Olympics: Five cult heroes from Rio 2016

By Steven Oldham
Rio 2016 saw existing legends cement their place in sporting history; Usain Bolt, Michael Phelps, Mo Farah and so on. New stars such as Simone Biles and Nafissatou Thiam took centre stage and will look to build on their Brazilian success in four years time at Tokyo 2020.

But what about those lesser known athletes whose achievements might be overshadowed by the megastars? Here's five cult heroes from Rio.

Mónica Puig (Costa Rica)
Gold (Tennis, women's singles)


Puerto Rico's Monica Puig celebrates her gold-winning performance

22-year-old Puig upset the formbook by capturing the women's singles by defeating world number two Angelique Kerber in three sets, winning her country's first ever Olympic gold medal in the process. Unseeded Puig richly deserved her gold medal, defeating the much fancied Garbine Muguruza of Spain in straight sets ahead of eliminating double Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova in the semi finals. There were murmurs that Puig benefitted from the shock early exit of reigning champion Serena Williams but given her form, the result would be far from guaranteed. Never beyond the fourth round of a Grand Slam, more eyes than ever will focus on her progress in next week's US Open.

Nick Skelton (Great Britain)
Gold (Equestrian, individual showjumping)



Nick Skelton & Big Star on their way to gold in the individual jumping

A veteran of seven Olympic Games, Nick Skelton is living proof that it's never too late to achieve your dreams. He took his first individual Olympic gold on Big Star this month at the age of 58; having recovered from a broken neck in 2000, he retired briefly back in 2001 before returning to the sport a year later. A team gold winner in London four years ago, his run to glory in Rio wasn't trouble free, and was way down the leaderboard in the third round. In the final however, with the scores reset, he and Big Star - who he recognises as the best horse he's worked with - produced three flawless runs and took gold in the six-rider jump-off ahead of Sweden's Peder Fredricson.

Joseph Schooling (Singapore)
Gold (Swimming, men's butterfly)



Singapore's first Olympic champion, swimmer Joseph Schooling

Even the great Michael Phelps was left in the wake of Singapore's first ever gold medal winner. Schooling - at 22 with more surely still to come - became Olympic champion and broke his hero Phelps' Games record and beat the American into second place all in one race. His success was no fluke - he topped the timesheet in the heats ahead of Phelps and other better known swimmers including the reigning 200m champion in the same event, South Africa's Chad le Clos. A photo of the young Schooling meeting Phelps at the Beijing 2008 Games spread quickly across the internet following his success His attention will now settle on translating Olympic glory into World Championship gold next summer in Hungary.

Osea Kolinisau (Fiji)
Gold (Rugby sevens, men's competition)



Fiji captain Osea Kolinisau celebrates leading his team to victory

Rugby sevens proved to be a great addition to the Games and it's future on the Olympic programme should be secure past Tokyo 2020 given the positive reception from fans. The men's competition was dominated by World Series champions Fiji. Captain Osea Kolinisau led from the front, laying in with four tries and nine conversions, ending the tournament as his country's top points scorer. His opening minute try in the final vs Great Britain set the tone for a masterclass in sevens rugby, and, more crucially, helped secure his country's first ever Olympic medal of any colour.

Katie Ledecky (USA)
Gold x 4 (Swimming, freestyle. 200m, 400m, 800m, 4x200m relay)



Five-time Olympic champion Katie Ledecky of the USA

If Katie Ledecky was any other nationality than American, her achievements would be even bigger news than they are. If it's possible to be a victim of Phelpsmania, then Katie was it. Her four gold medals, adding to her success at London 2012, takes her to five gold medals at the age of 19. She destroyed the competition in Rio, finishing her 800m some 12 seconds ahead of her nearest rival. She set new world records in both the 400 and 800m - replacing herself as the fastest woman over these distances. She is already sixth on the all time list of female Olympic medal winning swimmers and it's surely only a matter of time - four years perhaps - when she overtakes compatriot Jenny Thompson who has eight gold medals.

In a Games packed with great stories, whose was your favourite story? One of my featured athletes? Someone else? Let me know in the comments.

Glasgow 2014: DAY 6: England dominate gymnastics team events, Canada rack up the medals, Kenya lock out long distance podium

England's gold-winning gymnasts (BBC Sport)

By Steven Oldham MISS DAY 5 HIGHLIGHTS? CLICK HERE

England dominated the gymnastic events today, taking gold in both the men's and women's team events.

A returning Louis Smith helped the men to gold in his first competition since the London 2012 Olympics.

Smith, Kristian Thomas, Max Whitlock, Nile Wilson and Sam Oldham - who missed two rotations due to an injury sustained in the vault - took England's first gold in this event since 2002 ahead of Scotland and Canada.

Hours later, the women's team matched their male counterparts by beating Australia and Wales to gold.

Rebecca Downie, Claudia Fragapane, Ruby Harrold, Hannah Whelan and Kelly Simm kept it clean and made the most of an error-prone display by Australia to take home the title.

In the pool, Ben Proud won his second gold medal of the Games by taking the 50m freestyle competition to add to the butterfly title he won over the same length.

There was also success for the men's 4x100m relay team who beat Australia to win gold in the final event in the pool.

Catherine Pendrel on her way to gold for Canada (@sarahtweetering)

Canada enjoyed their best day at Glasgow 2014 yet, picking up gold in athletics, cycling, weightlifting and wrestling and moved up to third in the medal table ahead of Scotland.

Jim Steacy matched Sultana Frizzell by winning the hammer event ahead of England's Nick Miller and Scotland's Mark Dry.

Damien Warner took the men's decathlon, while Catherine Pendrel won took the women's cross country cycling event ahead of team-mate Emily Batty.

Korey Jarvis also won gold for the Canadians in the 125kg, four years after he took silver in the 96kg event in Delhi. Marie-Ève Beauchemin-Nadeau also took weightlifting gold.

Kenya's dominant 10,000m runners (@VOASonnySports)

Kenya enjoyed another successful day in track and field, including a clean sweep of the podium in the women's 10,000m.

Joyce Chepkirui took the gold ahead of team-mates Florence Kiplagat and Emily Chebet.

Faith Kibiegon took victory in the women's 1500m but Hellen Obiri surprisingly missed out on a medal in the same event.

Sushil Kumar is now a 2x Commonwealth champion (@TheRSSPiyussh)        

India continued their strong pedigree in wrestling today with three gold medals, in the women's 48kg and men's 57kg and 74kg weight classes.

Sushil Kumar (74kg) has stepped up a weight since Delhi but the result remained the same, as he took victory over Pakistan's Qamar Abbas.



New 110m hurdle champion Andrew Riley (@TweetCam2014)



Jamaica are top ten on the medal table mostly due to their performance in athletics, and today they added titles in men's hurdles, and women's triple jump and 400m.

Not to be outdone by Kenya, the Jamaicans dominated the 400m and took all three places on the podium with Stephanie McPherson beating Novolene Williams-Mills and Christine Day to the title.
Kimberley Williams took triple jump gold, while Andrew Riley held off England's William Sharman to take the 110m hurdles.

DAY SIX DIGEST IN 60 SECONDS

• Scotland broke their medal record today with silver in gymnastics, swimming and shooting.
• Georgia Davies handed Wales a second gold in the pool after the country had waited 40 years for one.
  There was a first medal for Fiji, with weightlifter Apolonia Vaivai taking bronze in the women's 75kg weight class.
• Barbados also made their debut on the medal table with a bronze medal in the 110m hurdles for Shane Brathwaite
• Malta are still without a medal but it's not for a lack of effort. They missed out on bronze in wrestling today as David Galea lost to England's Mike Grundy in the 74kg freestyle.