Rio Olympics: The Great, The Not-So Good, And The Ugly
There were many great performances to cheer at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, but the games also had their unfortunate issues and ugly events.
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People rejoiced in the new country of Kosovo -- independent only since 2008 -- when Majlinda Kelmendi won the nation's first medal ever, getting a gold in judo.
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Tajik fans reportedly overwhelmed hammer-thrower Dilshod Nazarov's Facebook page after he won a gold medal -- the country's first since Andrey Abduvaliev won gold in Barcelona in 1992 throwing the mallet for the Unified Team of the former U.S.S.R.
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The doping issue crept into the games in Rio when a handful of athletes -- including medal-winners Izzat Artykov of Kyrgyzstan (pictured), and Serghei Tarnovschi of Moldova -- had their medals stripped and were kicked out of the Olympics.
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Rio officials were unable to explain why so many events at the Olympics had very sparse attendance, evident to millions of TV viewers who saw half-full arenas and stadiums, perhaps most glaringly during the track-and-field competitions that in previous Olympics have always been jam packed.
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Though fears of an outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus proved unfounded, Rio's swimming pools had problems staying blue -- turning green on different occasions and puzzling organizers who had to drain the pools and refill them.
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The drug issue led to a war of words between U.S. swimmer Lilly King (right) and two-time doping transgressor Yulia Efimova of Russia. King said after beating Efimova in a race that she should not have been allowed to compete in Rio.
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The spirit of good sportsmanship shone brightly when American runner Abbey D'Agostino (right) and her 5,000-meter-race competitor Nikki Hamblin, of New Zealand, collided and fell to the track. Instead of jumping up and continuing to race, D'Agostino stopped to help Hamblin get up. Later in the race, when the injured D'Agostino was struggling to run, Hamblin stopped and assisted her.
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Things got ugly and rather comical when two Mongolian wrestling coaches stripped off their clothes to protest a referee's decision to penalize Mandakhnaran Ganzorig as he celebrated a sure victory late in his match against Uzbek wrestler Ikhtiyor Navruzov. The Uzbek ended up winning when the Mongolian team lost its appeal, giving Navruzov an additional point.
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Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe dressed as Nintendo's Super Mario onstage at the closing ceremonies of the Rio Olympics.
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A bizarre incident emerged when Russian wrestler Inna Trazhukova accused the head of Russia's wrestling federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili (pictured), of punching her after she lost her bronze-medal match. "Upon the end of the competition, federation President Mikhail Mamiashvili met me intoxicated; he spoke with me rudely, insulted me, and punched me in the face twice," Trazhukova said in an interview with Sport-Ekpress.
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Sprinter Usain Bolt (center) of Jamaica reacts after winning the men's 200-meter semifinals at the Rio Olympics. Bolt declared himself “the greatest” during the games, which saw him haul in three gold medals to bring his Olympic career total to nine.
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The world was dazzled by the performance of American swimmer Michael Phelps, considered by many to be the greatest Olympian of all time, as he won five more events to bring his total to 23 gold medals and 28 overall in four Olympics. (file photo)
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U.S. gymnast Simone Biles, 19, wowed audiences and judges with her dynamic and creative performances -- earning her four gold medals.
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Scandal broke out in Brazil when four U.S. swimmers, led by multimedal winner and veteran Olympian Ryan Lochte, claimed they had been robbed by gunmen posing as police as the athletes returned to the Olympic village. Rio police used security-camera footage to show a different story of the swimmers vandalizing a gas station before paying security guards for the damage that contradicted the made-up story that angered Brazilians and forced the U.S. athletes to apologize.
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Fifty-eight-year-old Briton Nick Skelton gave older generations a thrill when he rode his horse Big Star to a gold medal win in the individual-jumping equestrian event. He was the oldest gold-medal winner since 1908.
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Corruption surfaced at the Olympics when International Olympic Committee member Pat Hickey, of Ireland, was arrested and jailed by police for scalping tickets. (file photo)
