The 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil in August will most certainly go down as a incredibly competitive, and the games went beyond just the fields and arenas, leading to much discussion and drama-packed media frenzy after the competition. From career-jeopardizing controversies, breakout athletes, and the last Olympics for some of history’s greatest athletes, it was an Olympics to remember.We even saw wild coaches strip in front of the judges (see the Mongolian wrestling coaches following a disagreement with the referee). Overall, star athletes like American swimmers, Katie Ledecky, Michael Phelps, track star Usain Bolt, and gymnast Simone Biles, reminded us why we love to watch the Olympics every four years. The sheer passion, heart, and national pride that these athletes exemplify does nothing but motivate the people watching.

The 2016 Rio games was the 31st modern Olympiad to take place. The first of the modern games took place in 1896 in Athens, Greece. The Olympics take place every four years, and it is the dream of almost every aspiring athlete to one day take part in the Olympic Games. For example, in 2012 after London hosted the Olympics, Great Britain saw the largest boost in sports participation in their history.

While it is important to remember the athletic moments of the Olympics, there was a negative controversy involving Ryan Lochte and a couple other members of the United States swimming team. Soon after the all the swimming events had finished, a massive story arose that Ryan Lochte, along with fellow swimmers Gunnar Bentz, Jack Conger, and James Feigen, was out late at night in Rio when men dressed as police officers robbed him and his teammates. The Americans went as far as to claim that one of the men put a gun to Lochte’s head.

Only two days after this seemingly terrifying story came out, many people began to speculate that the swimmers had been fabricated it. After inconsistencies and security camera footage proved the story to be falsified, Gunnar Bentz, and Jack Conger were physically taken off of their plane to be questioned by the Rio police. The men eventually confessed that the story had been fabricated and all involved were disgraced. Ryan Lochte has suffered a 10-month suspension for his part in the episode.

On to a lighter note, one of the biggest stories of the Rio Games was Simone Biles. The 19-year-old lit up the games with 4 golds and 1 bronze medal. People are already considering her one of the best of all time.

Up until the 2016 Olympics, no female African-American had ever won a gold medal in a swimming event. It was looking as though this streak would continue until Simone Manuel took the pool in the 50m freestyle. She went through the water like a torpedo and won the gold, not only adding to the already immense U.S medal tally, but forever etching her name in the history books. In the end, the U.S. medal tally the United States was an impressive 46 gold medals, 37 silver medals, and 38 bronze medals.

The “feel-good” story of the Olympics took place on the soccer field. Despite Brazil being the most successful country ever in the sport with their impressive World Cup and Copa America wins, the gold medal in an Olympics always evaded the Brazilians. Led by phenom Neymar Jr., the Brazilians were able to win the ever-elusive gold medal, and in front of 80,000 screaming Brazilians in the Maracana, Brazil’s national soccer stadium.
While we saw a lot of rising stars in Rio, it was also emotional to say goodbye to the greatest track and field runner and swimmer of all-time, Usain Bolt, and Michael Phelps.  The two legends decided to end their illustrious careers at Rio. Phelps ended the Olympics with a total of 28 medals (23 gold) making him the most decorated Olympian of all time. Bolt ended his Olympic career with a total of 9 medals, all of them being gold.

The 2016 Olympics were surely unforgettable due to an intriguing mixture of drama and outstanding athletics. It is quite possible we will be seeing a spike in student-athletes at Saint Stephen’s now.