India, April 5 -- The modern Summer Olympics keeps on giving. Since its first edition at Athens in 1896, in a sense a rebirth that was a tribute to the ancient games staged by the Greeks in Olympia and the spirit that it embodied, the Olympics has only expanded. Billions of people around the world follow every success and defeat for a fortnight every four years. The highs and lows around the Games, the hopes raised in the lead up to it and the lives changed as a result of performances in it, have kept adding to the rich sporting history it has built.

It has been less than a year since Paris successfully staged the 30th edition of the Olympics. New stars emerged, led by French swimmer Leon Marchand, a very popular winner of four gold meda...