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Summer Olympic Games conclude with spectacular finish

Cecil Robinson
Staff Writer
cecil.robinson@hawks.shorter.edu

Former Shorter Hawk Paul Chelimo earned an Olympic silver medal in the men’s 5000m. While he competed for the Hawks for one season, he was a part of the indoor and outdoor NAIA national championships in 2011.

“It’s amazing that someone from our program here at Shorter ran at the Olympics and got to walk away with a medal,” said track and eld graduate assistant Christopher Johnson.

With the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympic games, the United States showed its dominance by garnering 121 medals.

This year’s Olympic Games were held in Rio de Janerio starting on Aug. 5 and concluding on Aug. 21. Due to reports that the country had been facing high forms of pollution, venue construction delays and labor strikes, many athletes were concerned for their safety.

With three confirmed cases of Zika in Northwest Georgia, some students are in support of Olympic athletes who have voiced their concern over the growing epedemic.

The 2012 Summer Olympic gold medalist Hope Solo expressed her concern over the presence of Zika in Rio.

“Having the Games in Rio is not exactly something I would have agreed to. I don’t blame a of athletes for backing out and putting their well-being rst,” said junior education major Remel Williams.

Aside from the controversial matters stirring at Rio, the United States was able to finish with a record number of medals. In total the USA finished with 46 gold medals, 37 silver medals, and 38 bronze medals for a total of 121 medals.

As of this year 11,000 athletes from 207 National Olympic Committees including first year Kosovo, South Sudan, and Refugee Olympic Team took part in the Games. Some of the more popular household names this summer were Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, and Allyson Felix. In particular, this year’s Olympic Games were filled with lot of record-breaking moments.

This year’s games saw the emergence of new and returning athletes. The 2012 Olympic Gold medalist Gabrielle Douglas competed at the Games this year as a part of the ‘Final Five,’ which was composed of other Olympic gymnasts such as Simone Biles, Aly Raisman, Laurie Hernandez and Madison Kocian.

Although Douglas was not able to retain her title of Olympic champion in the Individual All-Around in Rio, she was able to collect a gold medal in the Women’s Team Final. During the 2012 games, Douglas made history as the rst African- American woman to win the all-around Olympic gold. “She paved the way for other African- American gymnasts who are following in her footsteps through her hard work and dedication while not letting life’s circumstances get to her,” said senior communication major Caleb Britt.

Just as Douglas captivated the hearts of Americans back in 2012 with her Olympic story, so did the emergence of newly- crowned Olympian Simon Biles. As a 19-year-old, she has 19 World Championship and Olympic medals. With Michael Phelps participating in the nal Olympic competition of his career, the most decorated Olympian in history left the Games in spectacular fashion.

Adding to his large collection of gold medals, Phelps nished his last race to accumulate a total of ve gold medals and one silver medal at the Rio Games. In total, he has collected 28 Olympic medals with 23 of them being gold.

In an interview with PeopleMagazine.com, Phelps sat down and discussed his post- Olympic life about his ancée and newborn son Boomer. With his many achievements in life, Phelps says getting married is the next big milestone he has to look forward to. In addition, he says that being retired will give him more time to express his fatherly duties and become more family oriented.

One of the most agonizing defeats that occurred during the Games occured when Olympic gold medalist Allyson Felix earned silver against Shaunaue Miller of the Bahamas in the Women’s 400m Final. As one of the most anticipated races of the Games, Felix was predicted to win but as she approached the nish line to secure her medal Miller dove across the line to take the win.

“My heart breaks for Felix, but if it comes down to diving to deciding who gets a gold medal or a silver medal I would de nitely dive to get the gold,” said Williams.

The closing ceremony celebrated the achievement that was the Rio Games. With a large reworks display, music and dance choreography, and vibrant colors the nale allowed viewers and participants to forget about the initial controversies. As the XXXI Olympiad came to a close, the torch was passed to Tokyo, the 2020 host.