Free Republic

Full Title: Pictures Have Surfaced Of The Real Damage Caused By Ryan Lochte. Photos have finally been released of the alleged damage caused by American hero Ryan Lochte and his teammates. ESPN reporter Darren Rovell tweeted out a picture of the sign torn off the outside of the gas station in Rio. Rovell also clarified that the sign was given to the gas station for free.

It appears Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe was banking on a precious metal inflow from Rio to fix his nation's ailing economy as he has ordered the arrest of all 31 Zimbabwean Olympic athletes arrested and detained for daring to return home with no medals.

Zimbabwean President, Robert Mugabe instructed the Commissioner General of Zimbabwe Police Republic, Augustine Chihuri to arrest and detain the whole Zimbabwean Olympic Team members immediately they arrived the Harare International Airport on Tuesday, August 23. Zimbabwe which is one of the countries in the Olympics without a medal presented a team of 31 athletes. The closest any of the athletes came to win a contest was at the 8th position. Mr. Mugabe who is incensed with the team’s performance told the Police Chief to arrest all the team members and detain them. “We have wasted the country’s money on these...

Man, that Ryan Lochte, what a jerk! Am I right? Of course I’m right. It’s backed up by journalism. There isn’t a news outlet on the planet that hasn’t carried a story about how Lochte and three other swimmers no one bothers to name got hammered at the Rio Olympics, trashed a bathroom at a gas station, and traumatized innocent security guards, women, children, and plant life alike. But what if it didn’t happen that way? What if, with the exception of a few minor details flubbed in a drunken haze, Lochte and his fellow mermen told the truth? That...

Controversial South Africa runner gives her gold medal to her adoring wife to look after as she is mobbed on return from Rio Controversial runner Caster Semenya arrived home to South Africa today after her predictably dominant victory in the women’s 800-metre race at Rio 2016. The athlete handed her gold medal to her wife Violet Raseboya after arriving at Johannesburg Airport following the row over her involvement in the Olympics. Semenya, 25, who once had to undergo humiliating gender testing to prove she was female, took gold and set a new national record of one minute 55 seconds. Johannesburg...

On the Tube in London there’s a sign saying “Mind The Gap” to warn riders to be careful when stepping on the train – NBC might want to pay attention to the expression when it comes to Olympics ratings. With a 4.0/14 rating among adults 18-49 and 16.85 million viewers for the Closing Ceremony of the Rio Games, NBC is looking at the worst Summer Olympics results in decades. Not only are fast affiliates down to the second lowest result of the 2016 Olympics for the Comcast-owned net’s primetime coverage but they took a whooping 56% fall in the...

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.