The 2016 summer Olympics branded as Rio Olympics 2016, was a major international multi-sport event held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 August to 21 August 2016. More than 11,000 athletes from 207 National Olympic Committees took part in it. With 306 sets of medals, the games featured 28 Olympic sports. 

At the end of Olympics, the results showed that the United States of America achieved the most medals, maintaining its tradition of the past five Olympic Games. It won a total of 121 medals, out of which 46 were gold medals. Great Britain and China stood second and third respectively. The host country Brazil won seven gold medals which is the most they have ever won at any Olympic Games. Brazil managed to get gold medal in Football, which was their first ever gold in this category of sports. 

Pakistan also participated in the Olympic Games. However, it performed very poorly. Pakistani teams could not even manage to get a single medal. Even countries like India and UAE were able to attain one medal each. The real shame for our country is that our hockey team who has won many medals in past didn't even qualify for the Olympics. A total of 7 athletes represented Pakistan at the Olympics, the country's smallest ever contingent at the Games. All 7 athletes gained entry to the Olympics through either wildcard invitations or quota spots. Out of these seven, three (swimmers Lianna Swan and Haris Bandey as well as judoka Shah Hussain Shah) were based abroad. I believe that the government is responsible for this embarrassing defeat we faced at the Olympic Games. The people in our country are incredibly talented and if they receive proper training they can excel in every sport. I urge the concerned authorities to look into the matter and take action. 

SYED MUHAMMAD AHSAN ALI, 

Karachi, August 22.