If you didn’t catch a lot of the Olympics, you probably still got the news of some of the biggest wins and record-breakers, but the Olympics is a long process, so it’s a little hard to catch everything. But have no fear, because that’s exactly what this article is for! All the highlights for what you may have missed, didn’t pay much attention to, or didn’t understand.

1.) Katie Ledecky crushes the competition and breaks world record

At the 800-meter freestyle, Katie Ledecky won gold, finishing about 11 seconds ahead of the silver medalist Jazmin Carlin from Great Britain. The 19-year-old Olympian looked as though she was the only one in the pool for a few seconds, until the camera panned out to show the other swimmers. And not only did she win by a mile, she broke the previous world record for this race with a time of 8 minutes 4.78 seconds, smashing the old record of 8 minutes 6.68 seconds. It was a huge win, not to mention a historical one. This was her fourth gold medal this Olympics.

2.) The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team loses gold for the first time in four Olympics to Brazil

The U.S. women’s beach volleyball team is known for its continuous streak of greatness and gold, but in the final game against Brazil, Kerri Walsh Jennings and April Ross lost to Agatha Bednarczuk and Barbara Seixas. Jennings blamed the loss on herself, telling reporters that she was not playing her best against the Brazilians. It was a historical night, being Jenning’s first Olympic gold loss ever. Although they lost the gold, they still went home with bronze.

3.) Michelle Carter wins gold in shot put finals

Becoming the first U.S. woman to ever win gold in the shot put, Michelle Carter made history with a final effort in winning gold. The winning throw was her personal best, at 20.63 meters, but Carter wasn’t the favorite to win. That had been New Zealand’s Valerie Adams, who gave a 20.42 meter throw in the finals. Carter’s father also holds an Olympic silver medal for track and field, no doubt proud that his daughter has made history this Olympics by winning gold.

4.) Abbey D’Agostino and Nikki Hamblin help each other during the women’s 5,000-meter race after colliding
The two women, Abbey D’Agostino of the U.S. and Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand, ran about 3,200 meters before colliding with each other and landing side-by-side on the track. Hamblin was the first to get up, but fell due to her injured leg. D’Agostino then quickly helped Hamblin up and the two women tried to continue. Unfortunately, D’Agostino had to stop due to her injuries, getting treated off the track, while, Hamblin, instead of moving on, spoke to reporters about D’Agostino. Hamblin finished in 16th place, while D’Agostino limped over the finish line a minute later. After some protests from fans, both women were advanced to the final. Vivian Cheruiyot from Kenya took 1st place in the race.

5.) Usain Bolt ends his Olympic career proving that he is still the fastest man alive

The legendary greatness of Usain Bolt is known worldwide in the Olympic world, and it’s definitely no secret that he was favored to win gold in almost every race. He won his ninth gold medal in his last race, the 4 X 100-meter relay. The ending of a great Olympic career, and the beginning of the remembrance of the fastest man alive. Bolt is also the only man to have swept the 100-meter, 200-meter, and 4 X 100-meter races in the past Olympics as well, so there was nothing too shocking about his winnings in this Olympics, unless you had never heard of him, which in that case, you may have come to know him from the now-famous picture (and meme) of him, turned to the camera, big smile, sprinting across the track. From the beginning of his Olympic career, Bolt has been known as the “fastest man alive” and now, at the end of his Olympic career, nothing has changed.

6.) Michael Phelps retires with a total of 28 medals in his Olympic career

As the most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps is retiring for good. He went from a 15-year-old dreamer to a 31-year-old legendary Olympic swimmer, winning a total of 23 Olympic gold medals. This year he won a total of five gold medals along with one silver. This year, though, Phelps was up against some of his fans, even losing gold to 21-year-old UT student Joseph Schooling from Singapore, who idolized him when he was just a kid.

7.) The Olympic refugee team

One of the most exciting and interesting things about this Olympics has to be the refugee team made up of two athletes from Syria, two from the Democratic Republic of Congo, five from South Sudan, and one from Ethiopia. One of the athletes from Syria, 18-year-old Yusra Mardini, was one that was highlighted from the group. She received quite a lot of media coverage when it came to light that she and her sister had saved a group of refugees fleeing Syria when their boat had begun to sink during their journey, by getting in the water and pulling the boat the rest of the way to safety.
8.) Simone Biles and The Final Five dominate the Olympic gymnastics

The U.S. women’s gymnastics team was at it again, placing first overall in gymnastics. And the women behind it, Aly Raisman, Madison Kocain, Gabby Douglas and Simone Biles, crushed the competition this year with a total of 11 medals. Simone Biles won the most medals, with four gold and one silver medal. It was no surprise that they did so well, but nonetheless still newsworthy.