The Rio Olympics are history, its torch extinguished Sunday night amid an explosion of color and sound befitting the conclusion of this quadrennial spectacle celebrating athletic prowess and human spirit. Like you, I watched on television, as I had from time to time during the two weeks or so of competition. Like you, I watched Michael Phelps swim into Olympics history; gymnast Simone Biles dazzle with her smile and her stunning array of leaps, twists and tumbles, and Usain Bolt dash to gold for the third straight Olympiad. I admired the American women for winning basketball gold and the American men for a dominating performance in the gold-medal game against Serbia.
Enduring images for me include the laser-focus look of American gymnast Aly Raisman before her floor exercise and the tears of relief when she nailed her performance, which produced a silver medal; the agonizing minutes that Brazilian gymnasts Diego Hypolito and Arturo Mariano waited for the competition to end, Mariano kneeling on the floor with his face buried in his hands, and then their unabashed tears of joy when the final results gave them unprecedented silver and bronze; American runner Abbey D’Agostino stumbling over the fallen New Zealander Nikki Hamblin in the first 5,000 heat and helping her to her feet, and then Hamblin helping the injured D’Agostino, who had suffered a torn ACL and meniscus in her right knee; tears running down the cheeks of Brazilian soccer star Neymar and cheers of 80,000 spectators showering him after his shot to the upper right corner decided the shootout against Germany for the gold medal. Germany, remember, humiliated Brazil, 7-1, in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Finally, I salute the Rhode Island contingent at the Rio Olympics. They didn’t earn a medal, but so what. Just getting to the Olympics is an accomplishment worthy of a standing ovation. Swimmer Elizabeth Beisel of North Kingstown did it for the third time. She took home a fourth and fifth from Beijing in 2008 in Beijing and a silver in the 400 individual medley and bronze in the 200 backstroke from London in 2012. This year she finished sixth in the 400 IM and served as a captain of the U.S. swim team.
Molly Huddle, the latest of Providence College coach Ray Treacy’s Olympians, broke the American record in the 10,000 by nine seconds with her 30:13.17 but finished just sixth in what turned out to be a 6.2-mile sprint. Almaz Ayana of Ethiopia shattered the world record by 14.33 seconds with her blistering 29:17.45 in only her second 10k race. The next three finishers also broke 30 minutes, and the fifth-place finisher ran a personal best. Huddle was the first finisher not from Ethiopia or Kenya.
Sailors Stu McNay of Providence in the Men’s 470 class and Louisa Chafee of Warwick in the Mixed Nacra 17 class competed hard. McNay, a three-time Olympian, and Dave Hughes finished second in the medal race and fourth overall. Chafee and Bora Gulari finished 13th of 19 boats.
Rower Anders Weiss of Barrington reached the semifinals of the men’s pairs with Nareg Guregian and finished 11th overall.