MEN’S MARATHON

Kenyan wins gold

Eliud Kipchoge of Kenya smiled as he crossed the finish line and later directed cheering fans from the podium. The one color of Olympic medal he lacked in his illustrious career finally is his. Kipchoge grabbed the lead in the marathon Sunday around the 21-mile (35 kilometer) mark and finished off his first Olympic victory in this event in a time of 2 hours, 8 minutes and 44 seconds. “I’ve won my Olympic gold medal,” Kipchoge said. “It was the Olympic gold medal that’s not [around] my neck.” Kipchoge’s golden moment was overshadowed by the silver medalist, Feyisa Lilesa, taking his opportunity to support protests back in his native Ethiopia. He crossed his wrists at the finish line, during the gift ceremony and again during the news conference in the symbol for the anti-government protests in Ethiopia The nation has been marred by violence in recent weeks as government security forces have killed dozens of people amid protests over the nation’s decision to take over lands in the Oromia region. Protesters are calling for more freedom and an end of government brutality. Having relatives in prison meant Lilesa could not stay quiet on the Olympic stage, no matter the consequences. “If I go back to Ethiopia, maybe they will kill me,” Lilesa said. “If not kill me, they will put me in prison. I have not decided yet, but maybe I will move to another country.” American Galen Rupp, running only his second marathon, added bronze to the silver he won in the 10,000 meters in London. Meb Keflezighi of the U.S. did some push-ups at the finish line after slipping, having a little fun to celebrate his final Olympic marathon. He finished fourth. “It wasn’t like over excessive celebration,” Keflezighi said. “There’s nothing to celebrate about. I’m happy to finish my fourth Olympic games here, and I’m OK with it.” For Kipchoge, this is the victory that he missed in 2008 at the Beijing Games when he finished second and also in the 2004 Athens Games where he took bronze. The elusive gold medal came with a field of 155 runners — the largest ever in an Olympic marathon — starting in the rain from the Sambodromo stadium. The wet conditions meant spectators on the course were sparse in spots and caused several runners to re-tie shoelaces. At the 9-mile (15 kilometer) mark, 58 runners were within 10 seconds of the lead. Then runners started breaking away with Kipchoge, Rupp and Lilesa turned the marathon into a three-man race. Kipchoge later took charge with a kick that allowed him to finish 70 seconds ahead of Lilesa. Rupp finished in 2:10:05 — 11 seconds behind Lilesa — for a bronze that is the first American medal in this event since Keflezighi won silver in 2004. This also was the 32nd medal for the U.S.in track and field in Rio de Janeiro.

BOXING

Shields earns 2nd gold

Claressa Shields had Olympic gold around her neck and a secret keepsake in her warmup jacket pocket. She reached in her pocket, pulled out her first gold from London and slipped the medal over her head. Two Olympics, two gold medals. She beamed as she held the medals in her hands for the fans to see — a sparkling reminder that she stood atop the medal stand not only as the best in the world in her class, but as the only American two-time boxing gold medalist. “I’m going to let the world know and they’ll never forget that I have two Olympic gold medals,” she said. “Just in case anybody had any questions.” Shields, 21, had all the answers as she breezed through three unanimous decision victories in the tournament. The Flint, Michigan, native thumped Dutch fighter Nouchka Fontijn in convincing fashion to wrap up back-to-back women’s middleweight gold. Shields ran her Olympics record to 6-0, and she hasn’t lost a fight since London, winning two world championships and a Pan-American Games title over the last four years.

WRESTLING

Snyder, 20, triumphs

American wrestler Kyle Snyder’s run to the world title in 2015 was so surprising that some wondered if it was something of a fluke. Snyder showed he’s for real on Sunday, adding an Olympic title to his burgeoning resume. Snyder, the youngest wrestling world champion in U.S. history, is now the sport’s youngest Olympic champion in U.S. history. Snyder, 20, beat Khetag Goziumov of Azerbaijan 2-1 for gold at 97 kilograms during the men’s freestyle tournament. After Jordan Burroughs was knocked out in stunning fashion Friday, Snyder was the last real chance the Americans had at a gold medal. Snyder came through with a brilliant run, knocking off the world’s best just a week before he heads back to class at Ohio State. Snyder didn’t even win a Big Ten or NCAA title for the Buckeyes as a freshman. But he tore through the field to win at the worlds in Las Vegas in 2015, becoming the first American teenager to do so.

MEN’S VOLLEYBALL

Brazil tops Italy

With Neymar in a courtside seat cheering his countrymen, Wallace pumped his arms and let out screams from deep in his lungs as Brazil fed off the energy in raucous Maracanazinho arena. Over and over again he celebrated each point that got his team closer to an Olympic title. Brazil’s determined men’s volleyball team gave the hosts another sensational gold right next door to where Neymar and Co. did it less than 24 hours earlier in a thrilling penalty shootout against 2014 World Cup champion Germany. Brazil beat mighty Italy 25-22, 28-26, 26-24 on Sunday for the home team’s first Olympic title in 12 years since a championship at Athens in 2004. Brazil’s men avenged a loss to Russia in the 2012 London Games gold-medal match with a straight-set victory Friday night, then carried that momentum — and rode the energy of their huge crowd — to the top spot of the Olympic podium.

MEDAL COUNT

U.S. takes race with ease

The U.S. Olympic Team made itself right at home in Rio. The British, they had a Games to savor as well. The host Brazilians got soccer gold that they craved, the Russians struggled on the heels of the exposure of a state-sponsored doping program, and the Chinese finished well below expectations. So went the medal race at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, where the Americans — with women leading the way — dominated both the gold and overall totals. The U.S. finished with 46 gold medals and 121 medals overall, its 51-total-medal margin over second-place China the largest in a non-boycotted Olympics in nearly a century. U.S. gymnast Simone Biles won five medals, four of them gold, in her first Olympics. For the fourth consecutive games, U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps left with more medals than anyone else. He won six in Rio, while Biles and U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky each won five to lead to lead a big haul from American women. U.S. women left Rio with 27 golds — by far the most among any team of female Olympians at these games — and 61 medals total. The previous record for U.S. medals at a fully attended Olympics was 110, set at Beijing eight years ago. And the margin between first and second in the overall medals race this year tops all others (the boycotted games of 1980 and 1984 excluded) since the Americans won 67 more medals than Italy did at the 1932 Los Angeles Games. Even with far fewer athletes competing in Rio than it had in London four years ago — and no home-field advantage this time, either — Britain got more medals than ever in the modern games. The British won 67 medals in Rio, 27 of them gold. China won 26 golds, just over half as many as it won in Beijing in 2008. Russia — with its track team told to stay home because of the doping probe and a cloud hovering over its athletes who were in Rio, some of whom got publicly called out by competitors — finished with 19 golds and 56 medals overall, both well below its normal showings.