Rio Recap: Brazil reach football final, steeplechase great Kemboi retires

– The Maracana went wild as Brazil’s men’s football team reached the final courtesy of a 6-0 thrashing of Honduras, with Neymar scoring the first and sixth goals.

– Two-time Olympic 3000 metre steeple chase champion Ezekiel Kemboi of Kenya took bronze and then announced his retirement at the age of 34, with compatriot Conseslus Kipruto taking his title.

– It was announced that Ryan Lochte was wanted for questioning by police, who require further testimony from the United States swimmer following an alleged gunpoint robbery, of which he was a supposed victim.

– The International Boxing Association sent several referees and judges home, saying some decisions were “not at the level expected”.

– Abbey D’Agostino, the American lauded as embodying the Olympic spirit after helping a rival with whom she had collided back to her feet, was revealed to have finished the 5000m with a torn anterior cruciate ligament.

– Mo Farah, seeking to defend his 5000m crown, suffered a scare when he tripped towards the end of his heat, recovering to finish third. The Briton fell in defending his 10,000m crown.

QUOTES OF THE DAY

“This is my fourth Olympics and I just want to say that I am retiring from athletics,” – Kemboi cuts to the chase as he calls time on a decorated career.

“I just keep thinking about how that spirit of unity and peace is stronger than all the global strife we’re bombarded with and saddened by on a daily basis,” – Having waxed lyrical about the Olympic experience, D’Agostino got a little poetic.

“Obviously I’d love her to bits even if she was rubbish, but she’s not,” – Team GB cyclist Jason Kenny gushes over fiancee Laura Trott, with both having won two golds in the velodrome. 

“It looked as though they completed a fun run and not [an] Olympic [race],” – Germany’s athletics federation director Thomas Kurschilgen was not impressed after twin sisters Anna and Lisa Hahner finished the marathon holding hands.

MUST-SEE MOMENT

A nation expected and Brazil delivered, with Neymar netting after just 15 seconds to set the hosts on their way to a huge win. 

But the initial joy gave way to some concern when the Barcelona forward required treatment for an injury sustained in the process of scoring.

The scenes at the Maracana underlined that, even with the Olympics in town, football will always be king in Brazil.

OFFICIAL: Neymar’s goal confirmed at 15 seconds.
The fastest goal in #Olympics #football history pic.twitter.com/FrsnA3wIXa

— FIFA.com (@FIFAcom) August 17, 2016

COMING UP

There are medals to be won in boxing, wrestling, table tennis, taekwondo and beach volleyball, but the athletics will take a big share of the spotlight once again.

The women’s long jump, 200m and 100m hurdles are set to conclude in the Olympic Stadium, where Usain Bolt will return to the track to compete in the 200m semi-final alongside the likes of Justin Gatlin and LaShawn Merritt.