#Rio2016 #Olympics Final Day Surprises, Joy And Fury
Dream Come True: The USA Win 15th Olympic Gold In Men’s Basketball
The USA came close to doubling Serbia all game and finally finished with a 30-point lead to win 96-66. The gold medal is the 15th for the USA in men’s Olympic basketball. They also have one silver and two bronze medals.
Durant Came To Play For USA
Kevin Durant is on a tear. He cooly stroked a shot from the perimetre to give the USA a 52-29 lead heading into the half at Carioca Arena 1. Shooting an incredible 64 per cent — including five for eight from deep — Durant’s 24 points are nearly half his team’s total and almost even with Serbia’s team output so far.
Kevin Durant just destroyed the rim with a two-hand jam! He leads all players with 19 points to give the USA a 20-point lead over Serbia in the men’s gold medal basketball match.
No Gold For Joe
Britain’s super heavyweight Joe Joyce didn’t get his fairy tale ending that began with a late entry into the world of boxing and ended with a silver medal at Rio 2016. While the 30-year-old’s career surely won’t end here, losing to Frenchman Tony Yoka, who taunted him before the fight for being ‘robotic’, will leave a bruise.
The 22-year-old Parisian took gold with a exemplary defensive display and little else. He won two rounds by small margins and rarely took the fight to Joyce.
The British fighters downfall was a combination of his inability to open up his opponent, and his failure to protect himself from the few punches Yoka did throw.
First-Time Finalist Denmark Beat The Reigning Champions
Denmark have held on to record a historic win against the reigning champions France. Never before have Denmark won a men’s handball medal, and now they’ve just won gold by 28-26.
As well as a mighty defensive effort, their keeper Niklas Landin Jacobsen made some ridiculous saves to keep them ahead in the second half.
Tears Of Joy For Uzbekistan Boxer
You will not see a more emotional athlete reaction to an Olympic Games contest than the one we have just witnessed at Riocentro. Uzbekistan’s Fazliddin Gaibnazarov broke down in tears at the end of his gold medal match against Azerbiajan’s Lorenzo Sotomayor Collazo. It wasn’t clear whether he thought he’d won or lost, but when the result came through – it was Gaibnazarov who was declared the champion. Collazo sunk to his knees in despair and the Uzbeki boxer broke down sobbing for a second time.
Golden Finish For The Golden Boys
Brazil have won gold in the men’s volleyball. The game ended 3-0 (22-25, 28-26, 26-24). Italy couldn’t come up with a response to the host’s strong finish in every set.
At no point did the Italians really look like troubling Brazil, who will take great satisfaction out of claiming the medal they did not win in London, which was seen as a giant failure at home.
Final Day Fury: Mongolian Coaches Protest Decision
In an interesting turn of events at the wrestling arena, coaches of Mongolian fighter Mandakhnaran Ganzorig have protested an officials decision that gave the bronze medal to Ikhtiyor Navruzov by stripping off their clothes.
The crowd were cheering the coaches on with shouts of ‘Mon-go-lia, Mon-go-lia’ before security removed them from the mats.
(Rio2016)
