About the Games
These were the first Olympic Games ever to be held in South America. Kosovo, South Sudan, and the Refugee Olympic Team all made their debuts. 11,238 athletes from 207 national teams participated in Rio 2018 Summer Olympics and competed in 306 events.
Most medals won (from a total of 86 teams) by: 1. USA – 121 (46, 37, 38), 2. Great Britain – 67 (27, 23, 17), 3. China – 70 (26, 18, 26), … 65. Lithuania – 4 (0, 1, 3).
Lithuania in the Games
In Rio de Janeiro Lithuania was represented by 67 athletes of the following sports: canoeing, sailing, boxing, cycling (road and track), judo, gymnastics, wrestling, track and field athletics, basketball, swimming, weightlifting, shooting, modern pentathlon, and tennis. Our country’s national team won 4 medals.
Rowers Saulius Ritter and Mindaugas Griškonis won silver, while rowers Donata Karalienė and Milda Valčiukaitė, canoers Aurimas Lankas and Edvinas Ramanauskas, and weightlifter Aurimas Didžbalis won bronze medals.
Among top eight finishers were canoeing teammates Ričardas Nekriošius and Andrejus Olijnikas (5), swimmers Olympic champion of London Summer Olympics Rūta Meilutytė (7) and Simonas Bilis (8), Beijing Summer Olympics vice champion sailers Gintarė Scheidt (7) and men’s basketball team (7).
During the Opening ceremony the Lithuanian national flag was carried by G. Scheidt, while her husband, also a sailer, Robert Scheidt carried the national flag of Brazil. During the closing ceremony the honor of bearing our country’s flag was entrusted to E. Ramanauskas.
For the first time ever the Lithuanian delegation had a tennis player among its ranks – Ričardas Berankis.
Interesting facts
In Rio de Janeiro, rugby sevens were added to the Olympic program, and following a 112-year break a golf events also took place.
Fiji, Jordan, and Kosovo won their first Olympic medals ever, while Bahrain, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Vietnam, Ivory Coast, and Tajikistan won their first gold.
American swimmer Michael Phelps became the most decorated Olympian in the history and ended his athletic career with a total of 28 medals – 23 gold, 3 silver, and 2 bronze.
The Olympic football tournament took place not only in Rio de Janeiro, but also in São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília, and Manaus.
Official website of Rio 2016 Summer Olympics:
https://www.olympic.org/rio-2016
Lithuanian Olympic team’s anthem “Tu privalai skambėti” at Rio 2016 Summer Olympics: