We’d like to think the Olympics bring out the best in everyone, but, alas, we have more darts than laurels to pass out for the 2016 Rio Games. Everyone — get your game on for 2020!
LAUREL: To a team the whole world could cheer for. The 10-member Refugee Olympic Team, comprising athletes who “have no home, no team, no national anthem,” brought world attention to the global refugee crisis and became a symbol of hope for migrants around the world.
DART: To social media activists who used their smartphones for dumb comments. Some misogynists dubbed U.S. gold-medal-winning gymnast Gabby Douglas “Crabby Gabby,” criticizing her hair texture and speculating that she had breast enhancements.
LAUREL: To matches made in Rio. There were at least five marriage proposals at the Olympics. Among them: Chinese diver He Zi’s boyfriend, fellow diver Qin Kai, got down on one knee in front of a crowd and proposed to her after she won the silver medal; Brazilian Olympics volunteer Marjorie Enya proposed to her girlfriend, Isadora Cerullo, a member of Brazil’s rugby team, over the Deodoro Stadium’s loudspeakers; and moments after U.S. athlete Will Claye won the silver medal in the triple jump, he asked to be lifted into the stands so he could propose to his girlfriend, 400-metre hurdler Queen Harrison. Awww!
DART: To the Games’ pool technicians. You have to give them credit for trying, but they could not fix the green and murky water in the two competition pools that gave athletes eye irritations.
LAUREL: To U.S. runner Abbey D’Agostino’s heart of gold. She stopped and offered to help New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin as she lay dazed on the track after a heavy fall.
DART: To Patrick Hickey’s naked ambition. The president of the Olympic Council of Ireland was arrested as he opened his Rio hotel room door — in the nude — over allegations that organization was involved in reselling about 1,000 tickets for Rio Games at prices above their face value.
LAUREL: To Jamaican runner Usain Bolt’s bromancing encouragement of Canada’s medal-winning Andre De Grasse. The fastest man on earth seemed to be passing the spirit of the Olympic torch to Markham’s super speedster.
DART: To Olympic boxing referees and judges who were knocked out of the games. They were given the boot after officials reviewed their decisions amid allegations from competitors that the judges were bribed.
DART: To “hopeless” U.S. soccer goal keeper Hope Solo. After giving up the winning penalty kick to Sweden, Solo called her opponents a “bunch of cowards.” Huh?
DART: To Ryan-rhymes-with-lyin’ Lochte. The U.S. swimming star caused a diplomatic kerfuffle when he fibbed about being held up along with three of his teammates by armed assailants. In fact, the four had actually broken into a washroom at a Rio gas station, causing a concerned security guard to pull a gun on them. Lochte’s Twitter apology Friday was too little, too late.