The Rio Farce: Finis, The End.

I can't believe they actually pulled it off.

I can't believe, given the political and safety climate in Brazil, they actually got it done.

But, either as I type and just recently finished, the Closing Ceremony has brought the curtain down.

The youth of the world will begin to disperse, called to assemble four years hence in Tokyo...  if the world or Olympic movement make it that far.

So, let's do this in two parts.  First, Day 16 and last:

• With Japan being such a large video-game, anime, and electronics market -- those genres had a voice in tonight's Japanese cultural segment to preview Tokyo 2020.  And, in a video, the prime minister of Japan, Shinzo Abe, was turned into Mario of Nintendo fame!  (Deadspin)
• He's BACK!  Slow it down again for the Today show ladies.  The Tongan flag bearer, Pita Tofatofua, topless and oiled up, returned for the Closing Ceremony.  One of those athletes with no chance to medal (lost his taekwondo match by superiority), his story of aiding homeless children in Tonga can be seen in this Deadspin piece.
• Two weight classes had their freestyle wrestling tournaments today.  One of the bronze medal matches at 65 kg was decided by two penalty points after the match.  Ganzorigiin Mandakhnaran of Mongolia lost his match to Ikhtiyor Navruzov of Uzbekistan.  The first penalty point, to tie the match, was assessed against Mandakhnaran for celebrating his victory by running away with three seconds to go in the match.  By that penalty, it awarded the bronze medal to Navruzov since that was the last point of the match.  At that point, the Mongolian coaches took to the mat and took their clothes off, and a second penalty point was awarded and the two coaches sent off -- and probably to be banned from the sport. (Deadspin -- Nice belly to belly suplex there by the Uzbekistan coach.)
• I have a feeling I may be about to lose the live streams completely by Pyongchang 2018 -- NBC's manipulation of the Olympic coverage has resulted in a 17% decrease in the ratings from London.  (Deadspin)
• Galen Rupp of the USA has only run the marathon twice.  The first got him to Rio, the second got him bronze!
• Oh, speaking of the traditional last athletics event:  Michael Kalomiris, the amateur Greek lawyer who was shocked to find he had qualified for the men's marathon, did run, and did finish in 2:37:03.  That was about a half-hour slower than Eluid Kipchoge of Kenya, who won.  Kalomiris did finish ahead of eight runners, and 15 did not finish.
• The final Refugee Olympic Athlete competed today in the men's marathon:  Yonas Kinde finished 90th in 2:24:08
• Yelena Isinbayeva of Russia is now an athlete member of the International Olympic Committee, but not with the unanimous ratification of the others.  About a third of the IOC members actually rejected her or abstained.  (Inside the Games)
• Sounds like we aren't the only ones ripping wrestling officiating.  United World Wrestling, the sanctioning body for Olympic wrestling, banned three officials from Navruzov's quarterfinal match for suspicious officiating.  So it sounds like this whole situation may well have more facets to it!  (Inside the Games)
• Temporary generators were required to stage the Closing Ceremonies, with rain and probable power problems in the area.  People in the area could not watch the Ceremony on television.  (Inside the Games Ceremony blog)
• IOC President Thomas Bach deliberately failed to address concerns about the Rio Paralympics in his address at the Closing Ceremony.  (Inside the Games Ceremony blog)
• Could not find the daily blog for today.