Rain & Wind Didn't Hinder The Closing Ceremony

The Closing Ceremony on Sunday night was a joyful experience that celebrated the preceding two weeks of amazing competition and athletic achievement. There was only one thing that put a bit of a damper on the final festivities: the weather. Unfortunately, the Closing Ceremony weather wasn't ideal for flag bearers in particular, but it didn't stop the athletes and spectators from having fun on the last Olympic night in Rio.

According to Weather.com, the temperature on Sunday night hovered in the mid-60s and bottomed out at 63 degrees Fahrenheit, with a steady but light rain and gusts of wind up to 28 miles per hour. Being a flag bearer at this Closing Ceremony was probably not the easiest experience, but at least they had Olympic strength to pull through, and all their teammates to help them out if they needed it.

The weather caused a few problems earlier in the Olympics as well, although not all the athletes minded the harsh conditions. For example, high wind speeds caused delays for the rowing events, but British canoer Joseph Clarke, who pulled off a huge upset to win the gold medal, said the weather made him feel at home. "Conditions today were fantastic," Clarke told Reuters. "British weather (had) come."

Don't forget, it's currently winter in Rio, so the weather couldn't be expected to be perfect for the entire two weeks. The opposite seasons was one of the primary issues with holding the Olympics in South America — most Summer Olympics have been hosted in the Northern Hemisphere and had warmer, less temperamental weather. Ultimately, the weather worked out very well for the large majority of these games and didn't present much more of a challenge than it did for the London Olympics four years ago.

Despite the dampness, the weather likely didn't stop many athletes from attending the final event of the Rio games. Preparing for it, they totally rocked ponchos together to protect themselves from the rain, and looked like they might have had even more fun because of it. For many, the Closing Ceremony is the last Olympic event they will ever attend as an athlete, and passing up that experience just because of a little rain belies the endless hours of training and competition they put in to make it there. Even with the less than perfect weather, the Closing Ceremony was still an incredible show and a perfect ending to the historic Rio games.