Rio 2016 | Neymar & co. win gold for Brazil; Mo Farah defends title on Day 15
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Great Britain's Mo Farah became only the second man in the history of Olympics to defend the 10000m and 5000m titles on the penultimate day of action at Rio. On the football field, Neymar scored the winning penalty as Brazil defeated Germany 5-4 in penalties to take the gold in the event.
In front of a packed crowd at the Maracana, Brazil got their revenge against Germany for the 1-7 demolition they suffered during the 2014 World Cup semi-final at Belo Horizonte. Neymar, who missed the match on that day due to an injury, was the hero for the hosts yesterday as he scored the winning penalty to give Brazil the elusive Olympic gold medal, which evaded them in 1984, 1988, and 2012.
Neymar opened the scoring with a 25-yard free-kick in the first half to give the hosts the lead. Although Germany found the post three times in the half, Brazil went into the break with a 1-0 lead. However, Germany found their equalizer after the break through Max Meyer to make it 1-1 in the game. Both sides then found it difficult to break down the other as the match went into extra-time and then into penalties.
In the penalty shootout, all the first eight penalties found the back of the net, but the Brazil goalkeeper stopped Nils Petersen's effort to set up Neymar to win the gold for Brazil. The skipper made no mistake and smashed the ball into the top corner to give the nation the gold they craved for a long time.
In the bronze-medal match, Nigeria beat Honduras 3-2 to finish third in the tournament.
On the track, Mo Farah added his fourth Olympic gold medal and the second at Rio on the penultimate day by defending his title in the 5000m. The 33-year-old finished in 13 minutes 3.30 seconds to become only the second man in history to defend the 5000m and 10000m. However, the silver and bronze medals were decided after a lengthy and dramatic process after many runners were disqualified for stepping out of the line at the bend. However, after more than an hour, Paul Chelimo of USA was awarded the silver, while Ethiopia's Hagos Gebrhiwhet took bronze.
In the men’s singles event in badminton, World No.1 and three-time finalist Lee Chong Wei once again suffered a heartbreak in the final after World No.2 Chen Long of China defeated him in straight sets. After beating the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Gold medallist Lin Dan in the semis, the Malaysian went into the final as the favourite, but another Chinese shuttler ended his dream and gave him his third straight Silver medal after defeating him 21-18, 21-18.
Denmark’s Viktor Axelsen won the bronze medal after defeating Lin Dan 15-21, 21-10, 21-17.
At the top of the medals tally, the USA added five more gold medals on the day to increase their lead at the top to 16 gold medals, while Great Britain and China are battling it out for the second and third spot with just two gold medals separating them.
