Climbing Mount Olympus

With the Olympic baton having been passed to Japan and the 2020 host city Tokyo, Rio 2016 already feels somewhat of a distant memory.

But the legacy of August’s global competition lives on in both positive and negative ways.

On the one hand, news headlines were dominated by stories of incredible sporting prowess and achievement, while on the other accusations of sexism, racism and bigotry were levelled at organisers, teams, individuals, news outlets and commentators.

As in most years, controversy shadowed the Olympic Games. And despite the Gulf Cooperation Council making little impact on the medal table, the region did not escape attention.

Kuwait is a prime example. Shortly before the end of this year’s event, the International Olympic Committee accused the country of “aggravating” the tensions that led to its ban from the Rio Games.

Last year, the emirate fell foul of rules related to state control over sporting bodies, leading both the IOC and world football body FIFA to suspend it from competition and prompting a long-running war of words.

The most recent spat occurred after Kuwait offered drafts of new laws to the IOC, apparently without prior consultation with the sports organisations that would be affected. In response, the committee said it was disappointed and accused Kuwait of aggravating the situation.

Thankfully Kuwait’s athletes could still compete in Rio as neutrals under the IOC flag – with Fahaid Al Deehani winning gold in the men’s double trap and Abdullah Alrashidi winning bronze in the men’s shooting skeet.

Kuwait has since sacked the board of directors of both its Olympic committee and football association.

Much has also been made of Gulf states’ nationalisation of foreign athletes in a bid to boost their medal chances, with several column inches criticising the practice.

Bahrain secured its first ever Olympic gold medal in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase thanks to the efforts of Kenya-born