2016 Rio Olympics - Seychelles among 118 countries leaving Rio empty-handed |23 August 2016
The 2016 Olympic Games ended on Sunday with the Unites States of America finishing atop the medals table, but Seychellois athletes who have been returning home since Saturday have not managed to win any medals in Rio, just like athletes from 117 other nations.
India Ocean neighbours Mauritius, Comoros, Maldives and Madagascar also left Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, empty-handed, while some big nations like Peru, Paraguay, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Chile, Ghana, Tanzania, Angola, Zambia, Togo, Sri Lanka, Senegal, Saudi Arabia and Zimbabwe also joined Seychelles in not taking any medals at these games.
Some other big nations did not fare too well at the games. Portugal could only won a single bronze medal, joining the likes of Nigeria and Austria.
While most small nations left with nothing to show for their efforts, a few of them surprised many by not only winning a medal, but in fact winning gold! The countries that achieved such incredible feats include Tajikistan, Kosovo, Fiji, Bahamas, Chinese Taipei and Vietnam. Athletes who competed as the Independent Olympics Athletes also grabbed gold medals in Rio.
Athletes from 87 countries won medals in Rio which is a record in the history of the Games. Altogether 205 nations took part in the Games
Seychelles’ hunt for a first Olympic medal goes on then as the games now head to Tokyo, Japan, in 2020. It is definitely not impossible to win gold at the Olympics as 10 nations showed by winning their first ever gold medal at the games and they are Fiji (men's rugby sevens), Bahrain (3,000 metres steeplechase), Independent Olympic Athletes (Kuwait, men's double-trap shooting event), Côte d’Ivoire (men’s 80kg taekwondo), Jordan (men's 68kg taekwondo), Kosovo (52kg judo), Puerto Rico (women's tennis), Singapore (100 metres butterfly), Tajikistan (men's hammer throw) and Vietnam (10-metre air pistol).
At the top of the standings, the United States of America (USA) finished with a total of 121 medals – 46 gold, 37 silver and 38 bronze – followed by Great Britain with 67 – 27 gold, 23 silver and 17 bronze. China was third with a total of 70 medals – 26 gold, 18 silver and 26 bronze – followed in fourth and fifth places respectively by Russia with 56 medals – 19 gold, 18 silver and 19 bronze – and Germany with 42 medals – 17 gold, 10 silver and 15 bronze.
Hosts Brazil could only finish 13th with 19 medals in total – 7 gold, 6 silver and 6 bronze – with their gold medal coming in football, athletics, sailing, beach volleyball, judo, boxing and volleyball.
The USA are also the most successful country of all time at the Olympics, winning a total of 2,520 medals – 1,022 gold, 794 silver and 704 bronze – in total across 27 Olympics Games.
American Olympic swimming legend Michael Phelps finished as the athlete with the most medals at this year’s games, claiming five gold and one silver in a record shattering games for him as he claimed an all-time high 28 medals in total, which includes 23 gold.
In fact it was American athlete who took the top three spots for individual medals won, as swimmer Katie Ledecky won four gold and one silver and gymnast Simone Biles won four gold and one bronze.
Seychelles was represented at the Rio Olympics by 10 athletes and they are swimmers Adam Viktora and Alexus Laird, track and field athletes Ned Azemia and Lissa Labiche, boxer Andrique Allisop, judoka Dominic Dugasse, sailors Allan Julie and Rodney Govinden, windsurfer Jean-Marc Gardette and weightlifter Rick Confiance.
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The following is the top 10 countries on the medals table at the end of the 2016 Rio Olympics.
Medal standings
Rank Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1 United States (USA) 46 37 38 121
2 Great Britain (GBR) 27 23 17 67
3 China (CHN) 26 18 26 70
4 Russia (RUS) 19 18 19 56
5 Germany (GER) 17 10 15 42
6 Japan (JPN) 12 8 21 41
7 France (FRA) 10 18 14 42
8 South Korea (KOR) 9 3 9 21
9 Italy (ITA) 8 12 8 28
10 Australia (AUS) 8 11 10 29