With the Rio Olympics coming to a close there were hundreds of gold medals given out to the best athletes in the world. Some of the most memorable moments have to be the USA’s gold medal in the women’s team gymnastics final, Michael Phelps’s six medals, and Katie Ledecky’s dominance in the pool. Along with those amazing accomplishments are other amazing Olympic gold medal and non-gold medal stories that you probably missed. Here are seven of the most amazing Rio Olympic moments you probably missed.
1. India qualified their first ever female gymnast
India made history with these Olympics by qualifying their
first female gymnast in the nation’s history. Dipa Karmakar is vault specialist
and performs one of the most difficult vaults in the gymnastics world. Her
vault is named the Produnova and involves two frontal saltos. If the vault is
not done correctly it can actually injure a gymnast’s spine to the point of
becoming paralyzed. Karmakar not only made history of becoming the first
Olympic female gymnast from India but she also made the vault final where she
came in 4th place.
2. Kristin Armstrong becomes 3x Olympic cycling gold medalist
If you didn’t know, one of the cycling events in the Olympics is the individual time trial. What happens is each one of participants races the course by themselves and at end the cyclist with the fastest time wins. For the past three Olympics, one woman has dominated this event, Kristin Armstrong. With no relation to the infamous Lance Armstrong, this mother of a 5 year-old, won her third straight gold medal. To make her third straight victory even sweeter, Armstrong became the first cyclist, male or female, to win three straight gold medals in the event. A few days after her win her and her family stayed in Rio and celebrated her 43rd birthday. I can’t think of any birthday present better than another gold medal.
3. Fiji and Australia win the first Olympic rugby gold medals
The sport of Rugby 7’s made its official Olympic debut in Rio. With 12 teams, both men’s and women’s, it made for an exciting and historic competition. On the women’s side Australia proved to be victorious as they beat out the New Zealand team with a score of 24-17. Fiji took the men’s team gold medal by dominating in their gold medal match against Great Britain. Fiji took control of the match by winning with a score of 43-7.
4. Simone Manuel ties for gold in the 100-meter freestyle
The women’s 100-meter freestyle had to be one of the most exciting non Phelps or Ledecky swim races of the Rio Olympics. The race came down to the score board that displays the results. Not only did Manuel get the Olympics gold, she tied for the gold with Penny Oleksiak of Canada. Both women ended up breaking the Olympic record with a time of 52.70 seconds. Another reason why this race was so amazing was that Simone Manuel became the first African American women to medal in an individual swimming event.
5. Independent Olympic team wins gold medal
The Independent Olympic team is made up of athletes whose home countries have been banned from competing and refugees from various countries. This inspiring and motivated team won their first gold medal in the men’s double trap shooting competition. Fehaid Al-Deehani is from Kuwait but Kuwait was banned from competing from the Rio Olympic games due to government conflict. Al-Deehani beat out Italy’s Marco Innocenti by a score of 26-24.
6. Silver medal diver not only wins medal, but gets engaged!
Winning a medal at the Olympic games is any athlete’s dream. What could be better than knowing that you’re one of the best athletes in the world? How about getting engaged just moments after your medal is put around your neck. This is exactly what happened to Chinese diver He Zi. Zi had won the silver medal in the three meter spring board diving competition. Moments after her medal ceremony her boyfriend of six years, Qin Kai, got down on one knee and proposed! Zi joyfully and tearfully said yes! Zi’s new fiancé is also an Olympic athlete and took home the bronze in the men’s three meter synchronized competition just a few days earlier.
7. One of the greatest acts of sportsmanship was displayed in men’s tennis
Medal matches and competitions are all about winning a medal and all about beating your opponent. During a tennis match between USA’s Jack Sock and Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship was shown. Late into the match Hewitt was winning. Hewitt served the ball which was then called a “fault” by and official. As Hewitt went to go for his second serve, Sock spoke up. He looked at Hewitt and said “that was in if you want to challenge it”. Sock could have let it slide but he knew that it was points Hewitt earned. Hewitt’s face was full of shock as he was surprised something like this happened. Hewitt challenged the call and got his point. Hewitt went on to win the match. I think that this match won’t be remember by who won, but by the incredible sportsmanship that was shown.
