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You heard it all weekend: “Four American swimmers trashed a Rio bathroom in a drunken rage and then lied to investigators about an armed robbery to cover-up their story.” It’s become conventional wisdom from network anchors trying to paint a rosy picture on a troubled Olympics to journalists who embrace the narrative of “ugly Americans” taking advantage of the downtrodden, third world Brazilians. There’s only one problem with this narrative: It appears it’s completely false. USA Today has done a thorough and extensive investigation of the security videos from the gas station in question and they’ve done something Matt Lauer...

Ralph Lauren announced Monday it would not renew its sponsorship contract with Ryan Lochte, becoming the second company to drop the U.S. Olympic swimmer in the wake of his scandal in Rio de Janeiro. Earlier Monday, Speedo USA executives said the company would drop its sponsorship of Lochte and donate $50,000 to charity. In Ralph Lauren's case, the company stated its contract with Lochte was for the 2016 Rio Olympics only, and would not be renewed. "Ralph Lauren continues to sponsor the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Team and the values that its athletes embody."

After an apparently sleepless night for both divers – albeit for very different reasons – the two finished in last place in the women’s 10-meter synchronized platform dive, a performance described as "pathetic" by local outlets.... Blame it on Rio.

A patriotic pole vaulter stopped right before a qualifying jump in Rio to pay attention to his national anthem. US Army reservist Sam Kendricks, 23, from Mississippi, was running pole in hand when he heard the first notes of the Star-Spangled banner. The second lieutenant was set to perform one of his attempts to qualify that day - but instead stopped dead in his tracks and let go of his pole to respectfully stand still.

A Ukrainian wrestler was caught on camera biting his American opponent's arm in the middle of an Olympics match. Andriy Kvyatkovskyy, 26, fought against the United States' Frank Molinaro, 27, during the men's freestyle 65 kg quarterfinals on Sunday in Rio. Molinaro held Kvyatkovskyy in a tight grip, pinning him against the ground and twisting Kvyatkovskyy's left leg. The Ukrainian wrestler resorted to unusual means to get away from this dire situation - and ended up planting his teeth into his rival's arm.

NBC came under fire Sunday night after frustrated viewers took to Twitter to complain about the closing ceremony being aired on an hour delay. Tweets poured in from across the United States as viewers slammed the network for choosing to air the closing ceremony at 8pm, rather than 7pm. Typically, a network will delay a broadcast due to time difference.

Rio said farewell to hosting the Olympics on Sunday as the closing ceremony experienced periods of rain that poured down on the thousands of athletes and spectators in attendance from around the world. The Olympic flame was extinguished at Maracana stadium, signaling that the Rio Games are officially over. International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach gave a poignant speech during the ceremony that saw Toyko's new governor, Yuriko Koike, the first woman to hold that job, happily accept the Olympic flag from Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes.

How do you connect the current host of the Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro, and the next, Tokyo? Send in Super Mario, of course — with a little political help. SNIP a video showed Japan's prime minister, Shinzo Abe, who announces he won't make it to Rio in time. So Abe turned into the Japanese video game plumber Mario and then popped up in the flesh out of a huge green pipe in the stadium that he allegedly used as a shortcut to get from Tokyo to Rio. SNIP

If Texas was its own country - which, let's be honest, to many of us, it is - it would rank eighth in the 2016 Olympics medal count with 41 total medals. That means the Lone Star State by itself has more medals than all of Canada (22). Countries like Australia (29), Italy (28) and Spain (17) don't want to get into any kind of medal-counting contest with Texas, either. Oh, and host country Brazil (19)? Thanks for all your medals. The 26 gold medals from athletes with Texas ties would rank third, only behind the United States (46) and...

Every satire has a ring of truth... If not for Jamaican Usain Bolt, the United States would've walked home with every gold medal that wasn't nailed down in Rio. USA doubled the score against the rest of the world in nearly every event save for ping-pong. Isn't that great, Mr. President? We've trounced them fair and square. USA doubled the score against the rest of the world in nearly every event save for ping-pong (and that's not satire). "Micro aggression is the term we use in Liberal circles. Now I have no choice except to beg the world to forgive...

South African runner Caster Semenya dominated the women’s 800-meter final Saturday in Rio, finishing well ahead of the competition to take home the gold medal. Semenya is widely believed to be “intersex,” defined by the United Nations as people born with sex characteristics “that do not fit typical binary notions of male or female bodies.” The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last summer suspended International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) rules prohibiting athletes who exceed a testosterone threshold from competing in women’s track and field events, clearing the way for Semenya to compete in Rio. The CAS ruling claimed...

How realistic is it to expect a global event to be entirely detached from global politics? "Two disaffected black athletes from the United States put on a public display of petulance that sparked one of the most unpleasant controversies in Olympics history and turned the high drama of the games into theatre of the absurd." That is how the Time Magazine chose to describe the now iconic scene of Tommie Smith and John Carlos raising black-gloved fists high while standing atop the medal pedestal and refusing to look at the American flag. The year, of course, was 1968. Months earlier,...

 Image from sgvtribune.com When Olympic athletes speak out in favor of "progressive" causes, they make front page news in the United States.  But when a multiple gold medal winner at multiple Olympics speaks in favor of the Second Amendment and self defense, it was the foreign press that covered the issue. Multiple gold medal winner Kim Rhodes spoke out on 5 August in Rio de Janeiro.  From the independent.co.uk: Ms Rhode said she was “becoming more vocal” about her opposition to what she sees as restrictive new gun control measures, including in the context of recent terror attacks. “When...

RIO DE JANEIRO — Geno Auriemma and Diana Taurasi shared a long, emotional embrace. Mission accomplished. The dominant U.S. women's basketball team did what was expected, winning a sixth consecutive Olympic gold medal and doing it in impressive fashion. In yet another rout, the U.S. dismantled Spain 101-72 on Saturday.

The official Olympic medals table doesn’t fully capture participation, which is more reflective of the spirit of the Olympic Games. While it’s natural to celebrate winners, the pathos of losing can be more compelling, and some “losers” who tripped on the way to the podium have exhibited bravery that transcends sports. The official table is medals won, whether ranked by gold medal count or by total medals. I’ve seen some interesting variations: one that adjusts for population; one that tallies points (3 for gold, 2 for silver and 1 for bronze) then divides by a score on human rights, as...

On the way back to the Olympic Village, we pulled into a convenience store to use the restroom. There was no restroom inside, so we foolishly relieved ourselves on the backside of the building behind some bushes. There was a locked door out back and I did not witness anyone breaking it open. I am unsure why, but while we were in that area, Ryan pulled to the ground a framed metal advertisement that was loosely anchored to the brick wall. I then suggested to everyone that we needed to leave the area and we returned to the taxi.

RIO DE JANEIRO (ChurchMilitant.com) - The world's fastest man is Catholic. Before he begins a competition, he says a prayer to The Holy Trinity. He is also devoted to the Blessed Virgin Mary and is usually seen wearing the miraculous medal, a Catholic devotional medal to Mary.Usain St. Leo Bolt was born in Sherwood Content, Trelawny, Jamaica. Born Catholic, he was given the middle name St. Leo in honor of St. Leo the Great, the 45th pope.Bolt, who competed in this year Olympics, makes the Sign of the Cross before he competes in any race, demonstrating his devotion. He...

Watched NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt last night (Thursday, August 18th). Lester's last segment was on how the USA women were winning more medals than the men in Rio 2016. They showed a variety of photos of different women who have won medals - but I noticed that they didn't include Ginny Thrasher and Kim Rhode, air rifle and skeet shooter respectively, in the segment. They've won medals too -- Gold Medal for Thrasher and 4 or 5 career Olympic medals for Rhode, including one in Rio. The NBC Nightly News website shows last night broadcast, but it does...

Bruna Castro-Ruiz, 28, says she saw part of what unfolded early Sunday at a gas station in Rio, as Lochte and his teammates headed back to the Olympic village. (She says she has already spoken to police about what she saw.) Lochte has said the foursome was robbed at gunpoint after stopping at the gas station on the taxi ride home – an account he has changed slightly from earlier versions given to media. But local police later told PEOPLE that one of the swimmers in the group was seen on security video allegedly damaging a bathroom at the gas...

I have to admit Usain Bolt is an amazing athlete. He looked like a man running against boys in 200 meter final yesterday. Still, his constant showboating turns me off. His total lack of respect for his competitors and post-race antics make me want to gag. I suppose I could stomach those a bit better if he was an American, but I can't say it would greatly change my opinion either. What really chaps my a** is the way NBC and the commentators fall all over this guy. We get these extended segments on him crammed down our throats instead...