Here's What's Awesome: Rio Olympics Edition

The Olympics inspire us, thrill us, they engage us in the pursuit of what may seem impossible, and never have to leave our comfy chair. That's where Brady Carlson, our longtime awesomator, comes in to the picture as he observes the squabbles and strategies and fixations and silliness that happens online...sifts out the superfluous and brings it all to us.

Today Brady gives us a glimpse of the 2016 games in Rio in what will be his last run through the awesome filter for this program in this studio. Because, later this month, NHPR's  reporter and Weekend Morning Edition host and all around day brightener is heading to Wisconsin Public radio.   

In what sounded more like a joke than an edict, the IOC banned the creation and distribution of gifs made from Olympic material. Seems impossible to enforce, but good luck with that.

The IOC is Cracking Down on Olympic Gifs but How Effective Can They Be?

The Tongan flag bearer Pita Nikolas Taufatofuaquickly proved that IOC rules were never going to be adhered to when it comes to social media. As soon as Pita was shown on television, his image became the stuff of Twitter legend.

Oily Tonga Flag Bearer Blows up Twitter

The opening ceremonies also provided plenty of material for those looking to laugh at uniform choices. Olympic athletes in blazers will never not be funny.

7 Memes About Rio's Opening Ceremony Uniforms Are Too Hilarious to Miss

Katinka Hosszú a.k.a. "The Iron Lady" found redemption from her previous Olympic medal dry spell, out swimming the competition winning 3 gold medals (so far) and breaking the world record in the 400m Individual Medley. She made headlines afer her win, but the commentator that gave her husband the credit for her Rio success felt the wrath of the full force of the internet. 

No, Olympic Medalist Katinka Hosszú Does Not Owe Her Gold Medal Victory to Her Husband

Not to be outdone, many news organizations, including the Chicago Tribune, initially failed to mention Corey Cogdell-Unrein’s name in the headline of an article touting her bronze medal win in Rio. They chose instead to point out that the wife of Chicago Bears defensive end Mitch Unrein had won.

Chicago Tribune Introduces Olympic Bronze Medalist Corey Cogdell As 'Wife'

Yusra Mardini is a swimmer who represents the Olympic refugee team, who escaped war torn Syria, saved the lives of 20 refugees by pushing a sinking boat to safety, and then won her heat in the 100m butterfly in Rio. 

She Swam to Escape Syria. Now She’ll Swim in Rio.

Olympic swimmer and world record holder, Adam Peaty’s biggest superfan is his Nan who has become everyone’s favorite tweeter.