The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events in some sports beginning on 3 August.[1][2][3][4] A total of 11,238 athletes representing 207 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) participated, including first-time entrants Kosovo, South Sudan, and the Refugee Olympic Team.[3] The games featured 306 events in 28 sports and 41 disciplines.[3][5] The 2016 Summer Games were the first Olympics to be held in South America.[6]
Overall, 87 teams received at least one medal, breaking the record of most teams winning a medal at a single edition of the Olympics.[7][A] Athletes from 59 nations earned gold medals at these games, also breaking the record for the most nations winning gold at a single games.[12] Host country Brazil won seven gold medals, their most at any single Summer Olympics. Bahrain,[13][B]Fiji,[16]Ivory Coast,[17]Jordan,[18]Kosovo,[19]Puerto Rico,[20]Singapore,[21]Tajikistan,[22] and Vietnam won their first Olympic gold medals.[23] They were also the first Olympic medals of any kind for Fiji, Jordan, and Kosovo.[16][18][19] Kuwaiti shooter Fehaid Al-Deehani became the first independent athlete to win a gold medal.[24]
The United States led the medal table both in number of gold medals won and in overall medals, winning 46 gold and 121 total medals respectively.[25] American swimmer Michael Phelps won the most gold medals at the games with five and the most total medals with six (five gold, one silver).[26] This marked the third consecutive Summer Olympic Games in which Phelps led all athletes in gold and total medals.[27][28]
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