Rio Olympics Closing Ceremony

The closing ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio was last night and you know I love the Olympics. For real, it is a bucket list item for me to one day attend the Olympics and see some of these events in person. Since I wrote about the opening ceremony I thought it only right to talk about the closing ceremony and the games in general too.

The games concluded last night in rainy Rio with Simone Biles as the flag bearer for The United States. As mentioned in my previous Olympics post, the sports I make sure to watch are Women’s Gymnastics and Swimming. I watch a little bit of Beach Volleyball but really only when Kerri Walsh-Jennings is playing. I watched a few Track & Field events such as when Usain Bolt won the 100m again. I find the Olympics so fun to watch and there are things that will never be forgotten. No, I’m not talking about the ridiculousness of the Ryan Lochte debacle, though I’m sure no one’s going to forget about that any time soon.

But, I know I’ll never forget witnessing Michael Phelps’ last race winning his record 23rd gold medal and 28th overall. I won’t forget him beating Chad Le Clos. I won’t forget Katie Ledecky practically lapping people in the 800m freestyle. Seriously, when the camera was on her there came a point where the other swimmers were so far behind that they didn’t even make it onto the TV screen! It was amazing to see Simone Manuel’s expression on her face when she realized she won gold. All the swimming relays (my personal fav) were so exciting to watch! It was thrilling to watch the Women’s Gymnastics team dominate the gym and Simone Biles is amazing. How does someone who’s only 4’8 flip so high up in the air?! I won’t forget the stress and anxiety I felt when watching Kerri Walsh-Jennings and April Ross play Brazil in Beach Volleyball and nothing going right for them costing them the chance to play for the gold medal. It was shocking considering Walsh-Jennings has never lost an Olympic match, ever! As shocking and difficult as that was to watch, it was just as satisfying to watch them claw their way back and win that bronze medal. Such determination! Now, I just wish I could have a beach volleyball player’s body. They’re so lean and fit!

Fun fact: I read in an article that Michael Phelps has become the athlete with the most individual event wins since 152 B.C. BC!! That’s insane!

My favorite part of the closing ceremonies is always when they pass the baton (pun intended) to the next country hosting the Olympics. In this case, Brazil passed it on to Japan as the 2020 Summer Olympic Games will be in Tokyo. I have a feeling we won’t be hearing the same kind of chatter about Tokyo as we did about Rio being totally unprepared for the event. I think Tokyo will be on top of it and have already begun preparations I’m sure. I love when the next host country does a little video and performance to preview what’s to come. Brazil’s portion of the closing ceremony was a vision of color once again and full of music. I really liked when the performers got into the formation of Christ the Redeemer, the famous mountain top statue in Rio.

My favorite part of Japan’s portion was when they showed the Prime Minister in Japan (on video) saying he was going to be late to Rio and then he turns into Mario, goes down the green pipe (you know what I’m talking about if you’ve ever played Mario) and popped up in Rio. So fun!

Overall, I enjoyed watching the events that I do watch. Next up, the 2018 Winter Olympics!