text: Jamaica's Usain Bolt greets fans as he celebrates winning gold in the men's 4 x 100-meter relay final, during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro,... (Associated Press) 
   
   Jamaica's Usain Bolt greets fans as he celebrates winning gold in the men's 4 x 100-meter relay final, during the athletics competitions of the 2016 Summer Olympics at the Olympic stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Friday, Aug. 19, 2016. (AP Photo/David Goldman) (Associated Press) 
   
   RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Michael Phelps won more medals than anyone else, again. And then he said farewell, also again. 
   
   Usain Bolt kissed the finish line goodbye after enhancing his Olympic legacy. Simone Biles and Katie Ledecky delivered under the burden of enormous expectations. Two strangers went from rivals to forever-linked by a display of kindness, an entire island seemed to celebrate a tennis match, and a gold medalist scampered home to avoid legal issues after a robbery story unraveled. 
   
   And then the home team won soccer gold. 
   
   The Rio de Janeiro Olympics were not perfect. 
   
   But there were moments — some great, some dreadful and some downright ugly — that will not, and should not, be forgotten. 
   
   Here's a look: 
   
   ___ 
   
   MEDAL LEADERS 
   
   The U.S. dominated the medal count, a rare romp in a non-boycotted games. There's still more medals to win Sunday, but the margin of overall victory could be the most in a fully attended games in 68 years. Phelps won six medals, five of them gold, to increase his career haul to 23 Olympic titles and 28 medals overall. Ledecky and Biles each won five medals; Biles will carry the U.S. flag into the closing ceremony. And U.S. shooter Kim Rhode has now won a medal in six consecutive Olympics — and she might not be done. 
   
   ___ 
   
   BEST FINISH 
   
   Bolt kissing the finish line after his ninth and final Olympic gold — in nine final races — was a perfect ending. He ran the anchor leg of the 4x100-meter relay for Jamaica, won emphatically to become the third athlete ever with nine golds in track and field, and insists that this will be the end of his Olympic career. 
   
   "Nothing left to prove," Bolt said. 
   
   He's right. 
   
   "I am the greatest," he added. 
   
   Right again. 
   
   ___ 
   
   BEST ACT OF SPORTSMANSHIP 
   
   An easy pick. 
   
   In the women's 5,000-meter heat, Abbey D'Agostino of the U.S. and New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin — strangers before that day — were involved in a tumble. D'Agostino helped Hamblin up, encouraging her to finish the race. D'Agostino tore a knee ligament in the fall and obviously couldn't finish. Hamblin wound up finishing last of 17 in the 5,000 final, so neither left with a medal. 
   
   Instead, they got so much more. 
   
   "That girl is the Olympic spirit right there," Hamblin said of D'Agostino. "I've never met her before. Like I never met this girl before. And isn't that just so amazing?" 
   
   Yes, it is. 
   
   ___ 
   
   BIGGEST EMBARRASSMENT 
   
   Another easy pick, even in a games where an Egyptian was sent home after failing to shake an Israeli judo opponent's hand. 
   
   Ryan Lochte is a 12-time Olympic medalist, and the odds that he'll have a chance to ever swim for a 13th are as murky as some of the pools were in these Rio Games. Lochte's story that a robber put a gun to his head quickly unraveled, his three teammates who were companions that night all were left to answer legal questions after he scurried home, and more repercussions from the U.S. Olympic Committee are likely coming. 
   
   "It's traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country — with a language barrier," read part of the apology that Lochte released on social media Friday. 
   
   Maybe so, but it bears noting that language barrier or no language barrier, the incident occurred after Lochte left a night out at ... Club France. So it would seem like not all foreign atmospheres struck him as traumatic before now. 
   
   ___ 
   
   BREAKOUT STAR 
   
   We asked. You voted. 
   
   Narrowing the list of potential candidates to four — Simone Manuel (four swimming medals), Joseph Schooling (beat Phelps for a gold in the pool), Monica Puig (whose tennis gold was Puerto Rico's first Olympic title in any sport) and Ibtihaj Muhammad (the barrier-breaking fencing medalist) — AP asked its Twitter followers to have a say in deciding this one. 
   
   The response was overwhelming, and one-sided: Puig is the breakout star of these games. 
   
   Reduced to tears many times after draping the Puerto Rican flag across her body after the gold-medal match, Puig beat two of the world's best five players to win the title. 
   
   "To do this ... is everything," Puig said. 
   
   The Olympic ideal, personified. 
   
   ___ 
   
   BEST COACH 
   
   Due respect to Mike Krzyzewski, Geno Auriemma, Martha Karolyi and the Japanese wrestling coach who found himself getting body-slammed twice in celebration by women's gold medalist Risako Kawai, this one goes to Ans Botha — the 74-year-old great-grandmother who guided South Africa's Wayde Van Niekerk to Olympic gold and a world record in the men's 400 sprint. 
   
   Her style is simple. When the smile goes away and the voice gets stern, it's time to get serious. Sort of like most great-grandmothers. 
   
   "She's an amazing woman," Van Niekerk said. "Her work ... I think it speaks for itself." 
   
   ___ 
   
   BEST COUPLE 
   
   Decathlon champion Ashton Eaton of the U.S. and his wife, heptathlon bronze medalist Brianne Thiesen-Eaton of Canada, would be a very easy selection here. 
   
   But what Kate Richardson-Walsh and Helen Richardson-Walsh did was even more rare. 
   
   They're married, and played for the same gold-medal winning British women's field hockey team. In a games that had more openly gay athletes than ever before, theirs was a moment that surely resonated with many around the world who don't know the first thing about field hockey. 
   
   "To win an Olympic medal is special. To win an Olympic medal with your wife standing next to you ... we will cherish this for the rest of our lives," Kate Richardson-Walsh said. 
   
   ___ 
   
   BEST BACK-AND-FORTH 
   
   When the U.S. women's soccer team was ousted by Sweden (and former U.S. coach Pia Sundhage), American goalkeeper Hope Solo raised eyebrows with her assessment of the match. 
   
   But her former coach had the perfect rebuttal. 
   
   "We lost to a bunch of cowards," Solo said. 
   
   "It's OK to be cowards if you win," Sundhage countered. 
   
   ___ 
   
   BIGGEST OFF-FIELD STAR 
   
   A tough category, especially after Leslie Jones of "Saturday Night Live" parlayed hilarious Twitter commentary into an invite to Rio. Matthew McConaughey hung out with everyone from the U.S. women's rugby team to Phelps, and Gisele Bundchen's catwalk in the opening ceremony was one not to forget. 
   
   But the pick here is Zac Efron, who flew to Rio just to surprise the U.S. women's gymnastics team — particularly Biles, who doesn't hide her enormous crush on the actor. 
   
   He also saw Bolt and the U.S. men's basketball team, but let's face it, no one is going to ignore invites to hang with Biles and the U.S. gymnasts right now. 
   
   ___ 
   
   BEST SPIN 
   
   No one might have been better at their job during the Olympics than Mario Andrada, the spokesman for the Rio Games organizing committee. 
   
   When something went wrong it was his job to explain it — and do so with the world watching and listening. He and International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams held daily hourlong briefings with reporters, and Andrada offered up some quote gems. So we'll go ahead and award his head-scratching statements their own set of medals. 
   
   The bronze: "Numbers mislead," he said, as part of an answer about ticket sales and poor crowds. 
   
   The silver: "Let's give these kids a break," he said of Lochte and his U.S. swimming teammates, after their incident. 
   
   The gold: "Chemistry is not an exact science," he said, talking about why the water at a diving pool went from blue to green. 
   
   ___ 
   
   BEST BRAZILIAN MOMENT ... 
   
   Stand up and cheer, City of God. 
   
   One of your own is now an Olympic champion. 
   
   Slums, or favelas, are everywhere in Rio — none more infamous than the City of God, which rose to fame through the 2002 movie of the same name that depicted life in the slum. Rafaela Silva grew up there, and she won gold in judo at these Rio Games. 
   
   Now that's a made-for-Hollywood story. 
   
   ___ 
   
   ... THAT IS, UNTIL THIS HAPPENED 
   
   How's this for a storybook ending for Brazil? 
   
   Soccer gold — and in most dramatic style, too. 
   
   Brazil vs. Germany, men's soccer, gold-medal matchup. Neymar gives the hosts a 1-0 lead, but the Germans tie it and ultimately it goes to penalty kicks to decide the Olympic champion. 
   
   Germany makes its first four. 
   
   So does Brazil. 
   
   Then Germany is stopped on its fifth, and the stage is set for Neymar — who else? — to set off a national celebration. His shot sails into the back of the net, Brazil wins and the roar could be heard all over Rio as Neymar collapsed on the field in a quivering mass of joyous tears. 
   
   Forget all the problems these games had. Forget how many Brazilians opposed them in the first place. 
   
   They got their perfect finish to an imperfect Olympics. ||||| In a rather delightful turn of events, the American Olympic gymnast, Simone Biles, has recently become a sensation and almost-household name thanks to her jaw-dropping power, laser precision and pure dynamism. She’s certainly the best gymnast I’ve seen in my lifetime and is bound to be a history-maker and record-breaker. 
   
   It’s truly wonderful to see people coming together in awe of an athlete for whom no performance enhancing drug would add to her medal tally. Technique that money can’t buy and humility to match, what could be better? Any chef de mission will tell you that her results are the envy of Olympians worldwide. 
   
   Gymnastics is a regular Olympic Games favourite, the gravity-defying tumbles are enough to keep anyone entertained. Sadly, for the first time in a number of years, Australia failed to field an Olympic women’s gymnastics team in Rio. Our sole competitor, Larissa Miller, did her country proud with solid performances on floor and uneven bars but was denied a spot in the finals. 
   
   Simone Biles the bandleader of a US quintet that might never be bettered | Bryan Armen Graham Read more 
   
   Lauren Mitchell, an Olympian and Australia’s first-ever female gymnastics world champion, was devastated to miss out on an Olympic berth due to a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Mitchell achieved an historic result for Australia in 2010, something to be truly proud of, but it would be misinformed to say that it was meaningful in terms of an upward trajectory for the Australian gymnastics team. Comparatively, American women’s gymnasts have won the past four Olympic all-around titles, with an American in silver at two of those Games. 
   
   Australia has long been a nation that has punched above its weight in the Olympic medal tally. Swimming, rowing, hockey, sailing, cycling, and most recently, women’s sevens rugby, we’ve managed to enjoy a reasonably consistent level of achievement over the past decades. So, you might find yourself asking – why are we not achieving better results in gymnastics? 
   
   Almost anyone that has turned on the telly in Australia during an Olympic Games will tell you that the coverage leaves a lot to be desired. You’re bound to see an awful lot of swimming; swimming heats, swimming semi-finals, swimming medal ceremonies. Heats, repeats, bronze medals. Over and over. Unless there’s a gold medal within very close proximity in any other sport, you can be assured that it will only be covered in dribs and drabs; the main focus always on the pool. 
   
   A lack of meaningful television coverage for minor Olympic sports may seem like a petty complaint, but like all actions, it has a consequence. A successful sporting code relies on one thing: competition. And what drives competition is high participation numbers. If a sport has meagre participation in a country, it’s almost guaranteed to deliver mediocre performances because the competition is not tough enough to drive the nation forward. 
   
   In the USA, gymnastics competitions are televised, the top competitors have sponsorship deals, and people know who they are. These are all clearly benefits of a slew of great results, but they also have the side-effect of getting more kids into more gyms. 4.6 million Americans participated in gymnastics in 2014 – 1.4% of the population. Having higher levels of participation provides more coaching opportunities for retired elite gymnasts, which then keeps the knowledge, expertise and heritage of a top gymnast inside the sport, instead of having retired gymnasts having to get jobs outside of gymnastics. It’s a cyclical effect; we need to build the same culture of being a “gymnast for life” in Australia that exists in the USA, China and Russia. 
   
   Once we make a commitment to our gymnasts, we’ll find that top-notch international coaches will be attracted to our sunny climates, driving the sport forward even further. When Peggy Liddick, the American coach to the multi-Olympic gold medalist, Shannon Miller, moved to Australia to head up our gymnastics team in 1996, we saw phenomenal results and improvement in our team. Liddick was the coach who helped Australia snag its first-ever world championship medals and has transformed gymnastics in Australia, but increased visibility and competition will only make it better. 
   
   Admittedly, gymnastics is hardly as inclusive as say, swimming or athletics, but if Australia’s proud history of incredible sporting achievements is anything to go by, there’s no real reason why we can’t claim this sport amongst them. After yet another disappointing Olympics for Australia, it’s time that the Australian media diversifies its sporting interests and ends the obsession with showing every single swimming event. And heat, and repeat, and bronze medal.
target: – The 2016 Olympics came to an end when Rio officially handed things over to 2020 host Tokyo Sunday night in a jubilant closing ceremony that featured, among other things, Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe rising from a pipe dressed as Super Mario. A look back at some of the best moments from Rio: Usain Bolt's triple-triple. "I am the greatest," the Jamaican runner declared after winning gold in a third race at a third consecutive Olympics. Few would quibble with that statement. Michael Phelps' swim into history. He took another six golds in Rio, giving the "once in 10 generations" swimmer a staggering 23 golds over his career—14 more than any other athlete has ever scored. Team Refugee. For the first time, the Olympics featured a team made up of refugees from the world's conflict zones. "You have inspired us with your talent and human spirit," IOC President Thomas Bach said in his closing address. Simone Biles' amazing performance. She won a record-tying fourth gold in one of the greatest Olympics a gymnast ever had, displaying what Penelope Blackmore at the Guardian calls "jaw-dropping power, laser precision, and pure dynamism." Almaz Ayana's record-breaking run. Some 27 world records were broken in Rio. The first to fall inside the Olympic Stadium was the women's 10,000-meter record, which the Ethiopian runner beat by more than 14 seconds. Liina, Lily, and Leila Luik. The Estonian women set a different kind of Olympic record by becoming the first triplets ever to compete in the marathon. Helping hands. America's Abbey D'Agostino and New Zealand's Nikki Hamblin showed true Olympic spirit—and won Fair Play Awards—by helping each other after a tumble in the women's 5,000 meters. The Brits who are being called the best couple. Kate and Helen Richardson-Walsh not only became the first same-sex married couple to compete in the Olympics, they won the field hockey gold. Changing of the guard. Phelps had an Olympic swimming career that might never be matched unless dolphins start competing—though he was beaten in the 100-meter butterfly by 21-year-old Singaporean Joseph Schooling, who grew up idolizing Phelps. Soccer gold. Brazilians breathe soccer, and they got what the AP calls a "perfect finish to an imperfect Olympics" when their team beat Germany to take the gold.