An Olympic Games of records, heartbreaks and a swimming sensation with an incredible future

The Rio Olympics this year – just like every Olympics before this one - was a keenly awaited by one and all across the world. There was a lot of expectations around this “once in 4-years sporting extravaganza” following as it did – the other great “once in 4-years” sporting event – the FIFA world cup - that was also conducted in 2014 in Brazil.

However, just about a few months before the start – first the Zika virus and later the doping scandals surrounding the Russian Athletes, cast a long shadow over the games. In fact, at one point, it looked like many of the well-known sportspersons would skip the event reducing the excitement that we all now expect from the Olympics.

One could not have been more wrong – the Rio Olympics that began on 5 Aug 2016 with great pomp -produced over the next 15 days, some sterling displays of sporting ability, a few heartbreaks, and some great examples of sportsmanship. We witnessed several Olympic/world records being obliterated.

Two of them in fact, erased records that stood for decades – Almaz Ayana broke the women’s 10,000m world record that stood for 23 years by running like a machine that never seemed to run out of power and Wayde van Niekerk set the tracks ablaze in the 400 metres, shaving 0.15 seconds off Michael Johnson’s 17-year old world record.

Phelps and Bolt rule their respective sports

Every person who watched the Olympics with awe as Michael Phelps demonstrated his supremacy at swimming events by winning 5 gold medals, showing the world that he was still the emperor of the pool - taking his total tally to 23 golds. They were then, witness to equally awe-inspiring feats from Usain Bolt – who by winning 3 golds at the Olympics, for the third consecutive time established himself as the greatest sprinter of all time.

Mo Farah then did the “Double Double” by defending his title in 5000 metres and the 10000 metres becoming only the second person in Olympic history to do so, in the long-distances. Each one of these athletes established themselves as the “Greatest of All Time”in their respective disciplines.

Other memorable moments included - Katie Ledecky becoming the youngest woman swimmer to win 4 gold medals at the Olympics, Simone Biles’ 4 gold medal haul in gymnastics, Vivian Cheruiyot breaking the Olympic record in the women’s 5000 metres & denying Almaz Ayana her double and Brazil winning the Olympic gold in football led by the incomparable Neymar Jr.

India too had its proud moments –our own Sakshi Malik picked up India’s first medal in 2016 Olympics – a bronze and PV Sindhu became the first Indian woman to win the Olympic silver in badminton.

Heartbreaks galore at the Olympics

Novak Djokovic was defeated by Juan Martin Del Potro

There were a number of heartbreaking moments too– the “Greatest of All Time” in Badminton - Lee Chong Wei lost yet another opportunity to win the gold for the third time (losing this time to Chen Long) in spite of defeating his nemesis and two-time Olympic champion Lin Dan in the semi-finals.

Another in tennis - Novak Djokovic left the Olympic arena in tears after a first round defeat to Juan Martin Del Potro. Our own Dipa Karmakar the first Indian woman gymnast to ever qualify for the finals in an event, lost the bronze medal in the women’s vault by a whisker – despite being one of the few Produnova exponents in the world.

In the true spirit of the Olympics, there were moments that displayed great sportsmanship too. Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D’Agostino collided during the women’s 5000 metres preliminary heats. Hamblin instead of continuing, helped D’Agostino to get up, only to realize that she was more severely hurt than D’agostino. However, both athletes went on to finish the race, with D’Agostino helping Hamblin across the finish line.

With such great moments to choose from, which moment would I remember at the time of Olympics 4 years from now or perhaps 40 years from now? That moment happened on 12 August 2016 in my favorite sport- Swimming and my favorite stroke- the Butterfly.

Well, the event I am talking about is the Men’s 100 metres Butterfly final. The obvious favorite was Michael Phelps, who had been winning this event since 2004 and was aiming for his last individual gold medal at the Olympics.

Phelps gets a Schooling

Joseph Schooling and Michael Phelps after the 100m butterfly event

While the race itself lasted just under a minute (in fact just 50 odd seconds), it was more than eight years in the making! For amongst the finalists, was 21-year old Joseph Schooling – a young Singaporean,who met none other than Michael Phelps way back in 2008, when the US team stopped at a training camp in Singapore. This chance meeting left such a lasting impression on Schooling’s young mind - that Michael Phelps became his role model & idol.

Joseph Schooling came from a family of sportspersons and it was no surprise that he naturally took to sports.By the age of 14, Schooling was training to achieve his dream of competing in swimming at the highest level. He represented his country in the 2012 London Olympics. However, he did not win a single medal in an Olympics that was completely dominated by Michael Phelps. Schooling, however, did extremely well in the 2015 South Asian games by winning 9 gold medals displaying his world-class talent.

Back to 12 August 2016, Schooling was now in the finals of the Men’s 100 metres Butterfly. Michael Phelps was the favourite to win in his pet event and was cheered by the crowd waiting to see him get his last individual gold. At the whistle, however, young Joseph Schooling, with Michael Phelps breathing down his neck all through, took the lead from the start and held on to it to the finish, winning gold in 50.39 seconds of “breathtaking butterfly”.

In the process, Schooling set a new Olympic record! Michael Phelps was stunned at the loss in his favourite event but the true sportsman that he is – Phelps congratulated the new heir apparent –Joseph Schooling from Singapore. Joseph Schooling had done what no Singaporean before him had done, winning a gold medal at the Olympics.

What makes this moment truly memorable was – that very rarely does one see a “Greatest of All Time” sportsperson in his peak beaten by an upcoming star. Schooling did exactly, that when he beat Phelps at his best event at the very peak of his prowess. I can only compare this to events I have heard about – but not been witness to – the great matches of Borg-McEnroe in Wimbledon 1980 and the Federer-Nadal of Wimbledon 2008 - each signaling the arrival of a new star on the horizon.

I believe that Schooling is one such a star in the making – a swimmer that we would all hear about for the better part of the next decade.