Rio 2016 Olympic Review
The Rio Olympics concluded Sunday evening, but it is still too early to tell what it's legacy will be. Certainly Michael Phelps' 6 medal, 5 gold, performance to extend his career medal tally to an Olympic record 28, with 23 golds, will be one of the defining performances from Brazil. But, so too will be Usain Bolt's equally impressive and historic feat of winning his third straight gold medals in the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay. American Gymnast, Simone Biles also left Rio with 5 medals, with 4 of them gold including the illustrious Individual All-Around title to solidify her place among all-time Olympic performances. The United States swept the men's and women's basketball tournament, going a combined 16-0 en route to matching gold medals. In the pool, American swimmer Katie Ledecky dominated her opposition and earned 4 golds and a silver while shattering world records in the 400 and 800 meter freestyle events.
Overall, the United States managed to win an Olympic record 121 total medals, including 46 golds. 51 more total medals than China, who finished second in the medal table. In fact, if you only counted American golds, the US would have come in 5th in the overall medal count.
The United States enjoyed historical success at the Rio Olympics, but the media has chosen to focus more on the Ryan Lochte and company's robbery/vandalism/lying story than all of the great achievements from this Summer's games.
Doping and failed drugs tests were one of the main story lines leading up to the Olympics as 119 members of the Russian track and field team were banned just days before the Opening Ceremony. The ban stems from allegations, by the World Anti-Doping Agency, of a large scale and sophisticated state-run doping program by the Russians over the span of 7 years. There were rumors that the entire Russian delegation would face a ban but ultimately all but one member of the track and field team were suspended from Rio. In a comical turn of events, the IOC eventually did decide to suspend the lone Russian long jumper once she was in Rio, citing 'new information' they had received about her. In the coming months there will undoubtedly be more doping allegations across multiple sports and countries, but to what what extent will be the question.
So how will history judge the RIo 2016 Summer Olympics? Will we choose to focus on the record breaking performances and historical accomplishments of athletes like Bolt, Phelps, and Biles? Or will we choose to define these games by the controversy caused by Lochte and the ever-present doping and cheating allegations?
