RIO DE JANEIRO—For some nations, winning Olympic gold is quite the regular occurrence. At the Rio de Janeiro Games, plenty of first-timers got to hear their anthems played in celebration as well.
Going into Sunday’s final day of competition in Rio, 10 teams — including the independent team of Olympians — were assured of leaving these games with their first gold medals.
That’s the most first-timers since 16 nations got their inaugural feel of Olympic gold at the Atlanta Games in 1996.
And those were hardly the only medal milestones at these games. The United States became the first team to win 1,000 gold medals in summer games competition, and a record 87 teams got at least one medal in Rio.
Kosovo Judoka Majlinda Kelmendi waves to the crowd during a welcoming ceremony in Kosovo's capital Pristina main square on Sunday, Aug. 14, 2016. AP Photo/Visar Kryeziu
