Rio Olympic Games 2016
Record-breaking Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, 11,303 athletes competing and a huge viewing audience. This was Rio 2016.
The Rio 2016 closing ceremony has ended and the first Olympic Games to be held in South America has officially come to a close. The last 19 competition days (including football) have seen some incredible performances, with records broken and new sporting stars born. Here are some numbers to ponder from what has been a marvellous few weeks in Brazil.
Phelps wins 200m butterfly
Michael Phelps cemented his status as the most successful Olympian of all time by winning five golds and one silver at Rio 2016, taking his tally to 28 medals (23 gold). The one that seemed to mean the most to the great American swimmer was the 200m butterfly. It allowed him to avenge his London 2012 defeat by Chad le Clos, who had since said he would break Phelps’s world records in Rio, and Phelps’s celebrations afterwards suggested he had enjoyed putting the younger man in his place.
A very honourable mention also goes to Phelps’s compatriot Katie Ledecky, who won four golds and a silver at Rio 2016, setting new world records in the 400m and 800m freestyle events.
