U.S. basks in wave of golden moments tinged with black eye
RIO DE JANEIRO — With the dousing of the Olympic flame Sunday night, members of one of the United States’ most successful Olympic teams will depart Brazil on Monday morning to a new world of rewards, opportunities and, for an unfortunate four, consequences.
Even the smiling faces of gold medalists Simone Biles and Allyson Felix at the U.S. Olympic Committee’s closing news conference were insufficient to distract from what the USOC acknowledges is a considerable black mark on the U.S. at the 2016 Games — the discredited armed robbery tale of Ryan Lochte and three companions from the USA Swimming team.
Scott Blackmun, the USOC’s chief executive officer, said the USOC’s games administrative board will consider the possibility of disciplinary
actions against Lochte, Jimmy Feigen, Gunnar Bentz and Jack Conger, who according to initial reports were held up at gunpoint Aug. 14.
But Brazilian police say the four vandalized a gas station after a night of partying and were confronted by armed guards who asked them to pay for the damage.
“They let down our athletes, they let down Americans and they really let down our hosts in Rio who did such a wonderful job, and we feel very badly about that,” Blackmun said. “I think we ended up at the right place in being able to shine a light on what really happened there.
“I don’t want to say anything about the specifics of the case, but I think we all understand what happened at this point and understand that the things that were said about the people of Rio just weren’t true.”
Aside from what Blackmun described as that “one regrettable incident,” USOC officials were more than pleased with the team’s haul of 121 medals, including 46 golds, which Blackmun said came as something of a surprise because of relative inexperience of the swimming and track and field squads.
“To be candid, we weren’t sure we were going to have that kind of success coming in,” he said. “There was a fair amount of uncertainty, and I’ve never been more proud of a team and the way they came together.”
Twenty-five of 38 medalists in swimming, for example, were first-time Olympians, including four-time medalist Simone Manuel of Sugar Land and Stanford University, and 86 of the 129-member track and field team, which totaled 31 medalists, were competing in an Olympics for the first time.
The U.S. had 61 medals won by women, more than any other country’s entire team won save Great Britain and China, which Blackmun and Felix said reflected the contributions of Title IX requirements. And 80 percent of U.S. team members are NCAA athletes or competed in NCAA sports.
Milestone accomplishments included Manuel’s gold in the 100-meter freestyle, the first individual gold for a black swimmer for the U.S.; Michael Phelps bringing his total of career golds in swimming to 23; Katie Ledecky’s four golds, including another world record in the pool; Matt Centrowitz’s win in the men’s 1,500-meter run, the first in that event for a U.S. athlete since 1908; plus Gwen Jorgensen’s triathlon gold, a second judo gold for Kayla Harrison and a sixth career medal for shooter Kim Rhode.
Alan Ashley, the USOC’s chief of sports performance, pointed to improved performances in equestrian, the first U.S. women’s gold medals in triathlon and wrestling and such traditional strongholds as swimming, track and field and women’s gymnastics.
The latter had a U.S. record nine medals, including the team gold and four individual medals, with three golds, for Biles, who was selected as the U.S. team’s flag-bearer for the Closing Ceremony.
“My first Olympic experience has honestly been a dream come true,” Biles said. “Every day I wake up so excited to take in a new day. Every single day that I’ve had is like a dream come true, and it keeps getting better.
“I don’t know how I’ve been so lucky and so blessed to receive this honor of being the flag-bearer.”
The end of the Games also means the clock is ticking toward the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, when Biles would be 23, roughly the same age as her “Final Five” teammate Aly Raisman, who came back for a second Games after winning gold in 2012.
Asked about 2020, Biles said she is committed to the threemonth USA Gymnastics post-Olympics tour and that Raisman and teammate Gabrielle Douglas have told her that both were busy for at least a year following their 2012 gold medals.
“I’m not sure how soon I’ll get back to training, and Tokyo is a very long way away,” Biles said. “I can see myself there, but now we have the tour.”