Curtains drawn as Rio Olympics comes to an end
The biggest international sporting event in the world ends its 31st season as Olympics 2016 held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil concludes the two-week long event on August 21.
HEROES OF THE GAMES. Olympic athletes walk during the Closing ceremony of Olympics 2016 in Rio. (Photo grabbed from npr.org)
The three-hour concluding ceremony showcased Brazilian culture through a colorful event as thousands of fans and competing athletes ended the game by a street carnival parade. Highlights include human formation of iconic Rio landmarks such as the Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf Mountain, Brazilian model Izabel Goulart leading a parade of women and dancers joined by a sound track with carnival queens, and a confetti and firework show. The event held in the Maracama stadium, was watched by billions of people across the globe as it is one of the most-awaited event in the world.
The dramatic extinguishing of flame was featured in the closing event. Although there were intermittent rains and strong winds during the occasion, it did not stop the audience to dance merrily and enjoy the night. Olympics chief Thomas Bach officially closed the games, which had 11,303 athletes competing, coming from 206 nations and a refugee team.
“These Olympic Games are leaving a unique legacy for generations to come. History will talk about a Rio de Janeiro before and a much better Rio de Janeiro after the Olympic Games,” said Bach prior to extinguishing the Olympic flame.
One of the most talked about highlights in the event was Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe making a comical cameo by appearing as a popular Nintendo video game character Super Mario, signalling the transition of the next host country for Olympics 2020.
Also read: From #Rio2016 to #Tokyo2020: the Olympic hand-off to end all Olympic hand-offs (to date)
The top three participating countries who bagged the most medals were United States, placing in the top spot which garnered 121 models, followed by Great Britain with 67 medals, and China garnering 70.
Source: BBC, CBS Sports, Rappler
