Athletics at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Controversy enveloped the 2016 Olympic athletics competition as far back as late 2015. At that time a German television network released a documentary alleging systematic doping in Russia. After investigations by the IAAF, the entire Russian athletic team was suspended from international competition early in 2016. Then, only a few weeks before the Rio Olympics began, an independent report commissioned by WADA, the McLaren Report, corroborated these findings, and many Russian athletes in other sports, notably rowing, were also suspended. The IOC had to quickly rule on this report, and supported it, but allowed some individual Russian athletes to compete after they had been cleared by their federations. For the Russians track & field athletes, this would be only one competitor, female long jumper Darya Klishina, who had lived and trained in the United States for the past few years and had been subjected to multiple drug tests.

With this negative background the biggest positive story of Rio athletics was Jamaican wunder-sprinter Usain Bolt, who was trying to win his third consecutive sprint triple with golds in the 100 metres, 200 metres, and 4x100 metre relay. It was a quest at which he would be successful in Rio, giving him nine Olympic gold medals, equaling the Olympic record for athletics held by Paavo Nurmi and Carl Lewis (trailing the 10 of Ray Ewry if one includes the 1906 Olympics).

Three world records were set in Rio, two by women and one in men’s competition. Ethiopian Almaz Ayana shattered the women’s world mark in the 10,000 metres, Poland’s Anita Włodarczyk broke her own world record in the hammer throw, and South African Wayde van Niekerk broke Michael Johnson’s 17-year old mark in the men’s 400 metres.

The United States would dominate the athletics competition in Rio, winning 32 medals, 16 by the men and 16 by the women. They also led the gold medal lists, winning 13 gold, 7 by men, and 6 by women. Such was their dominance that they also had the most silver medals and bronze medals for both genders, leading the medal tables in every possible category. Since the advent of women’s Olympic competition in 1928, this had only previously been accomplished at the 1932 Olympics.