Rio Paralympics Closing Ceremony

A superbly devised opening to the closing ceremony saw a quirky 'Siri-esque' conversation on the big screens before a guitar spectacular accompanied by acrobats and performers including Jonathan Bastos who plays the guitar with his feet and featured in the illusive 'Yes I Can' promo for Channel 4.

Next up was the introduction of IPC President Sir Phillip Craven to the crowd before the Brazilian flag entered the Maracana floor followed by the singing of the Brazilian national anthem as the flag was raised alongside the Paralympic flag. The parade of the flags followed with the GB flag being carried by double gold medallist Kadeena Cox, the first to win a medal for GB in two sports in a single games since 1988.

A wonderful parade it was too with colour filling the arena floor with the flag bearers accompanied by the 'cloud' attired volunteers and the biggest roar of the parade came with the entry of the Brazilian flag. Fireworks light up the night sky before an audio-visual celebration of diversity featuring the flora and fauna of Brazil, a pleasure to see and hear.

Next up,the crowd were treated to a number of local singers, far better than some of those seen on the XFactor over here that's for sure including a great performance from Vanessa Da Mata. Ibrahim Al Hussein and Tatyana McFadden were presented with the prestigious Whang Youn Dai award.

Following that,  the five athletes elected to the IPC Athletes Council  -  Monica Bascio, Kurt Fearnley Chelsey Gotell, Elvira Stinissen and Dame Sarah Storey were introduced on stage followed by a lovely presentation to the representatives of the games volunteers.

A great performance of 'One Love' was followed by a montage of some of the best moments of the games and the Paralympic Anthem which was played superbly as the Paralympic flag was lowered leading into the handover ceremony. This saw the Paralympic flag passed from the Brazilian representative to IPC President Sir Phillip Craven and onto the Governor of Tokyo which was followed by the Japanese national anthem and flag raising.

The screens displayed a thank you to Rio from Japan and outlining their history in the games from first medallists to their mantra for 2020 -'Positive Switch'. This was followed by a vision of Tokyo in the form of imagination through colourful dancing and music led by Akira Hiyama and culminating with the invitation - 'See You In Tokyo'.

A montage featuring the Rio 2016 team from officials to competitors to volunteers with emotions both positive and reflective. The speech from  Rio 2016 Organising Committee President, Carlos Arthur Nuzman opened with a touching tribute to the Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad who passed away yesterday.

He went on to praise Brazil and acclaimed - ' Mission Accomplished' and added ' The impossible happened. Brazilians never give up'. Thanking the volunteers for their dedication, competence and enthusiasm. Ending by saying ' Congratulations Rio, Congratulations Brazil and Good Luck Tokyo'.

IPC President Sir Phillip Craven also opened his speech with a tribute to Bahman Golbarnezhad with a moment of silence and praising 'The Cariocas' for the enthusiasm and stunning city with his souvenir being the 'Fantastic Cariocas'. He announced that the Paralympic Order award would be given to the people of Rio and Brazil itself. Going on to thank all those involved in the games before reminiscing on 'The Letter of the Future' from the Beijing 2008 closing ceremony before officially closing the games.

The speeches now completed, it was time to as the announcer put it - 'Rock the Maracana' and the slight rainfall certainly didn't dampen the mood as the party started. A superb collection of songs to get the crowd pumped and dancing including a brilliant performance from Hull's very own Calum Scott who featured on Britain's Got Talent in 2015. The ceremony ended with the extinguishing of the Paralympic Flame and spectacular performance from Ivete Sangalo with a fabulous firework display lighting up the Rio skyline.

An absolutely awesome month or so covering both the Rio Olympics and Paralympics topped off with a mention from the double Paralympic champion Kadeena Cox on Twitter after choosing her as my highlight of the Paralympic games. It's goodbye for now on this blog portal until February 2018 for the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang!

Rio Paralympics Days 10/11

Day ten saw the final full day of competition and like many across the games, it was an historic one as ParalympicsGB achieved their best medal haul since Seoul 1988 with a total of 147 thereby also passing the total of 131 from Sydney 2000. However, the death of Iranian cyclist Bahman Golbarnezhad overshadowed the action on Saturday after the 48-year-old suffered fatal injuries during a crash in the men's C4-5 road race.

GB's success began with Dame Sarah Storey extending her lead as the most decorated female Paralympian with her third gold of the games in the Women's C4-5 road race with fellow Brit Crystal Lane collecting the bronze. 

Steve Bate and Adam Duggleby took bronze in the men's B road race (for the visually impaired) while in the Archery, a stunning GB 1-2-3 in the W1 individual archery as Jess Stretton defeated Jo Frith in the final and Vicky Jenkins took bronze. Gold in the Mixed Team Archery as Jo Frith and John Walker took the title over South Korea. 

Over in the pool, Bethany Firth stormed to the SM14 200m individual medley with Jessica-Jane Applegate taking the silver while Ollie Hynd set a new world record as he took the SM8 200m medley. Hannah Russell took gold in the women's S12 50m freestyle final with Stephanie Millward taking silver in the women's 200m individual medley, Tom Hamer powered to silver in the men's version.

Ellie Robinson won bronze in the S6 100m freestyle, Andrew Mullen collected the S5 50m backstroke silver and 200m freestyle bronze. The biggest surprise in the pool came from the youngest swimmer for GB as Abby Kane at just 13 claimed a superb silver in the women's S13 100m backstroke.


Great Britain's wheelchair basketball team won bronze by beating Turkey 82-76 in a thrilling finish while on the track, Maria Lyle collected bronze in the T35 200m while in Sailing, Alexandra Rickham and Niki Birrell won bronze in the two-person keelboat and Helena Lucas repeated the feat in the one-person keelboat 2.4mR.

Day 11 saw the eventing come to an end and for the first day of the entire games, no medals for GB but with an overall haul of 64 golds - the most since 1988 and 147 medals also bettering 1988, GB have well and truly smashed it in Rio!

After Lee Pearson led the ParalympicsGB team out in the opening ceremony the history making Kadeena Cox will carry the flag out at tonight's closing ceremony. 

Finishing second in the medal table behind China, they set 49 Paralympic and 27 world records. Both the oldest (Anne Dunham) and youngest (Abby Kane) competitors on the team claimed medals, and 11 sports won gold medals with a record-equalling 15 securing at least one medal.

A truly great Paralympic games to write about but it's not over yet, one more review to come of what will hopefully be a superb closing ceremony and the 'closing' updates wise of this blog until the Winter Olympics/Paralympics in 2018.....

Rio Paralympics Day Nine

Day nine saw ParalympicsGB record more historic success as the target of 121 medals (one better than London 2012) was not only reached but surpassed with two days left of the games.

Nine golds across the day began with the 50th of the games for GB as Paul Blake took gold in the T36 400m while there was success in Boccia for David Smith and Archery for John Walker. GB's Queen of the track Hannah Cockroft stormed to her third title of the games with the T34 800m with fellow Brit Kare Adenegan collecting bronze behind her.

Gordon Reid overcame fellow Brit Alfie Hewett in Wheelchair Tennis while a superb haul came in the Equestrian as Sophie Christiansen secured her third gold of the games alongside titles for Lee Pearson and Natasha Baker. Also in the Dressage, Sophie Wells and Anne Dunham claimed silvers while on the road, David Stone took silver in the T1-2 Road Cycling.

In the pool, silver for Andrew Mullen in the S5 50m backstroke and bronze for Hannah Russell in the S13 100M Freestyle before a stunning final event of the day saw the GB quartet of Alice Tai, Stephanie Slater, Claire Cashmore and Stephanie Millward set a new world record as they stormed to the 4x100m medley 34 points title.

Will Bayley, Aaron McKibbin and Ross Wilson won class 6-8 bronze in the team event while Dan Greaves collected bronze in the F44 Discus. However, it was not all joy for GB as the Women's Wheelchair Basketball missed out on bronze as they were thrashed 76-34 by Netherlands.

Rio Paralympics Day Eight

Day eight was a mixed one for ParalympicsGB with a superb start on the water followed by some tough events across the day with the evening seeing the target of 50 gold medals firmly in sight.

A superb session in the Para-canoeing saw three golds and two bronzes in the Lagoa sunshine and started with Jeanette Chippington becoming the first ever champion with a win in the KL1 Class. Emma Wiggs claimed the KL2 title before Anna Dickins secured the 100th medal of the games for GB with the KL3 crown. The bronzes came for Nick Beighton in the KL2 final and Ian Marsden  in the KL1 final.

Equestrian success saw Sophie Christiansen and Natasha Baker defending their titles with Anne Durham claiming silver behind Christiansen in the 1A Championship. The team are assured gold in the overall standings which will be confirmed on day nine. A silver in wheelchair tennis after Gordon Reid and Alfie Hewett lost out to the French duo Stephane Houdet and Nicolas Peifer 6-2 4-6 6-1.

The GB quartet of Kadeena Cox, Georgie Hermitage, Sophie Hahn and Maria Lyle collected silver in the T35-38 4x100m while also on the track, Richard Whitehead took joint silver in the T42 200m. Over in the pool, no golds on day eight for GB but a bronze for Charlotte Henshaw in the SB6 100m breaststroke.

GB's wheelchair basketball saw the women lose out 89-78 to the United States and will face Germany or the Netherlands for the bronze medal while in wheelchair rugby, a tense overtime period saw GB lose 50-49 to Canada.

Elsewhere, United States wheelchair athlete Tatyana McFadden won her fifth career Paralympic gold when she claimed the 1500m title while New Zealand sprinter Liam Malone stormed to the T44 400m in a world record time to claim his second gold of the games. 

Rio Paralympics Day Seven

Day Seven proved to be yet another glorious day for ParalympicsGB with nine golds which resulted in 43 overall. After levelling London's haul the previous day, it was apt that the title that surpassed the 34 was claimed by Dame Sarah Storey as she eased to win the C5 cycling time trial. Further time trial golds came in the hand cycling H-13 for Karen Darke and Men's B tandem for Steve Bate and pilot Adam Duggleby.

A stunning evening session saw a procession of golds as part of an hour which saw 10 medals claimed Hannah Cockroft stormed to gold in the T34 400m with fellow Brit Kare Adenegan collecting bronze. Kadeena Cox added to her gold in cycling with a wonderful world record in the T38 400m while in equestrian, Sophie Wells took gold in the Grade IV dressage individual championship.

Another great evening in the pool began with Claire Cashmore taking silver in the SB8 100m breaststroke followed by a GB 1-2 in the S7 400m freestyle for Michael Jones and Jonathan Fox.
Susannah Rodgers took bronze in the Women's S7 400m freestyle before another GB 1-2 as Aaron Moores pipping team-mate Scott Quin to win the SB14 100m breaststroke. Bethany Firth took silver in the Women's SB14 100m breaststroke with the final medal in the run seeing Hannah Russell smash her own world record in the Women's S12 100m backstroke.

Andy Lapthorne took silver in the wheelchair tennis quad single as he lost 6-3 6-4 to Dylan Alcott of Australia while Lee Pearson also took silver in the Grade IV dressage individual championship. Lora Turnham and pilot Corrine Hall took bronze in the Women's B tandem time trial with a superb bronze for Maria Lyle in the T35 100m before David Stone claimed bronze in the Tricycle T1-2 time trial.


In their quarter-final match, the GB men's wheelchair basketball team delivered one of their greatest ever performances at a Paralympics to beat world champions Australia 74-51 while David Weir eased into the T54 800m final and wins for Alfie Hewett and Gordon Reid set up an all-GB final in the tennis singles which will come after they combine in Thursday's doubles final.

Elsewhere, Italian former Formula 1 driver Alex Zanardi continued his dominance of Paralympic hand-cycling as he took the H5 road time trial title, Iran's Siamand Rahman set three new world records in 30 minutes in the men's +107kg powerflifting, winning gold with a lift of 310kg.

Rio Paralympics Day Six

Day six saw ParalympicsGB equal their haul of gold medals from London 2012 with three in the space of 20 minutes late in the evening. Libby Clegg with guide Chris Clarke stormed to the T11 200m title after the home favourite and defending champion Guilhermina Terezinha was disqualified for a false start while also on the track, Georgie Hermitage set a new world record on her way to the T37 400m.

Hollie Arnold set back-to-back world records as she won the F46 Javelin with a throw of 43.01 while Rob Davies claimed the Class 1 table tennis title. Piers Gilliver took silver in the men's individual epee wheelchair fencing while Stephen Miller claimed bronze in the F32 club throw.

Over in the pool, Stephanie Millward eased to gold in the S8 100m backstroke, four seconds clear of Australia's Maddison Elliott - in a new Paralympic record time of 1:13.02. Matt Wylie took gold in the S9 50m freestyle and Ollie Hynd secured silver in the S8 100m.

Ellie Simmonds and David Weir both relinquished titles with Simmonds taking bronze in the S6 400m freestyle with Weir finishing fourth in the T54 1500m. Success in wheelchair tennis as Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker took bronze in the women's wheelchair tennis doubles.

Elsewhere, in an all-Polish fencing final, Adrian Castro won bronze in the men's individual sabre event category B at the expense of his future father-in-law, Grzegorz Pluta. America's Tatyana McFadden claimed her second gold medal of the Rio Games and her fifth overall at the Paralympics by winning the women's 1500m T53/54 final.

China's Shang Guangxu,  smashed his own world record twice as he took gold with 6.77m in a superb men's long jump T37 final and his compatriot Hu Jianwen also set a world record of 10.74 to win the men's 100m T38 final.

Rio Paralympics Day Five

Day five saw the great success for ParalympicsGB continue with a total of five golds. A superb evening in the pool saw Sascha Kindred and Ellie Simmonds storm to their seventh and fifth Paralympic golds with world records in the Men's and Women's SM6 200m while Susie Rodgers set a PB as she won the S7 50m butterfly. 

Earlier on, Will Bayley and Aled Davies took gold in the Class 7 table tennis and F42 shot put while in the Archery, John Stubbs and Jodie Grinham won silver, before Jonathan Broom-Edwards finished second in the T44 high jump.

The progress towards other medals saw Libby Clegg ease into the final of the T11 200m with her guide Chris Clarke and a strong opening in the equestrian as Sophie Christiansen scored 77.522% - the highest of the competition so far.

Success in wheelchair tennis saw Gordon Reid cruise into the last eight with a 6-0 6-2 over France's Frederic Cattaneo.He was joined by Alfie Hewitt in the next round before the duo claimed a comfortable 6-2 6-0 win over Spanish duo Daniel Caverzaschi and Martin de la Puent in the men's doubles.

Elsewhere, Brazil's Daniel Dias won his 20th Paralympic gold medal  in the men's S5 50m freestyle, American Rebecca Meyers dominated the field in the women's S13 400m freestyle to secure her third Rio gold and New Zealand's Sophie Pascoe picked up her third gold medal, this time claiming victory in the SM4 150m medley.

Rio Paralympics Day Four

Day Four saw a new record for Paralympics GB as they claimed 21 medals, their best single day haul in history. Richard Whitehead retained his title in the T42 200m with fellow Brit Dave Henson collecting the bronze. Bethany Firth eased to gold in the S14 200m freestyle as Jessica-Jane Applegate took silver. Gold for Jo Butterfield in the F51 club throw.

Over in the pool, Rebecca Redfern also set a new European record in the SB13 100m breaststroke as she claimed silver, Thomas Hamer also took silver in the S14 200m freestyle while Amy Marren, Josef Craig and Stephanie Millward collected bronze in the water.

On the water,Rachel Morris claimed gold in the arms-shoulders single sculls, before Lauren Rowles and Laurence Whiteley won the trunk-and-arms mixed double sculls followed by gold for the mixed coxed four and bronze for Tom Aggar in the men's arms-shoulders single sculls.

In Cycling, Lora Turnham won the B 3km individual pursuit ahead of a new world record for the Men's C-15 team as they took the gold with Neil Fachie collecting silver in the B 1km time trial silver and Sophie Thornhill and pilot Helen Scott sealing bronze in the B 3km pursuit. Success also came for Triathlon duo Lauren Steadman and Alison Patrick as they took silver in the PT4 and PT5 with Melissa Reid also taking PT5 bronze.

David Weir stormed to victory in the heats of the T54 400m to complete a superb day after the birth of his son earlier on. Lee Pearson started well in the Dressage as led the event with a score of 75.280%. Success in wheelchair tennis for Jordanne Whiley and Lucy Shuker as they beat Chile's Macarena Cabrillana and Francisca Mardones 6-0 6-0 in the women's doubles quarter-finals while the men's pair of Alfie Hewitt and Gordon Reid also went through to the second round of the men's doubles.

Elsewhere,Tatyana McFadden took gold in the T54 400m, two days after claiming silver in the T54 100m while compatriot David Brown followed her success in the T11 100m, as he set a Paralympic record of 10.99 seconds to win gold.

Rio Paralympics Day Three

Day Three saw another huge medal haul for ParalympicsGB with eight in total across the day. Kadeena Cox stormed to gold in the C4-5 Time Trial as she became the first Brit since 1988 to secure a medal in two different sports toppling Isabel Barr's milestone which saw her medal in Shooting and Athletics at Seoul.

Hannah Cockroft retained her T34 100m title with  15-year-old team-mate Kare Adenegan taking silver. The first gold of the day went to Andy Lewis with victory in the PT2 Para-triathlon. Bronzes for Sabrina Fortune in the F20 shot put and Alice Tai in the S10 100m backstroke. Toby Gold took silver and compatriot Andy Small bronze in the T33 100m.

Paralympic veteran Sascha Kindred was sixth in the S5 50m freestyle before Andrew Mullen finished fourth in the S5 50m butterfly.

Elsewhere, Slovakia's Darko Duric entertained the crowd in the aquatics centre after he forgot to take the headphones off the top of his cap before his 50m butterfly S5 race and also in the pool, Ukrainian Maksym Krypak broke the world record in the S10 100m backstroke with a time of 57.24 seconds.

Rio Paralympics Day Two

After a superb opening day for ParalympicsGB, they continued their medal haul into Day Two with great success as they claimed seven gold medals. Jonnie Peacock retained his title in the T44 100 with a superb performance while the trio of Georgie Hermitage, Sophie Hahn and Libby Clegg stormed to wins in the T37,T38 and T11 100m with Georgie and Libby setting new world records.

Dominance in the velodrome continued as Sophie Thornhill, with pilot Helen Scott set a new record in taking the Women's B 1,000m time trial as did Jody Cundy in the C4-5 1km. In the pool, 15-year-old Ellie Robinson set a Paralympic record in the Women's 50m butterfly to take gold while Steph Slater won silver in the Women's 100m butterfly S8.

There were also Games records for Thornhill and Scott - in the Women's B 1,000m time trial - and Cundy, who won the C4-5 1km. Stef Reid and Ali Jawad won silvers in the long jump and powerlifting respectively, while club thrower Gemma Prescott, powerlifter Zoe Newson, and swimmers Susannah Rodgers and Lewis White secured bronzes.

Hannah Cockroft reached the T34 100m final without even racing after the heats were scrapped with fellow Brits Kare Adenegan and Carly Tait joining her while in rowing, GB's TA mixed double sculls and LTA mixed coxed four both won their heats to reach their finals on Sunday.

Lauren Rowles and Laurence Whiteley finished first in the double sculls in a new world best of three minutes 52.16 seconds at Lagao with the mixed coxed four - Daniel Brown, Grace Clough, Pamela Relph, James Fox and cox Oliver James - clocked three minutes 25.08 seconds.

Rachel Morris, a gold medallist in cycling at the 2008 Paralympics, is through to the final of the AS single sculls and in wheelchair basketball, GB's men claimed back-to-back wins with a 82-62 win over Iran while the women romped past Argentina 79-20.

Elsewhere, Irish sprinter Jason Smyth won a third straight gold medal in the T13 100m, Canada wheelchair racer Brent Lakatos, took gold in the Men's 100m T53.  China continued to dominate the medals table as they took gold, silver and bronze in the Men's 50m butterfly S8 and American Tatyana McFadden, who is competing in seven events in Rio, started her campaign with silver in the 100m T54.

Rio Paralympics Day One

After the amazing opening ceremony, the action began in Rio with ParalympicsGB securing their first gold of the games in the velodrome as Megan Giglia stormed to take the C1-3 Individual Pursuit. The success continued with Dame Sarah Storey taking gold in the Women's C5 3,000m individual pursuit to become the most successful female GB Paralympian with 12 gold medals. Crystal Lane took silver in the event.

Steve Bate and pilot Adam Duggleby won gold in the Men's B 4,000m individual pursuit final before a great evening in the pool saw Bethany Firth set a new world record as she won the Women's S14 100m backstroke with Jessica-Jane Applegate taking bronze.

A superb swim from Oliver Hynd saw him take gold in the Men's S8 400m freestyle, Johnathan Fox narrowly missed out on retaining his title in the Men's S7 100m backstroke as he took silver and Harriet Lee also took silver in the Women's SB9 100m breaststroke. A superb opening day haul of 11 medals also saw bronzes for Stephanie Millward in the Women's S8 400m freestyle and Andrew Mullen  in the Men's S5 200m freestyle final.


On the track, Jonnie Peacock stormed to a Paralympic record in the T44 100m as he began the defence of his title while Georgina Hermitage equalled her own world record as she blitzed her T37 100m heat. 19-year old Sophie Hahn dazzled in the T38 100m as she smashed the Paralympic record with fellow Brit Kareena Cox also advancing.

GB's men started their campaign in Wheelchair Basketball superbly with a 93-31 win over Algeria while the women lost out 43-36 to world champions Canada.

Rio Paralympics Opening Ceremony

After a superb Olympic Games, the wait for the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games was finally over and what a superb way to open the games it was on a rainy Rio evening.

The ceremony began with the introduction of IPC president Sir Philip Craven travelling from Stoke Mandeville to Rio via a clever video feature. A rapturous countdown came to an end with a stunning ramp trick from Aaron Wheelz who back-flipped to the awe of the packed Maracana.

A tribute to the wheel with a samba circle opened the floor section of the ceremony before the tech-screened floor of the stadium transformed firstly into a pool and then a colourful and busy beach scene which awash with colour was a great spectacle. The Brazilian flag was carried into the Maracana and raised by a trio of firefighters while pianist Joao Carlos Martins played the national anthem.

Next up was the Athletes parade which featured a huge 159 countries and lasted well over an hour but with an added twist amongst the clever colours and dynamic designs of the outfits and accessories. The placards displaying the names of each country were puzzle pieces which were assembled in the centre of the floor as the parade went on. The pieces displayed the faces of each of the 4000+ Paralympians but what would  they combine to form?


The final piece was put in place with the floor lighting up to form a heart which pumped in time with the music and was joined by a huge array of fireworks to perfectly sum up the message of the games - 'The heart has no limits'











After the parade came the serious stuff as the president of the Rio Organizing Committee spoke but was subjected to a raucous chorus of boos when he thanked the Brazilian Government which currently is in a mire with an acting president in Michel Temer. After Phillip Craven's speech,he must have set a new record for declaring a games open as he simply did just that as the boos resumed.

The ceremony did end superbly though with dancing and music with the highlight being Amy Purdy's routine in which the American Snowboarder was accompanied by Kuka the Robot in a performance not to be missed.

Also not to be missed was the final procession of the Paralympic flame which saw a minor blip with a carrier falling in the heavy rain but with continuing amazingly before the final leg saw the flame stopped at a flight of stairs. The wheelchair based athlete came to a stop thinking he had hit a limit but the stairs transformed into a wheelchair ramp, enabling him to reach the Paralympic cauldron.

A great way to start what should be an amazing and exciting 11 days of competition and hopefully Paralympics GB can reach the target of 121 medals (one better than London 2012) and go even further!

Rio 2016 Final Day/Closing Ceremony

The final day saw GB's last realistic chance of a gold medal end with silver as Joe Joyce lost out to Tony Yoka (FRA) in the Men's Super Heavyweight Boxing. The result means that GB end the games on 67 medals and in a superb second place as they finished clear of China, a feat made better given the respective populations - GB-64m and China -1.38bn.

A superb closing ceremony at the Maracana started with an array of colour and dancing with fireworks lighting up the Rio skyline. The parade of athletes saw the flag-bearers lead them out with GB represented by Kate Richardson-Walsh, captain of the gold medal winning women's Hockey team.

Across the parade, the GB team was easily to pick out with their specialised red, white and blue flashing footwear. The next part of the ceremony saw a great routine of music and dance ahead of the final medal ceremony of the games - the Men's Marathon with Galen Rupp (USA) collecting bronze, Feyisa Lilesa (ETH) collecting silver and Eluid Kipchoge (KEN) collecting the gold medal.

Next up, the official portion of the ceremony including the handover to Japan for the Tokyo 2020 games which began with a superb feature which saw the Prime Minister of Japan appearing from a Super Mario type pipe with the famous hat of the gaming character.  A Brazilian carnival graced the centre of the stadium after the officials speeches. The finale was a massive firework display coupled with the extinguishing of the Olympic Flame as the Rio games came to a close.

The blog takes a short break ahead of a return on 7th Sept for coverage of the Paralympics. 

Final Medal Table

 

Rio 2016 Day Fifteen

Day Fifteen saw it become official that Rio 2016 is the most successful games for GB since 1908 and the best overseas medal haul of all time with 66 medals so far.. Mo Farah completed the 'double double' as he retained his Men's 5000m title while Nicola Adams also retained her Women's Flyweight title from London 2012 and Liam Heath took gold in the Men's Kayak Single 200m. 

Mahama Cho narrowly missed out on a medal in the +80kg Taekwondo as he finished fourth while Charley Hull finished just outside the medals in the Women's Golf.

Silver medals came for Vicky Holland in the Women's Triathlon and Bianca Walkden in the Women's +67kg Taekwondo. The final GB medal of the day came in Athletics as the Women's 4x400m quartet of Eilidh Doyle, Anyika Onuora, Emily Diamond and Christine Ohuruogu took bronze to seal a first medal in the event for GB since 1992.

Elsewhere, Caster Semenya (RSA) took gold in the Women's 800m while Neymar struck the crucial penalty in the final of the Men's Football as Brazil took gold ahead of Germany. Allyson Felix clinched a record sixth career Olympic gold as the United States won the 4x400m relay for a sixth straight Games.

Rio 2016 Day Fourteen

Day 14 saw GB reach the 60 medal mark as the superb haul continued with a stunning gold for 58-year-old Nick Skelton in Showjumping, the first for GB in 108 years.The Women's Hockey team stunned defending Olympic champions Netherlands to take gold with a tense 3-3 score at the end of normal time followed by a superb 2-0 penalty shoot-out win.

Lutalo Muhammad suffered a last-gasp heartbreak as he claimed silver in the Taekwondo -80kg, he led 6-4 with a second to go and was hit in the head by Cheick Sallah Cisse (CIV) who took the gold with an 8-6 win. A bronze on the track for GB came in the Women's 4x100m Relay. 

Tom Daley qualified for the semi finals of the Men's 10m Platform Diving in first place with Liam Heath qualifying for the final of the Men's Kayak Single 200m while the Women's Kayak Four 500m team also reached the final.

Elsewhere, Usain Bolt completed an historic Olympic 'triple triple' as he added to his 100m, 200m titles with the 4x100m Relay with Jamaica to make it nine finals and nine wins in his Olympic career. In the Women's Golf, GB's Charley Hull sits fifth with China's Lin Xiyu and New Zealand's Lydia Ko both hitting holes-in-one in the third round. 

Rio 2016 Day Thirteen

After a 'day off' for the GB medal haul, day thirteen saw a superb resuming as the Brownlee brothers - Alistair and Jonny took gold and silver in the Men's Triathlon while Jade Jones retained her title to become a double Olympic champion at the age of 23 with the gold in the -57kg Taekwondo. More success came on the water as Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark triumphed in the Women's 470 Sailing. 

A silver for Liam Heath and Jon Schofield in the Men's 200m Kayak Double and a bronze for the duo of Marcus Ellis and Chris Langridge in the Men's Badminton Doubles took GB to just nine medals short of the awesome 65 from London 2012.  Further medals are guaranteed with Nicola Adams assured at least silver in the Boxing  as she aims to become the first British boxer to retain an Olympic title for 92 years.

Elsewhere, Usain Bolt (JAM) completed his third Olympic sprint double by winning the Men's 200m while Ashton Eaton (USA) emulated Daley Thompson by winning back-to-back golds in the Decathlon.

 

Rio 2016 Day Twelve

Alike London 2012, day twelve saw no medals for GB but progress made towards future success with the highlight being the Women's Hockey as GB reached their first ever final with a comfortable 3-0 win over New Zealand. A superb brace from Alex Danson and Helen Richardson-Walsh's penalty secured the victory meaning GB will improve on their bronze in the event four years ago.

Another medal which is secured is in the Women's 470 Sailing with the duo of Hannah Mills and Saskia Clark having to wait an extra day to claim gold after the event was postponed due to a lack of wind at the Marina. Mo Farah continued his bid for a fourth Olympic gold as he survived a stumble in his 5000m heat to qualify third.

Elsewhere, Louise Thompson (JAM) added to her 100m title with the gold in 200m with GB's Dina Asher-Smith finishing fifth while the GB duo of Cindy Ofili and Tiffany Porter missed out on 100m hurdles medals as Brianna Rollins headed a US clean sweep. Brazil reached the Men's Football final with a 6-0 win over Honduras which saw a record breaking opening goal from Neymar inside 15 seconds.

Rio 2016 Day Eleven

So far the Rio Olympics has been an historic one for Team GB but day eleven went even better with the goal of 48 medals not only surpassed but now sitting at 50 making Rio the best all-time overseas games for GB. Golden couple Laura Trott and Jason Kenny took their combined total to ten golds overall with wins in the Women's Omnium and Men's Keirin. Also in Cycling, Becky James added to her gold earlier in the games with a silver in the Women's Sprint.


GB success in the water continued with Giles Scott taking gold in the Men's Finn while Jack Laugher claimed a silver in the Men's 3m Springboard Diving. The day saw nine medals overall with a superb bronze for 16 year old Amy Tinkler in the Women's Floor coupled with bronzes for Katy Marchant in the Women's Track Cycling, Nile Wilson in the Men's High Bar and Joshua Buatsi in the Men's Light-Heavyweight Boxing.

The success in the Cycling saw GB top the sport's medal table with 12 with every member of the GB team securing at least one medal and the total of 50 in the overall medal table keeps GB second only to USA with five days still to go.

Away from the medals, Robbie Grabarz finished an agonising fourth in the Men's High Jump while Eilidh Doyle reached the final of the 400m Hurdles and Dina Asher-Smith secured a spot in the 200m final.

Rio 2016 Day Ten

Day ten saw the GB medal haul slow down a bit but still continue as Mark Cavendish ended his long wait for an Olympic medal by claiming silver in the Men's Omnium. Charlotte Dujardin equalled Laura Trott's record of three golds she retained her Dressage title. History in the Women's Hammer as Sophie Hitchon became the first GB female medallist as she claimed the bronze.

The GB medal haul is currently one better than at the same stage of the London 2012 and contention in many more events, the goal of 48 medals is well within sight. The GB women are into the Hockey semi finals with Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis at the same stage in Badminton. Laura Trott is going strong in the Women's Omnium and has the chance to secure her fourth Olympic gold.


Elsewhere, Shaunae Miller (BAH) took the win in the Women's 400m with a dive over the line to beat Alyson Felix (USA) while David Rudisha (KEN) retained his Men's 800m title.

Rio 2016 Day Nine

Another historic day for GB as day nine saw a truly 'Super Sunday with seven medals which all started with Max Whitlock taking gold in the Men's Floor to become the first ever GB medallist in the event. Nick Dempsey collected silver in the Men's Windsurfing with a first ever GB gold in the Golf as Justin Rose edged out Sweden's Henrik Stenson on the final hole.  

Gymnastics golds for GB are like London buses, wait a while for one then two come at once as Max Whitlock became a double Olympic champion with the Pommel Horse title which saw fellow Brit Louis Smith collect silver. Another 1-2 came in the Cycling Sprint with Jason Kenny taking gold ahead of Callum Skinner.

Andy Murray secured back-to-back Olympic titles in Tennis with a hard fought victory over Juan Martin del Potro. The medal haul is set to continue as Giles Scott is guaranteed gold in the Men's Finn while in Boxing, Joshua Buatsi is on for at least a bronze. Simone Biles (USA) claimed her third gold of the games in the Vault while Jemima Sumgong became the first Kenyan to win the Marathon as she took gold ahead of Eunice Kirwa of Bahrain. 

A new world record in the Men's 400m saw Wayde van Nierkerk take gold in 43.03 seconds while in the 100m, Usain Bolt stormed to a third consecutive gold ahead of Justin Gatlin (USA).

Rio 2016 Day Eight

Four years ago it was ' Super Saturday' for GB on day eight with a triple gold in the evening session, this time around fortunes changed but overall it was another historic day for Team GB.Mo Farah overcame an early tumble in the 10,000m to retain his title while Laura Trott became the first GB female to win three gold medals as she and the trio of Joanna Rowsell-Shand, Elinor Barker and Katie Archibald set a new world record in the Women's Team Pursuit final.

After securing gold four years ago on 'Super Saturday', Jessica-Ennis Hill took silver in the Heptathlon while Greg Rutherford took bronze in the Long Jump. Over in the Rowing, the Men's Eight took gold while the Women's Eight took silver to secure top spot in the Rowing medal table for GB.

Two more silvers completed the best day so far for GB with Rebecca James taking second in the Women's Keirin while the quartet of Adam Peaty, Chris Walker-Hebborn, James Guy and Duncan Scott claimed a superb second behind the USA team which saw Michael Phelps bow out of the Olympics with a 23rd gold in the 4x100m relay. 
 
The GB medal haul will continue on day nine with medals guaranteed in the Men's Sprint as Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner go head-to-head for gold while Justin Rose leads the Golf going into the final round.

Rio 2016 Day Seven

Day seven saw the GB medal spree continue with three golds and three silvers moving them into third spot in the standings with 22 medals. Cycling saw an historic eighth medal for Sir Bradley Wiggins as he became the most decorated athlete in GB history after claiming gold in the Men's Team Pursuit with a world record alongside Ed Clancy, Owain Doull and Steven Burke.

In Rowing, Heather Stanning and Helen Glover successfully defended their Women's Pair title while in the Men's Four, Alex Gregory, Constantine Louloudis, Mohamed Sbihi and George Nash took gold too. Over in the pool, a second silver of the games for Jazz Carlin as she finished behind Katie Ledecky (USA) who stormed to a new world record. 

Success away from the water for GB saw a first ever Olympic medal in Trampolining as Bryony Page claimed silver with the Dressage team of Spencer Wilton, Fiona Bigwood, Carl Hester and Charlotte Dujardin collecting silver behind world champions Germany. 

A first ever gold for Singapore came in the 100m Butterfly as Joseph Schooling took the title to deny Michael Phelps a 23rd gold with the American sharing silver with fellow rivals Chad Le Clos (RSA) and Laszlo Cseh (HUN). The pool also saw a new record set For the oldest swimming champions as Anthony Ervin (USA) won the 50m Freestyle at the age of 35.

GB hopes look good in the Heptathlon with defending champion Jessica Ennis-Hill leading into day two of the event after a dramatic first day which saw fellow Brit Katarina Johnson-Thompson set a new record in the high jump as she sits fourth overnight overall.

Jo Pavey, 42, finished 15th in the Women's 10,000m as Ethiopia's Almaz Ayana demolished the world record by 14 seconds. Greg Rutherford survived a scare as he began the defence of his Long Jump title as he suffered two fouls before reaching the final. 

Rio 2016 Day Six

After a stunning day five for Team GB, day six saw the medal run continue starting with an historic fifth Olympic medal in Rowing for Katherine Grainger as she became the most decorated GB female Olympian by collecting silver with Victoria Thornley in the Double Sculls. More success in the water came with silver for GB duo David Florence and Richard Hounslow in the Canoe C2 Slalom.

The evening saw a focus on Cycling with a superb Men's Team Sprint gold for GB trio Philip Hindes, Jason Kenny and Callum Skinner as the edged past New Zealand in the final. Rugby Sevens saw the GB men reach the final with a 7-5 win over South Africa before taking silver as they were outplayed in the final by Fiji who claimed their first ever Olympic medal with a 43-7 triumph.

In the Women's Canoe K1 Slalom, Fiona Pennie missed out on a medal after suffering penalties on her final run which left her finishing sixth. Johanna Konta lost out in the Tennis as she suffered a 6-1 6-2 exit to Angelique Kerber (GER) while  Andy Murray progressed to the quarter-finals with a 6-1 2-6 6-3 victory over Italian Fabio Fognini.

An historic 22nd gold medal for Michael Phelps in the 200m Individual Medley while compatriot Simone Biles took gold in the Women's All Around Final.  America's success in the pool continued with a unique gold as Simone Manuel and Penny Oleksiak (CAN) shared the title after a dead heat which saw them record a joint Olympic record.

Rio 2016 Day Five

Day Five saw history made in the water for GB with a first ever diving gold in the Men's 3m Synchro Diving as Jack Laugher and Chris Mears topped the standings with a score of 454.32 while Joe Clarke took gold in the Men's K1 Kayak with a superb final run.

A great day of medals for GB started with Chris Froome taking bronze in the Men's Individual Time Trial followed by a bronze for Steve Scott in the Men's Double Trap Shooting as he defeated compatriot Tim Kneale.

GB judoka Sally Conway was unfortunate to lose in Golden Score to Yuri Alvear (COL) in the semi finals of the -70kg Judo but sealed a bronze medal as she defeated Bernadette Graf (AUT). In Artistic Gymnastics Men's Individual All Around Final, a 108 year wait for any medal in the event came to an end as Max Whitlock took bronze as Kohei Uchimura (JPN) successfully retained his title from 2012.

A sudden death 5-0 win for GB in the Rugby Sevens against Argentina saw them reach the last four while the superb medal haul put GB's total at 12 - two more than at the same stage at London 2012. Andrew Willis almost made it seven medals on day five when finishing fourth in the men's 200m breaststroke, won by Kazakhstan's Dmitriy Balandin. Also in the Swimming, Katie Ledecky secured her third gold of the games as part of the USA quarter in the Women's 4x200m Freestyle Relay while Michael Phelps kept up his pursuit of a 22nd gold as he beat compatriot Ryan Lochte in the 200m Individual Medley.  Gold for 18-year old Kyle Chambers as the Australian took the Men's 100m Freestyle title.

 

Rio 2016 Day Four

Late night success for GB over in the Swimming saw two great silver medals as Siobahn-Marie O'Connor claimed second in the 200m Individual Medley finishing just behind Katinka Hosszu (HUN) who secured her third gold of the games.GB staged a stunning comeback in the Men's 4x200m Freestyle Relay as the quartet of Stephen Milne, Duncan Scott, Dan Wallace and James Guy took second as the USA took gold with final leg Michael Phelps collecting his 21st overall gold medal having won the 200m Butterfly earlier on.

After success in the Synchro Diving for the GB men on day three, day four saw the women look to also claim a medal but sadly the duo of Tonia Couch and Lois Toulson only finished in fifth with a score of 319.44. In Tennis, GB's Johanna Konta came from one set down to win 3-6 7-5 7-5 against Svetlana Kuznetsova (RUS) while a huge shock saw defending champion Serena Williams (USA) exit at the hands of Elina Svitolina (UKR).

Over in the Artistic Gymnastics, GB's female quintet missed on the medals as they finished fifth with United States of America storming to the gold with Russia claiming silver and China bronze. Another missed medal for GB came in the Men's Canoe C1 Final as David Florence could only managed to finish in 10th.

Rugby Sevens saw an upset as Japan held onto stun New Zealand with a 14-12 win in a game that saw NZ star Sonny Bill Williams suffered a potentially serious injury. A milestone on day four saw Greece claim their first gold since 2004 as Anna Koraki took the title in the Women's 25m Pistol.

Rio 2016 Day Three Review

Day three saw the GB medal haul double as Tom Daley and Dan Goodfellow sealed a superb bronze in the Men's 10m Synchronised Diving while Ed Ling also claimed bronze in the Men's Trap Shooting.

Three other huge chances of medals saw GB miss out with a 33-10 defeat to Canada in the Women's Rugby Sevens with the Gymnastics team finishing in fourth in the Men's Team Final and James Guy finishing just 0.26 seconds away from bronze in the Men's 200m Freestyle.

A first gold for the hosts came in the Judo through Rafaela Silva while in the Rowing - GB duo Heather Glover and Heather Stanning came close to losing their six-year unbeaten run as they just about held off Denmark in their heat.  

Some GB joy came in the Table Tennis as Paul Drinkhall became on the third Briton to secure a last 16 spot as he defeated Andrej Gacina (CRO) however his run came to an end at the paddle of Vladimir Samsonov (BLR). Out on the water, Nick Dempsey leads the Men's Olympic RS:X windsurfing after three races.

Gold in the Women's Rugby Sevens went to Australia as they powered past rivals New Zealand 24-17. In the Swimming , Russia's Yulia Efimova was again booed in reference to her previous doping ban ahead of the 100m Breaststroke Final which was won by Lilly King (USA). Hungary's  Katinka Hosszu secured her second gold of the games as she took the win in the 100m Backstroke.

Sun Yang took gold in the Men's 200m Freestyle while in Tennis - Novak Djokovic continued a run of all-star exits as he followed his Single exit from day one with doubles exit as he and Nenad Zimonjic lost 6-4 6-4 to Brazilian duo Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares.

Rio 2016 Day Two

Only one place to start for the review today - GB's Adam Peaty became the first man since Adrian Moorhouse in 1988 to take gold in a Swimming event at 2.58 UK time with a stunning world record in the 100m Men's Breastroke. Minutes later, fellow GB swimmer Jazz Carlin produced a superb swim to take silver in the Women's 400m Freestyle while Katie Ledecky (USA) stormed to gold with a new world record.

Earlier, Lizzie Armitstead was fifth in the Women's road race won by Anna van der Breggen after leader Annemiek van Vleuten suffered a horrific crash which resulted in three small fractures in her lower back after coming off while leading down the Vista Chinesa descent.

Two huge upsets in Tennis saw defending champions Serena and Venus Williams bow out while GB duo Andy and Jamie Murray exited at the hands of Brazilians Belluci/Sa in straight sets. GB hopes were high in the latter stages of Fencing after a great day from Richard Kruse but he sadly exited in the final and lost out in the bronze medal match. 

Late in the evening, Michael Phelps continued his stunning medal haul with a a 19th Olympic Gold in the Men's 4x100m Freestyle Relay. GB's female Gymnastics secured fourth spot into the finals while surviving a scare in qualification as Ellie Downie suffered a fall in Floor but defied the odds to compete in the Vault just minutes later.

Two notable milestones on day two saw a first ever medal for Kosovo as Majilinda Kelemendi claimed gold in the Women's Judo -52kg class while China's Wu Minxia made it five Olympic golds with victory in the Women's 3m Synchronised Springboard with Shi Tingmao.
 

Rio 2016 Day One

After a superb opening ceremony on Friday full of colour and dance, Rio officially began on Saturday and GB medal hopes started early with the Men's Road Race. However, a crash late on denied Geraint Thomas who ended up outside the top ten finishers with Chris Froome further back.

The first medal of the games went to Ginny Thrasher (USA) as the 19 year old won the Women's 10m Air Rifle event. Australia topped the medal table after the opening day with two superb golds in the Swimming. 

Also in the pool, it was a mixed day for GB with Adam Peaty breaking his own world record on his way to the 100m Breaststroke final. Sadly the GB duo of Hannah Miley and Aimee Willett missed out on medals in the Women's 400 Individual Medley final which saw Miley narrowly miss out in fourth with Willett in sixth. The gold went to Katinka Hosszu (HUN) who stormed to a new world record in a race which saw her inside the previous record by over five seconds. In the men's event, Max Litchfield finished in fourth while in the 400m Freestyle final, James Guy led for 3/4 of the race before finishing in sixth as Mack Horton (Aus) took the gold. Rowers Katherine Grainger and Vicky Thornley went through to the semi-finals of the women's doubles sculls, while the men's lightweight four and men's pair also progressed.

The first day also saw some milestones with the first athlete from the Olympic Refugee team - Yusra Mardini not only competing less than a year after fleeing Syria but winning her heat in the Women's 100m Butterfly but not quick enough to qualify for the next stage. Vietnam secured their first ever gold in the Men's 10m Air Pistol while GB's Rugby Sevens side started with comfortable wins over Brazil (29-3) and Japan (40-0).

Aside from GB news, a horrific injury in the Men's Vault saw Samir Ait Said suffer a broken leg in his dismount while the Serbian rowing pair capsized in choppy conditions in the semi final. A shock in the Tennis saw Venus Williams (USA) exit to Kirsten Flipkens (BEL) 2-6 6-1 6-2.

Sochi 2014 Becomes Rio 2016

After a spur of the moment idea to begin blogging back in 2012- this portal covered the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics. I then went on to cover the Sochi 2014 Olympics and Paralympics with more of a GB focus than the previous games given I had more knowledge of the events/competitors.

The two year gap since then comes to an end tomorrow night (UK time) with the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Given that this year across all portals, my blogging has been stuttering but for this at the very least, i will cover any medals or major events from the GB contingent and hopefully cover the upcoming Paralympics as well.