The 2016 Rio Olympic Games have nearly drawn to a close, but a few more gold medals will be handed out before the Games wrap up Sunday.
Most eyes Saturday were on the men's soccer final between Germany and Brazil. Winning a gold medal on home soil would be a landmark achievement for Brazil, which is saying something given the country's place in the sport.
That was just one event on the card. Below are the results for all of the day's finals and a brief overview for the biggest medal triumphs.
2016 Olympics Medal Table
Saturday Event Final Results
Saturday Recap
The United States women's basketball team maintained its unbeaten streak, which climbed to 49 games following a 101-72 win in Saturday's gold-medal game.
Five Americans scored in double figures, with Diana Taurasi and Lindsay Whalen posting a team-high 17 points apiece. Maya Moore also had a strong game, scoring 14 points, grabbing five rebounds and dishing out six assists.
Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James praised the team for winning a sixth straight gold medal:
Taurasi talked about the win after the game:
The U.S. continued its dominance in another sport as well, with the women's 4x400-meter relay team winning its sixth gold in a row. The United States never trailed at the end of any of the four legs, and Allyson Felix left little drama while running the anchor. In what became a two-country race, Felix crossed the finish line with plenty of time to spare ahead of Jamaica's Novlene Williams-Mills:
Matt Centrowitz delivered one of Saturday's biggest surprises after winning the men's 1,500-meter race. He was the first American to earn gold in the event since Mel Sheppard in 1908. NBC Sports' Nick Zaccardi highlighted the United States' recent struggles in distance running as a whole:
Yahoo Sports' Jeff Passan was impressed by Centrowitz's run:
"I'm like, 'All right, now we're getting to the later stages in the race, and I can't give this lead up,'" Centrowitz said, per USA Today's Dan Wolken. "We're going into the last lap so might as well wind up from here. I just kind of went for it."
While the United States bolstered its lead atop the medal table, the day belonged to the Brazil men's soccer team. For decades, Brazilian fans waited to see their country finally capture an Olympic gold medal—the lone absence in the trophy cabinet for one of the world's most prominent soccer powers.
Not only did the national team finally win the elusive honor, it also exorcised some of the ghosts haunting Brazil since the country lost 7-1 to Germany in the 2014 World Cup semifinal. Men in Blazers' Roger Bennett thought the nature of Saturday's victory proved especially cathartic for Brazil:
Neymar's emotion after hitting the winning penalty showed how much the moment meant for he and his teammates, per NBC Sports Soccer:
Supporters of the national team tend to carry both Brazil's highs and lows on the pitch with them for generations.
The effects of the Maracanazo at the 1950 World Cup were still felt when the country hosted the event two years ago, and the heavy defeat to the Germans in 2014 will likely have a similar impact in the future. Of course, Brazil's World Cup winning team in 1970 is remembered as one of the best ever, and the 1982 side will forever be revered despite failing to win the tournament.
The World Cup and the Olympics don't hold similar esteem for most soccer fans, so Saturday's victory over Germany isn't the high-water mark for Brazil. Still, seeing the national team standing atop the podium in Rio will be forever etched in the minds of supporters.
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