What made headlines in Rio

As the world’s best athletes spent the past three weeks doing battle at the 2016 Games, TODAY’s Romaine Soh (romainesoh [at] mediacorp.com.sg) looks back at some of the most-talked about moments of the Rio Olympics ...

PHELPS IS GREATEST OLYMPIAN EVER

Michael Phelps, the US swimming extraordinaire, became the most decorated Olympian in the record books as he added five more golds to his collection at the Rio Games, his fifth and last Olympic appearance. His total of 13 individual gold medals surpasses that of Greek Olympic legend Leonidas, whose record of 12 has stood since 152 BCE.

SCHOOLING PUTS DENT ON PHELPS RECORD

Michael Phelps won three consecutive Olympic golds in the 100m butterfly, and was a heavy favorite to defend his title and make it a four-peat. Singapore’s Joseph Schooling, however, impeded this achievement by taking the win in 50.39 seconds, an Olympic record and winning Singapore’s first-ever Olympic gold. Phelps tied for second along with South Africa’s Chad le Clos and Hungary’s László Cseh.

LEDECKY DOMINATES POOL

After winning her first Olympic gold and setting an American record in the 800 metres freestyle in the 2012 London Games, U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky’s individual medal count improved threefold when she swept the 200, 400 and 800 metres freestyle at the Rio Games. She also set world records in the 400 and 800-metre freestyle events.

MIMA ITO YOUNGEST MEDALLIST IN TABLE TENNIS

The Singapore ladies’ table tennis team fell to Japan in the bronze-medal match, which breaks the chain that the Singaporean paddlers have brought home an Olympic medal. Among the Japanese team is 15-year-old Mima Ito, who became the youngest Olympic table tennis medalist. That honor previously belonged to China’s Guo Yue, who was 16 years old when she won bronze in the doubles at the 2004 Athens Games.

MILLER’S CONTROVERSIAL DIVE IN 400M

In a nail-biting finish, Shaunae Miller of the Bahamas seemingly made a dive for the line just as American Allyson Felix was creeping up on her on the home stretch to win her first Olympic medal in a lifetime best of 49.44 seconds. Her stunt drew mass criticism on social media that diving was an “illegal” way to win a track race. However, previous Olympian Lolo Jones was one of many who voiced their support for Miller and claimed that her win was legitimate.

SPORTSMANSHIP IN 5K HEATS

With just 4 laps to go, New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin, who was boxed in a very tight pack of runners, tripped on the inner railing and faceplanted. American Abbey D’Agostino, who was right behind her, could not dodge in time and went down as well. The latter, however, encouraged Hamblin to get up, and both of them were the last two finishers in their heat. After appealing, both Hamblin and D’Agostino was allowed to race in the final, though D’Agostino missed the race as she did not recover in time due to the injuries she sustained from the fall.

CHINESE SWIMMER BREAKS INTERNET

“I used all of my mystic energy!”

“Living was no better than death!”

These poolside interviews, injected with so much personality, were the reason that Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui first made headlines for. (See her exaggerated facial reactions and reactions when she found out that she had gone under 59 seconds during the 100m breaststroke semi-final.) Since then, her hyperbolic expressions and her memorable phrase, “mystic energy,” have given rise to memes.

DOPING SPAT ENGULFS AUSSIE, CHINESE SWIMMER

Russia’s ban from the Olympics due to its state-sponsored doping mentality has made drug usage a particularly sensitive topic. This topic is central to the dispute between Australian swimmer Mack Horton and China’s Sun Yang. Horton alleged that he ignored Sun’s gesture of saying hello by splashing him in a practice because he did not have “time or respect for drug cheats.” Sun had previously served a three-month doping ban in 2014.

GYMNAST BILES G.O.A.T.

In her first Olympic outing, American Simone Biles will go home with a total of five medals, which consists of four golds and one bronze. She also earned the honor of the women’s individual all-around champion. This marks the fourth consecutive year that the 19-year-old has won every team and individual all-around competition she has taken part in.

GREEN MYSTERY IN DIVING POOL

Ahead of the women’s synchronized diving final in the first week of the Games, the colour of the diving pool water changed overnight from a clear blue to a murky aqua green, before finally turning a solid shade of green that prevented athletes from seeing the bottom of the pool. Eventual findings confirmed that a contractor had mistakenly dumped 80 litres of hydrogen peroxide into the pool thinking it was the right thing to do.

GATLIN GETS BOOS

Since last year, the IAAF has portrayed the century sprint with a “good VS evil” storyline, painting Usain Bolt as the hero of clean sport while Justin Gatlin is the poster boy of doping. This plot was still prevalent in the 100-metre final at the Olympics, with an overwhelming response as Bolt walked out onto the track. In contrast, Gatlin had a lukewarm reception, greeted with both cheers and boos. “For me I was surprised,” said Bolt. “It was the first time I have ever come into a stadium and someone is being booed.”

FRENCH GYMNAST’S HORRIFIC LEG BREAK

During the qualification rounds for the men’s gymnastics, Frenchman Air Said had his Olympic dreams dashed once again when he landed badly on the vault and broke his tibia. The 26-year-old previously had to withdraw from the London Games when he fractured his leg in three places during the European Championships. Right before Air Said’s injury, German Andreas Toba hurt his knee during the floor exercise and had to abandon his routine. He was able to compete in the pommel horse before seeking medical aid.

LEE BEATS NEMESIS BUT STILL MISSES GOLD

Having played bridesmaid to China’s Lin Dan for two Olympics, imagine the joy Malaysia and its badminton superstar Lee Chong Wei felt when he finally got the better his his great rival in the semi-finals. As Malaysia put all their hopes of the nation’s first Olympic gold medal on Lee, the two-time Olympic silver medallist disappointed ocne again when he lost 21-18, 21-18 to Chinese world No 2 Chen Long in the final, settling for his third-straight Olympic silver.