3. Kosovo and Vietnam win first ever gold medals
Kosovo is known by many to be a war-torn country, but its citizens received a blessing of hope early on in the Olympic Games when judo star Majlinda Kelmendi defeated Italy’s Odette Giuffrida in the women’s 52kg final.
It wasn’t just Kosovo’s first ever gold medal, but their first medal of any kind.
“I have always wanted to show the world that Kosovo is not just a country that has gone through war,” Kelmendi told ABC after her victory. “I just proved to [the younger generation] that even after we survived a war, if they want something they can have it.
“If they want to be Olympic champions, they can be. Even if we come from a small country, a poor country.”
It was a historic and uplifting moment for all, and one that was shared by another underdog country.
Like Kosovo, Vietnam also earned their first ever gold medal when Hoang Xuan Vinh, a 41-year-old Army colonel, had a nearly perfect score in the 10-meter air pistol competition.
Making it that much sweeter, Vinh’s victory came over Brazil’s Felipe Almeida Wu and, more specifically, China’s Pang Wei.
“I’m very lucky, it’s the first gold medal in Vietnam’s history, I feel very lucky, thank you everybody,” Vinh said via Thanhnien News. “Making this gold medal is a life memory, I’ll never forget this. Because [it is the] first time making a gold medal for Vietnam.”
As a reward for his strong showing, Vinh will receive $100,000 upon his return to Vietnam, where the country’s average national income is only $2,100 annually.
And while we’re covering first-time medal winners, Fiji deserves a mention for winning its first medal ever. However, we cannot say we’re too surprised by them taking gold in the rugby sevens considering they are the No. 1 ranked country in the HSBC Sevens World Series standings.
2. Serena and Venus Williams suffer historic and unexpected losses
Coming into the 2016 Olympic Games, Serena and Venus Williams had never lost in doubles competition at the Olympics. The sibling duo had won three consecutive gold medals and appeared poised to add a fourth.
History had a different idea.
In a truly shocking upset, the Williams sisters fell in straight sets (6-3, 6-4) to to the Czech Republic’s Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova.
“We played terrible,” Serena told ABC News, “and it showed in the results. … I wasn’t playing the way I needed to play. I wasn’t crossing the way I need to cross.”
Adding insult to, well, more insult, Strycova wasn’t even slated to play doubles for the Czech Republic. She was a late substitution after Karolina Pliskova had previously withdrawn from the tournament. In fact, Safarova and Strycova had only ever played one match together — a 2015 Fed Cup match in which they were defeated.
As if that weren’t enough for the Williams sisters, things only got worse for Serena, who was later defeated in straight sets (6-4, 6-3) by Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina in the third round of the women’s singles event.
Svitolina is ranked 20th in the world.
Venus had also previously lost in the first round of the singles competition, falling to 62nd-ranked Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium.
For both Serena and Venus, their time in Rio came to an end all too early. And after having come into the Olympics as two of the most successful and decorated tennis players ever, they will each leave empty-handed.
1. Juan Martin del Potro’s upset of Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic entered the 2016 Olympic Games as a favorite to win gold in men’s singles. Instead, he exited shockingly early and with tears streaming down his cheek after an opening-round loss to Argentina’s Juan Martin del Potro.
Following the match, Djokovic, the world number one, admitted it was one of the most difficult defeats of his career.
“This is one of the toughest losses in my career,” Djokovic told the BBC on Monday. “It’s not easy to handle, especially now, just after the wounds are still fresh. But you have to deal with it. It’s not the first or the last time that I have lost a tennis match. But the Olympic Games, yeah, it’s completely different.”
Of course, the 29-year-old Djokovic had experienced similar heartbreak before. In fact, it was del Potro who defeated him in the bronze-medal play-off at the 2012 London Olympic Games.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, the 27-year-old del Potro, who was ranked 141st in the world, could not contain his elation following the upset victory.
“It was a wonderful evening from the beginning,” said del Potro. “After all the effort I’ve put in to get back to playing tennis, I’ve defeated the number one. It was a dream night.”
For del Potro, his unlikely quest for gold in men’s singles will continue. For Djokovic, his time in Rio came to a close after also losing in men’s doubles to Brazilians Marcelo Melo and Bruno Soares.
