The Olympics are finally over and what a spectacle it has turned out to be. In the last couple of weeks, we have seen the athletes display individual feats of brilliance on the grandest stage in the world of sports. We have seen world records shattered and dreams realized for more than 300 gold medalists at Rio 2016.
For some, the joy of simply performing on the world stage after overcoming innumerable barriers were in itself an achievement. It’s indeed difficult to pick out the best of the bunch but here is my pick for the Top 10 best individual displays at the Olympic games.
Honorable Mention: Fehaid Al-Deehani (Independent Olympic Athletes)
Originally hailing from Kuwait, Fehaid Al-Deehani created history by becoming the first ever Athlete to win a Gold Medal at the Olympic games while representing the Independent Olympic Athletes represented by the Olympics flag. As Kuwait is currently suspended by the IOC for constant interference from the government in matters pertaining to sports, Al-Deehani could not represent his country at the Rio games and instead competed under the IOA flag and won Gold in the Double Trap event in Shooting.
Despite the fact that Al-Deehani is a 2-time bronze medalist in Trap and Double Trap respectively, both these medals have come when he represented Kuwait.
Al-Deehani, a proud Kuwaiti soldier, rejected the notion of carrying the flag for the IOA but called for a ban on the Kuwaiti officials responsible for the nation’s ban from the games. It was an eerie but somewhat soothing feeling to hear the Olympic Anthem ringing out at the shooting arena in Rio and the flag of the IOA being raised high, a first in Olympic history. It almost felt like sports had won over petty politics on the day.
Medals : 1 Gold (Double Trap Shooting)
#10 Wayde Van Niekerk (Republic of South Africa)
Wayde Van Niekerk is the first South African sprinter ever to claim gold in the Men’s 400m event in Athletics. A distance which has been historically dominated by the Americans in recent years, Wayde Van Niekerk shocked everyone when he won the World Championships in 2015 by defeating the likes of LaShawn Merritt (USA) and Kirani James (Grenada) and set himself up as the man to eat in the Olympics.
But at Rio 2016, the man from Cape Town pushed it a step further and broke the 25-year strong World Record in the event held by the great Michael Johnson with a time of 43.03 seconds which is nearly 0.2 inside the world record pace and 0.5 seconds inside the Olympic record pace. By being the fastest man around a circle of the racetrack, Van Niekerk has marked his name into Olympic folklore with his performance at Rio.
Medals : 1 Gold (Men’s 400m Athletics)
World Record : Men’s 400m Athletics (43.03 Seconds)
#9 Almaz Ayana (Ethiopia)
Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia literally destroyed the World Record in the Women’s 10,000m which was held by Wang Junxia of China. Ayana won the race almost 15 seconds ahead of her nearest rival with a time of 29:17:45 which is more than 14 seconds clear of the mark set by the Chinese in 1993.
The 24-year-old pulled away from the pack just half way into the race and nobody could keep up with her. Despite valiant efforts from race favourites Vivian Cheruiyot (Kenya) and TIrunesh Dibaba, the former Olympic champion, Ayana finished well ahead of both in what has been described by experts as the greatest 10,000m race of all time. Even Cheruiyot and Dibaba finished more than 10 seconds inside the previous Olympic record mark but Ayana proved herself to be a different class.
She also won a Bronze in the Women’s 5000m event. Despite heading into an early lead, she could not hold off Cheruiyot this time as the Kenyan overtook her in the final19-year-oldAyana established an early lead to win the gold in this event.
Medals: 1 Gold (Women’s 10,000m Athletics) , 1 Bronze (Women’s 5000m)
World Record : Women’s 10,000m Athletics (29:17:45)
#8 Elaine Thompson (Jamaica)
Elaine Thompson became the fastest woman on earth at the Olympic games in Rio by claiming gold in both the 100m and 200m sprints in athletics while also claiming silver in the women’s 4x100m relay race second only to USA in a controversial final.
Thompson, who is just 24 years old and in her first Olympics held off strong competitions from the likes of Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce (Jamaica) , Tori Bowie (USA) and Dafne Schippers (Netherlands ) in both the events by a fraction of a second to win golds in both the sprint events at Rio 2016.
In the women’s 4x100m, Team USA’s presence in the finals was a bit controversial after they were initially disqualified for having dropped the baton only to be reinstated after a successful appeal against the Brazilians who were deemed of having tripped them during their first switchover. But the US competed and took gold while Thompson and Jamaica had to settle for silver.
Medals : 2 Gold (Women’s 100m Athletics,Women’s 200m Athletics) , 1 Silver (Women’s 4x100m relay athletics)
#7 Danuta Kozak (Hungary)
Danuta Kozak is a superstar in the sport of Canoeing and she proved every bit as tough as claimed as many as 3 gold medals in Rio 2016 after winning 2 Gold medals in London 4 years back. She is one of the most decorated and celebrated athletes in history and she took the Rio stage by storm.
Kozak, who was in her third Olympics this time completely annihilated her competitions as she eased to victory in the Women’s K1-500m,K2-500m and K4-500m races in the Olympiad.
Besides now having 5 Olympic Gold medals to her names, Kozak has 12 World Championship golds and 6 European Championships gold medals to her credit. But her performance at Rio sealed her legacy as one of the greatest Canoeist in Olympics history.
Medals: 3 Golds (Women’s K1-500m,Women’s K2-500m and Women’s K4-500m Canoe Sprints)
#6 Jason Kenny (Great Britain)
Jason Kenny was already a celebrated cyclist in Great Britain but his performance at Rio continued his legacy yet further as he managed to win 3 gold medals for his country in addition to the three he had won in the past two Olympiads.
Kenny set the stage alight with an Olympic record performance of 9.551 seconds in the Men’s individual sprint, bettering his own mark of 9.663 seconds from 4 years back claiming gold in this event. He further ensured team GB’s dominance in the Team Sprint race as well taking the gold in the event as well. Perhaps most importantly he also finally managed to claim gold in the Men’s Keirin race thus ensuring Britain’s dominance of this race even after the retirement of the great Sir Chris Hoy.
Perhaps his performance this year has finally enabled him to move away from the shadow of Sir Chris Hoy and managed to establish his name as one of the true greats in the sport of cycling.
Medals : 3 Golds (Men’s Individual Sprint, Men’s Team Sprint, Men’s Keirin Cycling)
Olympic Record : (Men’s Individual Sprint) 9.551 seconds
#5 Katinka Hosszu (Hungary)
Katinka Hosszu pulled off one of the great Olympic display at the swimming center in Rio by claiming three historic gold medals for Hungary. Specializing in the medley events, Hosszu managed to set an Olympic record in the Women’s 200m medley, just half a second short of her own World record set in the 2015 world championships.
She bettered this performance however in the Women’s 400m medley event creating a world record of 4:26:36 which was 4 seconds better than her previous personal best. This was the first World record set at the swimming pool in the Olympic games and set the stage for a wonderful swimming competition at Rio 2016.
She also won a gold medal in the 100m backstroke event holding off stiff competition from Kathleen baker of USA before claiming a silver medal in the 200m backstroke after finishing 0.06 seconds behind Maya DiRado of USA.
Medals: 3 Gold (Women’s 200m Medley, Women’s 400m Medley, Women’s 100m Backstroke) , 1 Silver (Women’s 200m Backstroke)Olympic Record : Women’s 200m Medley (2:06:58)World Record: Women’s 400m Medley (4:26:36)
#4 Katie Ledecky (USA)
The 19-year-old American sensation, Katie Ledecky was the highlight of women’s swimming at Rio 2016. She was easily the fastest woman in the pool in almost every race she competed in. She brushed aside her competitions with utmost ease and confidence on her way to four golds and one silver medal at Rio 2016.
She did not just win gold medals, she set not one but two World records in both the Women’s 400m freestyle and Women’s 800m freestyle. She bettered her own world record in the 400m freestyle by 2 seconds with a timing of 3:56:46 before doing the same in the 800m freestyle with a timing of 8:04:79 more than 12 seconds clear of her nearest rival.
She also won 2 golds in the Women’s 200m freestyle as well as the Women’s 4x200m freestyle relay and another silver in the Women’s 4x100m freestyle relay and thus becoming the most successful female swimmer at Rio 2016. What’s scary is that she is 19 and it will be amazing to see her in Tokyo when she is at her peak.
Medals : 4 Gold (Women’s 200m Freestyle, Women’s 400m Freestyle, Women’s 800m Freestyle, Women’s 4x200m Freestyle) , 1 Silver (Women’s 4x100m Freestyle)
World Record: Women’s 400m Freestyle (3:56:46) , Women’s 800m Freestyle (8:04:79)
#3 Simone Biles (USA)
Simone Biles was one of the superstars at the Rio Olympic games. She did not disappoint though claiming gold in the individual All-Around event. She also won gold medals in the floor exercise and vault events before bagging a bronze on the balance beam. She then went on to help her team to an overall gold medal as team USA reasserted their dominance in the world of gymnastics over the likes of Russia and China.
But the individual all-around was the one which she was after and she managed to win the same by finishing ahead of her compatriot Ali Raisman and Russia’s Aliya Mustafina with an overall score of 62.198, almost two points clear of her nearest rival.
She put in dominating displays in the floor exercise and the vault as well brushing aside every other competition on her way to gold. The likes of Ali Raisman, Gabby Douglas, Laurie Hernandez, Madison Koechlin helped Biles on her way to the gold medal in the team event in gymnastics.
Medals : 4 Gold (Women’s Team, Women’s Individual All-Around, Women’s Vault, Women’s Floor Exercise) , 1 Bronze (Women’s Balance Beam)
#2 Usain Bolt (Jamaica)
Usain Bolt was THE MAN at the Olympic games. The world’s fastest man had always promised that the games in Brazil would be his last and he promised to deliver the triple-triple. Despite a hamstring injury in the build-up to the games, Bolt delivered when it mattered the most.
Like he did in the past two editions of the games, Usain Bolt won three more gold medals at Rio winning the men’s 100m , men’s 200m and the men’s 4x100m sprint races and set the athletics race track alive for one last time at the Olympics. He held off stiff competitions from the likes of Justin Gatlin and Andre Grasse to take the finishing line first for one last time at the world stage.
With his performance at Rio 2016, Usain Bolt finally achieved the unthinkable Treble treble and sealed his legacy as the greatest sprinter in history at the Olympic games.
Medals : 3 Gold (Men’s 100m, Men’s 200m , Men’s 4x100m)
#1 Michael Phelps (USA)
While all eyes were on Usain Bolt, not much was expected of Michael Phelps on his return to swimming in 2015. But counting out the greatest and most decorated Olympian in history would be a sin and thus it proved.
Michael Phelps took the pool by storm winning 5 more gold medals taking his Olympic Gold medal count to 23. Let’s get that straight. 23 gold medals is more than what many major countries have ever achieved in Olympic history. After a two-year hiatus, Phelps returned once again and proved every bit as hungry and this time with Baby Boomer (Phelp’s son) as a curious spectator, he delivered once again on the big stage.
Phelps won Gold in the 200m butterfly, 200m medley, 4x100m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle, 4x100m medley (where he swam his preferred butterfly leg) before finishing second in the 100m butterfly to Singapore’s Jason Schooling. But by winning more medals than most other countries ever have, Phelps enhanced his legacy as perhaps the greatest Olympian in history at Rio 2016.
Medals : 5 Gold (Men’s 200m Butterfly, Men’s 200m Medley, Men’s 4x100m Freestyle, Men’s 4x200m Freestyle, Men’s 4x100m Medley) , 1 Silver (Men;s 100m Butterfly)
Olympic Record: Men’s 4x100m Medley (3:27:95)
