Great Clips: American halts pole vault to address flag; Al Roker dresses down Ryan Lochte

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SALT LAKE CITY — If you haven’t been following it on social media or in Brazil, Ryan Lochte was the talk of the Rio Olympics after he reportedly was robbed at gunpoint following the end of the swim events, then backtracked on his story and apparently fabricated most of the details about the incident following an investigation by Brazilian police.

On Saturday night, Lochte broke his silence with NBC’s Matt Lauer, discussing why he did what he did and said what he said.

But not everyone was buying his story — even at NBC.

But first, a reminder of how great the Olympic Games can be.

American pole vaulter halts attempt for anthem

U.S. pole vaulter Sam Kendricks isn’t your average Olympian.

While U.S. Olympic athletes respect the flag and consider it an honor to represent the United States in international competition, Kendricks took his admiration for Old Glory a step further Sunday during the final day of Rio 2016.

Kendricks was in the middle of a pole vault attempt when the loudspeaker began playing the Star Spangled Banner during a medal ceremony on the other side of the track.

Kendricks, who is a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Reserves, immediately dropped his pole and began searching for the flag. Once he spotted the emblem, he respectfully stood at attention for the duration of the anthem — just as every Army officer is taught to do.

Click the video above to watch Kendricks’ priceless moment on the world's biggest stage.

Kendricks won his qualifying heat early Sunday, then added to the United States’ overall medal haul with a bronze medal in the final. His vault of 5.85 meters trailed only France’s Renaud Lavillenie and Brazil’s Thiago da Silva, who set an Olympic-record mark of 6.03 meters.

Al Roker takes Ryan Lochte to task

You’ve heard about it, read about it and analyzed Olympic swimmer Ryan Lochte’s dismal detailing of a less-than-factual run-in with Brazilian security forces at a gas station in Rio.

But "Today Show" host and weather anchor Al Roker won’t have any more of it.

Roker took his fellow co-hosts to task as they attempted to defend Lochte’s actions and subsequent statements Saturday morning.

“He lied,” Roker said on air. “He lied to you, he lied to Matt Lauer, he lied to his mom, he left his teammates hanging while he skedaddled.

“There was no robbery. There was no pullover. There was nothing … he lied.”

What a statement by Roker. In the words of Sports Illustrated media analyst Richard Deitsch, "Roker deserved all the plaudits he received for calling out Billy Bush’s enabling of Ryan Lochte on the air. If nothing else, Roker exposed bro (rhymes with faux)-journalism in a very public way."

Guess who’s back?

Sunday wrapped up the Summer Games in Rio with the final medal event, a win by Team USA to clinch basketball gold in Carmelo Anthony’s final international event.

It also marked the final time for four years most of us will see some stars of the games, including American swimmer Katie Ledecky and breakout gymnast Simon Biles (unless you are part of the crowd that follows swimming and gymnastics apart from every four years).

Rio gave us a lot of moments to enjoy — too many to count, really. Some of them weren’t even specifically connected to sporting events, like the Mongolian coaches who ripped off their pants after wrestler Mandakhnaran Ganzorig lost to Uzbekistan’s Ikhtiyor Navruzov in the 65-kg bronze medal match on a penalty point for stalling at the end of the third round.

But we couldn’t say goodbye without an appearance by one of Rio’s finest — taekwondo international Pita Taufatofua, who famously carried in Tonga’s flag and carried it out Sunday.

Former BYU cross country star Jared Ward was also there after finishing sixth in the marathon Sunday morning. The current BYU statistics professor brought a friend, as well.

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Sean Walker

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