2016 Rio Summer Olympics | Entertainment News, Photos, and Videos

Simone Biles has been just been announced as Team USA’s closing ceremony flag bearer!

The 19-year-old gymnast, who won four gold and one bronze medal during the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics, will be carrying the red, white and blue flag for the ceremonies on Sunday, August 21st.

“It’s an incredible honor to be selected as the flag bearer by my Team USA teammates,” Simone shared in a statement. “This experience has been the dream of a lifetime for me and my team and I consider it a privilege to represent my country, the United States Olympic Committee and USA Gymnastics by carrying our flag.”

She added, “I also wish to thank the city of Rio de Janeiro, and the entire country of Brazil, for hosting an incredible Games.”

After the Games officially conclude, Simone and The Final Five will start a media tour before starting the Kellogg’s Tour of Gymnastics Champions.

Team USA swimmer Gunnar Bentz, 20, has issued an apology for the controversial incident involving the claim that he and teammates Ryan Lochte, Jimmy Feigen, and Jack Conger were robbed at gunpoint at a gas station in Rio.

It was later found that the U.S. swimmers had reportedly vandalized the gas station.

Gunnar‘s apology was issued to his team, the U.S. Olympic Committee and his former university in a statement posted on the University of Georgia athletics website.

“While I am anxious to put this matter behind me and rejoin my Georgia teammates in classes, practices and competitions, I feel compelled to stress several key points,” Gunnar wrote.

“1. I was never a suspect in the case from the beginning (Brazilian law enforcement officials saw me only as a witness).
2. I never made a false statement to anyone at any time.”

“I also want to be forthright about the details of what transpired last Sunday. What follows is consistent with the account I gave to the Brazilian authorities when I was interviewed for the first and only time on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro.”

“After attending an event with several swimmers from different nations, I left in a taxicab along with U.S. swimmers Jack Conger, Jimmy Feigen and Ryan Lochte around 6 a.m. On the way back to the Olympic Village, we pulled into a convenience store to use the restroom. There was no restroom inside, so we foolishly relieved ourselves on the backside of the building behind some bushes.”

Click inside to read Gunnar’s full apology and account of what happened that night… More Here! »

Team USA celebrates after winning gold in the women’s 4x100m relay final on Friday (August 19) at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics!

The team – English Gardner, 24, Allyson Felix, 30, Tianna Bartoletta, 30, and Tori Bowie, 25 – finished with a time of 41.01 seconds.

Jamaica won the silver medal with a time of 41.36 seconds, and Great Britain earned bronze with a time of 41.77 seconds.

USA advanced to the final after winning an appeal and a special rerun following an incident involving a dropped baton the day before.

Congratulations, ladies!

Usain Bolt leads Jamaica to gold in the 4×100 meter relay on Friday night (August 19) at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics!

The win marked the 29-year-old sprinter’s “triple-triple” of gold in the 100m, 200m and 4x100m events at three consecutive Games, as well as his ninth Olympic gold medal.

Usain has said the race will be the last time he appears at the Olympics.

Usain and his fellow Jamaican sprinters – Nickel Ashmeade, Asafa Powell, and Yohan Blake – finished with a time of 37.27.

Japan took home the silver medal, and the bronze went to Canada after the USA was disqualified for an alleged handover violation.

Members of Germany’s Women’s Olympic Soccer Team celebrate after winning the country’s first women’s soccer gold medal on Friday (August 19) at the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics!

German player Dzsenifer Marozsan scored a goal in the 48th minute, and the team then scored again 14 minutes later off a Sweden own goal, making the final score 2-1.

Germany had previously won three bronze medals, and it was competing in the Olympic final for the first time.

Sweden earned the silver medal for its first Olympic medal in women’s soccer.

Ryan Lochte has released an official apology for his involvement in the reported gas station bathroom vandalism in Rio.

The 32-year-old Olympic gold medalist originally claimed that he and three teammates were robbed at gunpoint, but the story later fell apart and it was revealed that he allegedly vandalized the bathroom. The USOC has since released an apology and the swimmers involved have been making their way back to the United States.

“I want to apologize for my behavior last weekend — for not being more careful and candid in how I described the events of that early morning and for my role in taking the focus away from the many athletes fulfilling their dreams of participating in the Olympics,” Ryan said in a statement released on Instagram on Friday (August 19). “I waited to share these thoughts until it was confirmed that the legal situation was addressed and it was clear that my teammates would be arriving home safely.”

“It’s traumatic to be out late with your friends in a foreign country – with a language barrier – and have a stranger point a gun at you and demand money to let you leave, but regardless of the behavior of anyone else that night, I should have been much more responsible in how I handled myself and for that am sorry to my teammates, my fans, my fellow competitors, my sponsors, and the hosts of this great event,” Ryan continued. “I am very proud to represent my country in Olympic competition and this was a situation that could and should have been avoided. I accept responsibility for my role in this happening and have learned some valuable lessons.”

“I am grateful for my USA Swimming teammates and the USOC, and appreciate all of the efforts of the IOC, the Rio ’16 Host Committee, and the people of Brazil who welcomed us to Rio and worked so hard to make sure that these Olympic Games provided a lifetime of great new memories,” Ryan concluded. “There has already been too much said and too many valuable resources dedicated to what happened last weekend, so I hope we spend our time celebrating the great stories and performances of these Games and look ahead to celebrating future successes.”

Helen Maroulis waves the flag in the air after her historic gold medal win in a women’s wrestling match during the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics on Thursday (August 18) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The 24-year-old wrestler won the Women’s Freestyle 53kg match against the clear favorite, Saori Yoshida of Japan.

Helen is the first female wrestler from the United States to win a gold medal

“I’ve been dreaming about wrestling Saori for so long,” Maroulis said (via USA Today). “She’s a hero. She’s the most decorated wrestler in the sport. It’s such an honor to wrestle her.”