5) Thiago Braz da Silva scales new height
He held the world record, he had till then scaled the highest height without even faltering once. Lavilennie looked all set to defend his pole vault gold. The Brazilian, da Silva, with nothing to lose, pulled a rabbit out of a hat. He skipped 5.98 which the French had cleared, raised the bar to 6.03, and cleared it in his last attempt.
The French, to his belief, couldn’t scale the height despite coming alarmingly close. In a matter of minutes, Silva stunned the world with a leap of his lifetime.
4) Michael Phelps phenomena
Michael Phelps breaking his retirement to come to Rio was reason enough to celebrate. But then Phelps arrives to conquer, he swims to win. He kick starts with a gold. It’s routine. But thanks to Le Clos for lighting fire in the water. He was once again on the face of Phelps after having swum past him in the 200 butterfly at London.
There was enough heat in the pool and off it too. When the race finished, there was only one man signalling his numero uno position and it was Michael Phelps.
3) Lee Chong Wei vs Lin Dan
At Beijing, he finished 2nd best, at London he finished 2nd best. Here again at Rio Lee Chong Wei was up against his nemesis Lin Dan - the double Olympic champion, but this time in the semis. It was a hurdle he had failed to clear. In an oscillating battle, Lee finally emerged victorious.
What transpired next is to be treasured for long. Lee Chong Wei and Lin Dan exchanged jerseys and hugged each other elevating Sport to the highest level. Humility and respect.
2) Ayana Almaz’s moment in history
She was one among them, running smoothly. The 10000m journey was hardly past its halfway mark as she decided to break lose, she decided to fly. In a flash, Ayana was away. She never stopped, never turned back. When she finished, she had broken the world record that had stood for 23 years. But it’s not the gold medal or the record that brought in the joy. It was her stunning run that was a joy to behold.
1) Usain Bolt’s tryst with time
He has run past a decade of everyone’s life in the quickest possible time that a human could. What in Sport matches his speed and what in life matches the joy his long legs have gifted us! One gets a sense of voyeurism when Usain Bolt aligns his body with the air surrounding him and fiddles with the time around him.
It’s his space - both time and air, we are intruders. Be it in Beijing, in London or in Rio.
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