Among the most memorable moments of the Summer Games were Usain Bolt’s triple-triple, Team USA’s Abbey D’Agostino and New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin helping each other after falling in the 5000-meter race, Kerri Walsh-Jennings and April Ross winning bronze in beach volleyball, and fencing bronze for Ibtihaj Muhammad and the U.S. women’s team.
Sunday evening featured the closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, but before that, there was more gold for Team USA to claim. The events Americans won Sunday included basketball, boxing and wrestling.
Here are four of the biggest Things to Watch during the Summer Games Sunday:
1) Gymnastics Star Simone Biles to Carry U.S. Flag Into Closing Ceremony
The first Olympics competed in South America came to an end with the closing ceremony at Maracanã Stadium, and Simone Biles, who won five medals including four gold in gymnastics, carried the flag for the United States.
Biles was chosen by fellow U.S. Olympians in a vote. As the athletes from all countries paraded into the stadium, seemingly no one passed Biles without stopping for a selfie.
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She made her Olympic debut in Rio, winning team gold and individual titles in women's all-around, vault and floor exercise, along with a bronze on balance beam. She's one of only four women, and the first American, to win four gold medals in a single Olympics.
The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, received the Olympic flag symbolizing the conclusion of the Rio Olympics and the start to the 2020 Summer Games.
Then came the biggest surprise of the ceremony: Japan's Prime Minister appearing in the center of the stadium in an entrance right out of a video game. Shinzo Abe popped out of a green pipe dressed as Nintendo's Super Mario. A video explained Abe needed to transform into Mario and travel through the center of the Earth to get to the Maracana on time. Abe introduced a video previewing the 2020 Games, to the delight of the crowd.
Thousands of fans braved strong winds and sporadic rains to watch the closing ceremony.
The ceremony opened with original footage of Alberto Santos Dumont, the man that Brazilians recognize as the inventor of the airplane. Brazilians also believe he is the first to ever wear a wristwatch, an invention made by a friend so he could see the time in flight.
Dressed in colorful feathers, dozens of dancers formed in the shape of the arches of Lapa, a popular area of Rio akin to Roman ruins, then morphed to make the shape of iconic Sugarloaf before quickly changing again, this time to the official 2016 symbol.
"These were marvelous Olympic Games in the 'marvelous city,'" said International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, playing off the "cidade maravilhosa" nickname of Brazil's postcard city of inviting coastlines, year-round sun and lush tropical vegetation.
While the stadium erupted in applause at that designation, a few minutes later there were boos of sadness when he announced: "I declare the Games of the XXXI Olympiad closed."
Norwegian electronic musical Kygo perform with American singer Julia Michaels, and Pita Taufatofua of Tonga, who created a stir with his shirtless flag-bearing in the opening ceremony, jumped on stage looking even oilier. Brazilian soccer legend Pele, who had hoped to attend the Opening Ceremony before he was sidelined for ill health, could potentially make an appearance on Sunday.
2) U.S. Men’s Basketball Team Looks Golden
The U.S. men’s basketball team had to answer questions about being a disappointment in Olympic competition, but in the gold medal game, Team USA crushed Serbia 96-66 for its third straight Olympic title.
Kevin Durant of D.C. led the U.S. with 30 points, while DeMarcus Cousins had 13.
It was the final game for U.S. coach Mike Krzyzewski, who took the Americans back to the top and leaves with them there after becoming the first coach to win three Olympic gold medals.
Carmelo Anthony of Baltimore also picked up his third gold to go with a bronze, becoming the most decorated man in Olympic basketball history.
Earlier in the games, Serbia lost to the U.S. by only three, 94-91. Team USA went undefeated in the tournament despite some close games.
The U.S. advanced to the third gold-medal game by beating Spain 82-76 Friday in another tight matchup between the teams that met in the last two championship games. The U.S. was just good enough again against Spain, winning a much different game than the all-offense matchups that decided the last two gold-medal games. This one featured several technical fouls and neither team got into an offensive flow.
It was the lowest-scoring game for the Americans in the Olympics since the 2004 semifinals, when they scored just 81 in a loss to Argentina.
Durant scored 14 points to move past LeBron James into second place on the U.S. Olympic career scoring list. Anthony moved into first place on that list earlier in these games.
Also Friday, Milos Teodosic scored 22 points as Serbia moved into the Olympic gold-medal game against the Americans with a shockingly easy 87-61 semifinal win over Australia. Serbia's win guaranteed its first Olympic medal in men's basketball since gaining independence in 2006.
3) Claressa Shields Fights for Back-to-Back Olympic Gold
Claressa Shields repeated as Olympic gold medalist in the women’s boxing middleweight division, winning by unanimous decision over the Netherlands’ Nouchka Fontijn.
Shields won gold medal in the middleweight division as the most dominant fighter in London at the first Olympic women's boxing tournament and repeated that feat again in Rio.
She defeated Kazakhstan's Dariga Shakimova in a unanimous decision Friday to advance to the final. Fontijin defeated China's Li Qian by split decision in the second semifinal fight.
4) Maryland Wrestler Goes for Gold
Kyle Snyder of Woodbine, Maryland, became the youngest U.S. wrestler ever to win freestyle gold, defeating Khetag Gazyumov of Azerbaijan in the 97-kilogram final Sunday.
In three seasons as a wrestler at Our Lady of Good Counsel High School, Snyder was undefeated at 179-0. As a freshman in college he helped lead Ohio State University to its first-ever NCAA championship in 2015.
Later that year, Snyder became the youngest American wrestler to win a world title when he defeated the reigning champion, Russia’s Abdusalam Gadisov.
In March, Snyder won the NCAA heavyweight title for Ohio State.
