly podium together.
8. Wayde van Niekerk breaks Michael Johnson’s record
The best sprint of the Games did not belong to Usain Bolt. The South African van Niekerk broke Johnson’s 17-year-old world record in the 400m by winning in 43.03 seconds from all the way out in lane 8. Before the race, NBC aired a terrific profile of van Niekerk and his coach – a 74-year-old great grandmother.
9. Abbey D’Agostino and Nikki Hamblin
Perhaps the greatest image of the Olympic Spirit came in the women’s 5000m morning heats. American Abbey D’Agostino clipped New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin from behind and each runner fell. Rather than worrying completely about the pack speeding away from them, both runners took turns helping each other up off the track.
10. Farewell, Golden Generation
High-paid professional basketball players and poignant Olympic moments rarely go together. So I savored the curtain call for Argentina’s Golden Generation after a quarterfinal exit against the U.S. Four men on Argentina’s roster were on the 2004 team that beat the U.S. and then won gold. Manu Ginobili and Andres Nocioni played their final national-team games. Luis Scola and Carlos Delfino may have as well. Argentine fans stayed well after the final whistle to send off all four of them, Ginobili in particular.
11. Helen Maroulis stuns Saori Yoshida
This was on my short list of most anticipated head-to-heads of the Games. So much history was at stake. Maroulis, a 2015 World champion at a different weight class, was going for the first U.S. Olympic women’s wrestling title. Yoshida had won 16 straight Olympic or world titles dating back to 2002 and was trying to become the first woman to win the same individual event at four Olympics. Maroulis won convincingly, handing Yoshida her second international loss in more than eight years. The Miracle on the Mat it was not, but the match should be remembered in the same respected, historic way.
12. Brazil’s Woolly Mammoth
If you’ve watched NBC broadcast coverage of the Olympics, you may have seen a Visa commercial featuring several Olympians in a van on a road trip to Rio. The man sitting in the very middle of that van, next to Ashton Eaton and behind Missy Franklin, is Brazilian beach volleyball player Alison. Alison, who is 6 feet, 8 inches, some 250 pounds and has a woolly mammoth tattooed on his side, won gold with partner Bruno Schmidt here. More than any other beach volleyball player, Alison infected Copacabana Stadium with his powerful play and exuberant celebrations, motioning to the crowd with his bear-claw hands and even lumbering over to embrace fans he knew. The structure might as well have been built for him.
13. U.S. women’s water polo gold medals worn by coach
Adam Krikorian, coach of the dominant U.S. women’s water polo team, left his squad for the opening weekend of the Games after the sudden death of one of his two older brothers. Krikorian’s players, bonded over many emotional moments in this Olympic cycle, lifted him up on his return to Rio. The Americans won gold, as expected, and then each player draped her gold medal around Krikorian’s neck in what’s becoming a tradition.
14. Usain Bolt’s kiss goodbye
No world or Olympic records for Bolt at these Olympics, his final Games. In fact, his winning times in the 100m and 200m were the slowest of any of his Olympic or world titles. Didn’t matter. Nobody challenged him. That Bolt still wowed speaks to the electricity he has generated over the last eight years. Bolt celebrated by kissing the Rio track, after both his last individual Olympic race and last relay race, and then (I love this) flinging a javelin into the infield well after midnight.
15. Neymar delivers Brazil soccer gold
The defining moment of the Games: Brazil wins its first Olympic soccer title, after seven previous silver or bronze medals, against its World Cup conqueror, in the Maracanã, with Neymar scoring the winner in a shootout. As some pointed out, it felt like Sidney Crosby’s golden goal at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games. Just think, this time last year we were all wondering if FC Barcelona would allow Neymar to play in Rio.
16. Claressa Shields consoles Shakur Stevenson, then makes history
Claressa Shields showed she’s just as strong a teammate as she is a fighter at these, her second Games. Her 19-year-old teammate, Shakur Stevenson, lost his bantamweight gold-medal bout. Shields found a distraught Stevenson outside a media area after the fight, embraced him, tried to lift him up and then told him that she loved him. Many more scenes like this must happen away from the cameras, but this was one of those rare occasions it was caught on video. The next day, Shields won her gold-medal bout to become the first American boxer to win titles at multiple Olympics.
The 2016 Rio Olympics saw it all. Rio saw legends add to already unfathomable medal hauls, cementing their ironclad places in history. It saw rising stars burst onto the scene and then steal the show. It saw scintillating performances challenge our conventional notions of what’s possible; moments of humanity remind us what’s really important. It saw greatness, true greatness, shine more brightly than any Olympic flame.
It wasn’t easy to pick just 16 top moments from an Olympics this memorable, but here they are:
Michael Phelps wins fourth straight 200m IM, one of six medals in Rio, 28 overall
Usain Bolt, world’s fastest man, can’t be touched as he completes ‘triple-triple’
Simone Biles becomes first U.S. gymnast to capture four golds in one Games …
… while veteran Aly Raisman takes home three more medals of her own
Katie Ledecky sets a new, impossibly-high standard in women’s swimming
Neymar’s penalty clinches Brazil’s first Olympic men’s soccer title
Ashton Eaton defends crown as world’s greatest athlete
U.S. basketball cements women’s and men’s dynasties
Fiji wins first-ever Olympic medal in first-ever Olympic rugby sevens tourney
Ibtihaj Muhammad makes history as first American woman to compete in a hijab
Kerri Walsh Jennings loses bid for fourth straight gold, rebounds to pull out bronze
Abbey D’Agostino helps competitor up after fall, runs mile on torn ACL to finish race
Andy Murray becomes Olympic tennis’ first back-to-back champion
Team Refugee swimmer Yusra Mardini wins heat
Mo Farah notches long-distance ‘double-double’ in 5000m and 10,000m
Golf returns to the Olympics after 112-year absence
The USA volleyball teams were both inches away from playing in the gold medal match, but each squad found a way to overcome their disappointment and rallied to claim the bronze.
In a wild tournament filled with monster spikes, epic rallies, brutal blocks and so much “Here Comes the Boom!” that it may be etched in memory forever, here are the top volleyball moments from the 2016 Rio Olympics:
The 2016 Olympic Games provided some of the most dramatic and thrilling moments in handball competition. Take a look back at 10 of the best moments from the competition.
10. Netherlands stun Brazil in QF’s
There became a point in the women’s handball competition when it became Brazil’s to lose. But the Dutch, students of the game that they are, just so happened to rip that page out of the script and write a new chaper.
Led by Estavana Pollman, the Dutch girls just outclassed Brazil in every way imaginable. They were faster, more disciplined, concise and much more aware of the situation. They did a wonderful job in taking away Ana Paula Belo’s capability to ignite the team and seemlessly worked together on the fast break, picking apart the Brazilian defense. It was a magnanimous victory for the Netherlands, breaking the hearts of almost every fan inside of Future Arena.
9. Federico Pizarro’s goal that wasn’t
Maybe the most back-breaking play of the entire competition, Argentina’s Federico Pizarro managed a free throw past the Danish defense and into the goal at the end of the half, collapsed onto the ground in the process.
Unfortunately for Pizarro, and to his rage, the goal was disallowed because both of his feet were lifted off the ground prior to him shooting the ball. Nonetheless, it was an incredible display of athleticism that handball players must possess.
8. Angola reach QF’s for first time in history
Bottom-dwellers and lone African representatives in most Olympic competitions, this year was supposed to be the same as any other Olympiad. This was a different year for them, though. There was pride to be had by this team this year. Luisa Kiala was her country’s flag bearer. Every single goal by this team felt like a victory.
Angola opened up play by shocking Romania on the first day of play. Then, they double-downed with a victory over 2012 silver medalists Montenegro.
Angola displayed a certain resiliency that made up for much of the athleticism they lacked compared to other teams. Whether is was from Kiala, Natalia Maria Bernardo, Isabelle Evelize Guialo or Theresa Patricia Almeida, this team worked as a team to get to a place in this competition that they’ve never been to before.
7. Argentina’s first win in Olympic Games, def. Tunisia
Argentina wouldn’t have made the Olympics if it weren’t for hosts Brazil, whose automatic berth meant that Argentina’s second-palce finish at the Pan-American Games would be good enough.
This team was projected to be run over in every single game. Not only did they refute that claim, they proved to the competition that they’d be incredibly challenging opponents. Los Gladiadores first made headlines for the “amazing goal that wasn’t” against Denmark, then suffered three consecutive tough losses.
All that was vindicated with the country’s first Olympics handball victory in history. They came out sharp against Tunisia. Led by Federico Pizarro and the Simonet brothers, this team brought serious passion and flair to Group A.
6. Egypt claim first-ever win over Sweden
In the biggest upset of the tournament, Egypt absolutely stunned Sweden – four time Olympic silver medalists. This was supposed to be a blowout for the Swedes and get their campaign back on track. Mohammed Sanad led his team with seven goals.
Despite qualifying for the Olympics six times of the last seven, Egypt only reached the knockout stage once – in Sydney, where they lost to Sweden in the quarterfinals.
Yet this team hung tight with Sweden, and when the final buzzer sounded, the players got on the ground and kissed the floor.
5. Brazil pull off shocking upset against Norway in handball opener
What a way to start the competition.
Brazil shook Future Arena in the women’s handball opener – that’s when the world met Ana Paula Belo. She proved to be a force to be reckoned with, hammering Norway on every fast break, every twist and turn in a game that Norway lead for almost the entire game.
Against Norway – two time reigning gold medalists, the best team in the world, the unbeatable Norwegians were defeated by a Brazilian team that had never come close to a medal in handball before. It was a huge upset that sent a loud and clear message that Brazil weren’t here to have a party. They were here to run the table.
Though Brazil did taste the sour end of an upset just a couple weeks later, this will still be one of their most momentous victories in history.
4. Russia end Norway’s quest for three straight golds
Norway entered competition as huge favorites to win the gold medal. They looked nearly unbeatable after that opening round defeat to Brazil, blasting their way through every opponent they faced.
Then Norway were blindsided by the Russians, whose incredibly fast play blitzed through the Norwegian defense. It was one of the most exciting games of the tournament. Heidi Loke forced the game into overtime, but Camilla Herrem’s missed shot at the last second sent Russia to the gold medal match.
3. Russia complete perfect run for gold
Russia was one of the most exciting teams to watch in the entire competition. Sure, from time to time they’d produce some very poor play, but when the Russians got going they played some of the most energetic and up-tempo plays.
They blitzed through the group stage 5-0, easily handled Angola, took down reigning champs Norway and absolutely smothered the French offense.
Norway were superb. Polina Kuznetsova and Anna Yvakhireva were forces to be reckoned with on the wings. Daria Dmitrieva was incredibly strong in the center, forcing defenses to succumb to the pressure that she mounted on them.
This Russian team somehow found it in themselves every game to turn on the switch and pull ahead just enough to secure victory. It proved to be the difference in this tournament, and is a major contributor why the Russians were crowned gold medalists.
2. France erase seven goal deficit to def. Spain in OT
Probably the most exciting game in the entire competition, France looked completely out of sorts the entire first half against Spain. Nerea Pena was impossible to defend – she scored 13 goals against the best defense in the competition.
The entire extra time was just as tense as the final 10 minutes of play, and Nerea Pena’s shot hit the post on the buzzer, sealing France’s incredible comeback victory.
1. Denmark dethrone France to become Olympic champs
In the most thrilling match of the entire Olympics, Denmark upended the two-time reigning Olympic champions to take home the gold.
The gold medal match pitted two of the very best players in the world against each other: Mikkel Hansen and Nikola Karabatic. Both played incredibly, but it was Hansen who lifted his team to the top of the podium.
Following a close first half, Denmark started off hot in the second half to lead by as many as five goals. They managed to shake off the nerves in the closing minutes to claim an incredible victory and the gold medal.
With all taekwondo events concluded in Rio, there is nothing left to do but look back at the best moments in competition.
5. Steven Lopez’s 5th Olympic Games
U.S. taekwondo star Steven Lopez is leaving Rio empty handed, but the 37-year-old former champion was still special to watch.
The oldest competitor in the field, Lopez won gold medals in the 2000 and 2004 Games, and a bronze in 2008.
Lopez won his opening match, but fell in the quarterfinals. He was able to compete in repechage, and won to get a chance to win bronze.
Though he came up short against Tunisia’s Oussama Oueslati in the bronze medal match, the taekwondo legend left it all out on the floor. He deserves to be recognized for all he has done within taekwondo.
When Ahmad Abughaush defeated Alexey Denisenko in their gold medal match, he won his home nation of Jordan their first ever gold medal.
En route to the gold medal, Abughaush knocked out a former champion, and the No. 2 seeded competitor.
3. Jackie Galloway earns bronze
Jackie Galloway almost made it to the gold medal match, but lost in a scoreless sudden death round to be denied the opportunity.
Still, she made up for it by controlling her bronze medal match against Gwladys Epangue.
Galloway formerly competed for Mexico, but was only an alternate in the 2012 Games.
She then switched to join the United States for the Rio Games, where she was the only U.S. fighter to medal.
2. Jade Jones goes back to back
Great Britain’s Jade Jones is a taekwondo superstar. The 23-year-old, known as “The Headhunter,” won gold in the 57kg division in London, and then reclaimed the medal in Rio.
The closest any of her matches finished at was five points.
1. Cheick Sallah Cisse’s dramatic gold medal win
In the most thrilling taekwondo match of the Rio Games, the Ivorian was losing with one second left as he landed a spinning head kick to take the gold medal from Lutalo Muhammad’s grasp.
It was a special moment as this was Ivory Coast’s first ever gold medal. Cisse couldn’t stop running around the arena celebrating after the match.
The best names in cycling came to the Olympic Games in Rio to compete for gold, either on the road, in rocky terrain or on the track.
Some riders flourished on Rio’s tumultuous road course. Anna van der Breggen won gold on the women’s road race and bronze in the time trials. Others, however, didn’t even have a chance to cross the finish line, see Annemiek Van Vleuten below.
The British cyclists owned the track events, both on the men’s side and the women’s. Team GB’s power couple Jason Kenny and Laura Trott combined for five gold medals on the track.
The BMX course proved to be risky, but fast for the riders. Connor Fields held the lead from right out of the gate and gave the United States its first-ever BMX gold medal. While some of the favorites on the men’s side fell victim to untimely crashes, the top rider on the women’s side delivered. Colombia’s Mariana Pajón won every race and took home her second-straight BMX gold medal.
The mountain biking cross-country races produced two very different types of victors. On the men’s side, the overwhelming favorite Nino Schurter captured the gold. For the women, Sweden’s Jenny Rissveds, the youngest rider on the course, outrode experienced veterans to claim the victory.
Here are some of the best moments from Rio:
Olympic boxing had a great number of stories and fights worth highlighting this XXXI Olympiad. The U.S. men’s team went from a complete shut-out in 2012 to winning two medals in Rio, and reigning champion Claressa Shields dominated the middleweight division to retain her Olympic championship.
A shocking loss for one of Ireland’s top ranked, a dabbing boxer winning a bronze medal and a Kenyan boxer with some serious dance moves in his corner making it to the quarterfinals were only a few of the great moments we saw in the Riocentro, and there are many more easily found on NBCOlympics.com.
Nico Hernandez (USA) upsets a top seeded fighter on his way to a bronze medal
From highlight-reel tries to a marriage proposal, check out the best moments from the 2016 Rio Olympics rugby competition.
What does a hooker do?
It is important to learn the language of rugby before watching the sport.
Matthew McConaughey learns rugby
After watching a rugby match, Jillion Potter taught actor Matthew McConaughey the basics of rugby.
Best tries from Rio
If these videos don’t get you hooked on rugby, nothing will.
From the NFL to the rugby pitch
New England Patriots safety Nate Ebner became the first active NFL player to compete at a Summer Olympics.
The fastest man in rugby puts on a show
Carlin Isles, who is considered the fastest man in rugby, scored a hat trick for the U.S. against Brazil.
Australia, Fiji win gold medals
Australia won the women’s tournament, and Fiji won the men’s tournament.
Marriage proposal on the pitch
Rio 2016 volunteer Marjorie Enya proposed to Brazilian rugby player Isadora Cerullo after the first-ever Olympic women’s rugby sevens tournament. And Cerullo said yes!
Kathryn Johnson’s hard-hitting tackle
American Kathryn Johnson delivered a massive hit on Australia’s Ellia Green, who is considered the fastest woman in rugby.
New Zealand performs emotional Haka
After losing to Australia in the Gold Medal Match, the New Zealand women’s rugby team performed the Haka. Several players struggled to hold back tears during the performance.
With the Rio Games wrapping up this evening, it’s time to take a look back on all the table tennis action from the Riocentro.
China’s clean sweep of the gold medals was the obvious highlight. Since the inclusion of the team event in the Beijing Olympics, China has won all twelve golds on offer. The singles tournaments were both all-Chinese affairs; Ma Long took home the men’s gold in his first Olympics, while Ding Ning defeated Li Xiaoxia in a rematch of the London final.