We did it again.

On Friday, August 5, the 2016 Summer Olympics began in Rio De Janeiro, the capital of Brazil. The Opening Ceremony, broadcasted on NBC, began with a series of performances that lead to the march of athletes out onto the field. Team USA was lead by gold medalist swimmer Michael Phelps, and followed by 557 men and women representing the nation.

Overall, USA surpassed China by 51 medals, racking in a total of 121 medals: 46 gold, 37 silver, and 38 bronze. Five of these gold medals were won by Phelps. Phelps dominated in the men’s 200m butterfly and men’s 200m individual medley and received both golds. He contributed to three relays as well, placing first in all of them:

Men’s 4x200m freestyle relay: Phelps, Ryan Lochte, Conor Dwyer, Townley Haas

Men’s 4x100m medley relay: Phelps, Nathan Adrian, Ryan Murphy, Cody Miller

Men’s 4x100m freestyle relay: Phelps, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held, Adrian

Phelps came in short behind Joseph Schooling of Singapore in the men’s 100m butterfly earning a silver medal. Regardless, Phelps won his 23rd gold medal and holds his place as the most decorated Olympian of all time, with the Soviet Union’s Larisa Latynina 10 medals behind.

Outside of the pool, Phelps recently had a baby boy with his fiancee Nicole Johnson. With fatherhood ahead, Phelps

has claimed that the 2016 Olympic Games would be his last time competing. In an interview with NBC, Phelps said,

“Where I am now is exactly how I want to finish my career.”   

From the pool to the floor, Team USA dominated multiple gymnastics competitions. Aly Raisman, Simone Biles, Laurie Hernandez, Gabby Douglas, and Madison Kocian, better known as “The Final Five,” took the women’s team all-around title. Márta Károlyi, The National Team Coordinator for the USA girls team since 2001, is now resigning from her position. Thus came the name “The Final Five,” since the girls wanted to be recognized as for Károlyi’s final year.

Winning previous world medals, Biles is one of the most anticipated gymnasts and proved her talent in Rio. She took home three more gold medals for women’s vault, floor exercise, and individual all-around. Biles also placed third in the the beam behind silver medalist teammate Laurie Hernandez.

For Raisman, the 2016 Olympics were a complete redemption story. At the previous summer olympics in London in

2012, Raisman lost a tiebreaker with Russian Aliya Mustafina for the bronze medal in the women’s floor exercise. Competing against Mustafina again in Rio, Raisman conquered and won a silver medal in the floor exercise, with Biles winning gold. Raisman also placed second in the women’s individual all-around earning her third medal at these games.

Another one of USA’s athletes that succeeded was swimmer Katie Ledecky. Ledecky swam in the women’s 200m freestyle, 800m freestyle, 400m freestyle, and 4x200m freestyle relay and placed gold in all of them. With the help of her teammates in the 4x200m freestyle relay, Missy Franklin, Allison Schmitt, and Madeline Dirado, Ledecky was able to dominate.

Ledecky also came in second in the 4x100m freestyle relay with her teammates Simone Manuel, Schmitt, and Dana Vollmer.

Making history, Manuel tied with Penny Oleksiak of Canada for first place in the women’s 100m freestyle. Manuel became the first African-American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal in swimming. In an interview with NBC News after her win, Manuel said, “This medal is not just for me, it’s for a whole bunch of people who have came before me and have been an inspiration to me… This is for all the people after me who believe they can’t do it and I just want to be an inspiration to others that you can do it.”