By Sam Keller ’19, Staff Writer

How does one define Olympic success? In the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, highlights ranged from a leading total of 121 medals won by the United States to the achievement of 27 new world records. Despite these newsworthy achievements, what we will most remember from these captivating games are the individual milestones that reflect the long-term dedication of numerous athletes and coaches.

For some athletes, simply participating in the Olympics fulfills their lifelong athletic dreams. Other individual athletes and teams strive to build on previous Olympic success. One athlete in particular, Michael Phelps, who retired after the London 2012 Games, was not satisfied with his 22 overall medals, 18 of which were gold. Four years later, after welcoming his newborn son into the world, Phelps could not resist the temptation of the pool, returning in the 2016 Rio Olympics to secure five more gold medals. Despite his devastating loss to Joseph Schooling in the men’s 100m butterfly final, Phelps continues to demonstrate his dedication to improving on previous success.

Another exemplary athlete, Aly Raisman, led the “Final 5” USA Olympic gymnastics team to one of the sport’s most successful Olympic showings. After winning two gold medals in the London 2012 Olympics, Raisman returned to lead the team to their second consecutive gold medal in the Women’s team all around event, the pinnacle of Women’s gymnastics. Equally important to the 2016 team’s success was the addition of Simone Biles, a gymnast who took home four gold medals. With a team built of dedicated athletes like Raisman and Biles, USA gymnastics was a dominant force.

Arguably one of the most pivotal moments of the Rio Olympics, however, was the retirement of their legendary gymnastics coach Martha Karolyi. After participating in 11 consecutive Olympics, Karolyi stepped down from her position as head coach of the USA Gymnastics team, leaving behind her legacy of hard work and devotion and success.

Meanwhile, track and field held a few important stories of its own. For track star, Allyson Felix, winning a silver medal in the 2004 and 2008 Olympic Games was simply not fulfilling enough. The addition of a 2012 Gold medal in London still left her feeling incomplete; she returned for a fourth Games in Rio. “In scooping gold in the 4x100m and 4x400m relays in Rio and silver in the 400m, American runner Allyson Felix became the most decorated female athlete of all time,”[1] snaring her seventh medal and breaking Olympic legend Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s previous record of six medals.

Despite a variety of remarkable performances in the 2016 Olympic Games, one athlete took the world by storm, maintaining an undefeated status across all of his events. After winning the 4x100m relay, 100m and 200m titles at two consecutive Olympic Games, Usain Bolt returned to prove himself once more, winning all three of these titles for a third time in 2016.  While most athletes receive overt support from their families, their teams, and their country, this particular case reflected a unique aspect of the Olympic Games; the entire World rallied behind the “World’s Fastest Man” in his quest for Olympic perfection. As Bolt exclaimed, “I am just relieved. It’s happened. I am just happy, proud of myself. It’s come true The pressure is real. I look at it as an accomplishment.”

Despite events such as the Ryan Lochte Scandal and the Zika scare, the Rio 2016 Olympics were an overall success across various categories. Particularly, the United States and the country’s talented athletes experienced one of their most successful winter Olympics in history. Like the Olympic athletes, Newark Academy athletes vary in their personal goals.  When asked about a time in which she felt she had achieved a personal goal, 3-sport athlete Kyra Cooperman ‘19 responded, “After one of my tennis matches last year when my team won 3-2, of course I was proud of the team for this clutch win, but I was particularly proud of myself for having the deciding win.” Although our athletics at NA are obviously not comparable to those of the Olympics, such a perspective is reflective of a more general truth of athletic competition: while winning championships is exciting and fun, each athlete’s commitment and perseverance leads to the bigger win: the challenge of achieving a personal best.

[1] https://www.olympic.org/news/the-stars-of-rio-2016