The completion of the Olympic cycle comes with the quadrennial stock take to divvy up winners and losers, blue chip and red ink, lemonade and lemons.

If you were to design a sportsman to "inspire the next generation", how would they look?

Former Wada boss and Kiwi David Howman was appalled Russia rewarded each Rio medalist with a BMW SUV.

Eliza McCartney, with the pole vault world at her feet, will soon be reaching for the stars.

Watch: Eric Murray was snapped back into reality when his Olympic gold medal was discarded alongside the toys.

Katie Ledecky could command as much as $7 million a year in endorsements but just wants to go to college.

Usain Bolt continued his party marathon last night as five more beauties were spotted going back to his London hotel on his fourth

It's not all bad being a Russian athlete amid an Olympic doping crisis.

Brazilian police have asked for fresh legal action against Ryan Lochte in a bid to force him to return to Rio de Janiero.

While Kiwis are celebrating our greatest medal haul at the Olympics, the Aussies are being bashed up in their media and accused of failure.

Tristram Clayton interviews Olympic gold medallist Peter Burling about his time in Rio and his upcoming America's Cup campaign.

Samoa could finally have its first ever Olympic medal, eight years after the fact. It was announced overnight that 11 weightlifters

Make-up artist Jady Duarte revealed that the fastest man in world sporting history "wasted no time in making his move".

Golf superstar Lydia Ko only took her Olympic silver medal off when she had a shower the night after her final round in Rio.

The Rio glow will last a long time, but normal sports service is resuming, which means the Olympics are taking their place among the usual suspects.

For Andrew Bogut in Rio, as so often happens in sport, dreams were crushed.

Usain Bolt's main squeeze back home will be upset - but won't think he crossed the line for a series of post-Olympics romps in Rio.

Time to shower the world's second-favourite sport with love... and money.

Just when you thought the Lochte saga was over, footage has emerged that appears to catch Rio's police in a lie of their own.

Someone needs to remind Heather Wheeler it's 2016 and those days are gone.

This morning New Zealanders welcomed home the history-making Kiwi Rio Olympics team.

COMMENT: It is important that our Olympic performances are thoroughly reviewed, to ensure the key lessons of the Games can be learned.

Family and friends of New Zealand Olympic team members are gathering at the Auckland International Airport ahead of their arrival home this morning.

An innocent-looking photo of South Africa's champion world record 400m runner meeting star All Black has landed the gold medallist in hot water.

Per person, this country has the worst athletes on Earth.

Polish Olympic 1500 metre runner Joanna Jozwik has been labelled a racist after causing controversy with a post-race interview.

Movie star Jason Statham has revealed his failure to compete at the Olympic Games remains a "sore point".

Spare a thought for the Chinese athletes who were ridiculed by state media as the "worst Olympic flop".

Polish Olympic athlete Piotr Malachowski is auctioning off his silver medal to help a child in desperate need.