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R
io is history: and maybe that is a good thing. Over the past few decades, each four years
comes with a clean cycle: enthusiasm, questions about budget and building schedules, panic
about budget and building schedules, then a glorious event in which somehow everything
comes together. Rio had the first three stages down, but couldn’t quite stick the landing.
Empty seats, suspiciously green-hued pools and facilities with some serious plumbing issues…Rio
looked like a party, but the kind of party you have when you invite too many people over to your
studio apartment and didn’t have time to clean up or buy any snacks.
But it was still the Olympics, so moments of drama, controversy and excellence are guaranteed.
So here are the winners and losers from Rio 2016.
LOSERS
FAILURE TO MEET EXPECTATIONS
While Australia’s woes maybe are a result of a collective
fantasy, China has decided that coming third counts as a flop.
Sure, with over a billion people to choose from, and a training
culture that can best be described as brutal, they should be
getting some prime podium space.
The Xinhua news agency tweeted “On Rio Day 12, even GBR
has one more gold than China,” and from there the navel
gazing just got worse. China’s gymnasts did actually flop badly,
winning no gold, and the divers had a tough time as well.
THE OLYMPICS AND PARALYMPICS
Folded neatly into this category is the Russian doping scandal,
because the IOC’s failure to properly deal with this rule
infringement is a symptom of a larger problem. The Olympic
Games is suffering an identity crisis. At least the International
Paralympic Committee took the stand to ban the entire Russian
team
Maybe globalisation has made the Olympics redundant in
a way: back in the Cold War, this was one of the few truly
international events in the world. Today, maybe we are all just
a bit sick of each other.
Rio de Janeiro failed its people through the sledge-hammer
approach to urban planning, and the billion dollars they took
from the tax-payer will create a hole in the balance books for
years to come. Many of the facilities built for the games will
never be used again.
Expensive, stressful and a security nightmare, it is little wonder
that cities are hardly lining up to host. The IOC needs to have
a really good think about what the future of the competition
will be.
WINNERS
THE VETERANS
Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps may just be two of the greatest
sports people in history, and the world has seen the last of
them at the Olympics. Phelps has now won 28 Olympic medals,
23 of which are gold. Rio brought him five golds and a silver.
Bolt achieved a “triple triple” by defending his titles in the 100
and 200 metres and the 4X100 metre relay. Both men make
it look easy. Brazil’s Neymar is a serial winner with Barcelona
but has been haunted by the 7-1 loss Brazil suffered against
the Germans two years ago. In Rio, a free kick and a converted
penalty in the shoot out helped salve that wound.
THE YOUNGSTERS
Penny Oleksiak of Canada won four medals in the pool and
then was the standard bearer for the closing ceremony. At 16,
she has announced her coming career with an outstanding
Olympics. Simone Manuel, USA, is a little older but seems to
have a few more medals in her. Two golds and two silvers for
her. Another Simone crushed it in the gymnasium.
Simone Biles is currently the greatest gymnast in the world,
having nailed the World Championships three times in a row.
After Rio, talk is of her being the greatest of all time. While
she hardly carried the team, she accounted for a third of their
points in the team event. She finished up with four golds and a
bronze - and a kiss from Zach Zefron.
COUNTRIES THAT DOMINATE
US dominance in basketball creates unbackable odds at the
bookies, and even with some of their stars back home, it was
another romp. The Australians had a rare sniff of victory,
but seeing the scoreboard surprisingly close, the Americans
slotted the machine into 3rd gear and won by more than ten.
China’s table tennis team blew the competition away, barely
dropping points on their way to a silver and a gold in the
individual events and double golds in the team. South Korea’s
archers took all four golds, Kim Woojin breaking the world
record by scoring a 700 out of a possible 720.
Touchline | 9
By Timothy Mottram
THE
WINNERS
AND
LOSERS
rio 2016 winners and losers