21 Incredible Moments From the Olympics That'll Make You Damn Proud to Be a Woman

Abbey D'Agostino, an American, tripped and fell with four and a half laps left during the women's 5,000m race; she brought down Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand with her. Instead of continuing while Hamblin was down, D'Agostino picked her up and they helped each other finish the race. The two runners embraced at the finish line, representing the true spirit of the Olympics.

When Kristen Armstrong came out of retirement to compete in cycling, there were predictably many doubters. Armstrong proved them entirely wrong when she became the first female athlete to win three gold medals in a row for the same sport. (Later in the Games, however, a female wrestler won her fourth consecutive gold.)

After a disappointing fourth-place finish in the 4x100m medley relay, Chinese swimmer Fu Yuanhui told an interviewer she was on her period. In China, and globally, some might find talking about periods taboo, which made her comment equally surprising and brave. To make her even more badass, Yuanhui added, "But this isn't an excuse for not swimming well."

Etenesh Diro lost her shoe with about 800 meters left of the steeplechase. After attempting to put her shoe back on, she decided to continue without it. Diro's time wasn't fast enough to qualify, but she still amazed us with her dedication.

Simone Biles beat teammate Aly Raisman in the individual all-around gymnastic finals, but that didn't stop her from sharing the love. After Biles finished her flawless floor routine, she pulled Raisman up to celebrate with her.

Against the odds and her international tennis ranking of 34, Puig won gold in tennis against Germany's Angelique Kerber. Her win was the first for Puerto Rico in the Games and their ninth ever. Even more impressive? Puig had never made it into a quarterfinal in any major tournament before her win.

Sarah Elizabeth Robles was the first American woman to win a weightlifting medal since 2000. Robles also became an instant hero when she tweeted, "Things that used to get me bullied are the things that made me to [sic] become an Olympian. Consider that when some jerk tries to tear you down."

Dipa Karmakar was the first female Indian gymnast to ever compete in the Olympics and the second to attempt the infamous Produnova "vault of death" during Rio. She landed it and came in fourth, just shy of the bronze. Her story became even more inspiring after we learned she wore a poorly fitted leotard and no shoes at the first tournament she ever competed in.

Simone Manuel won a gold medal in the 100m freestyle. With her victory, she became the first black woman to win an individual gold in swimming. It was a particularly powerful moment since black citizens in America were kept out of pools for many generations.

Sakshi Malik, a 23-year-old 58kg freestyle wrestler, won a bronze medal for India. Malik's journey to bronze wasn't easy: her opponent was ahead by five points at the beginning of their match.

Gabby Douglas faced intense criticism throughout the Olympics for her appearance, seeming unpatriotic, and apparently not being enthusiastic enough for her teammates. Despite the backlash, Douglas responded to her critics perfectly: "Are you going to stand or are you going to crumble? In the face of everything, still stand."

Four female athletes competed on the first-ever Olympics refugee team. While they didn't place, Anjelina Lohalith of South Sudan, Rose Lokonyen of South Sudan, Yolande Mabika of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Yusra Mardini of Syria proved no boundary can stop a motivated woman. Lohalith and Lokoyen competed in athletics, Mabika in judo, and Mardini in swimming.

While Oksana Chusovitina didn't land the illustrious Produnova vault, her effort was just as powerful. As the oldest competing gymnast, Chusovitina sought to land a handspring onto the vault and two front somersaults in the air — a jump so precarious that Simone Biles won't even try it.

Katie Ledecky is 19, but she has already won four gold medals this year — including three individual golds. The highlight of Ledecky's races was when she crushed her own world record by two seconds in the 800m freestyle. She also beat her competition in that race by a whopping 11.38 seconds.

For the second Olympics in a row, Team USA's gymnasts won the women's all-around competition. They didn't just win, either; they were victorious by an unprecedented eight points.

Almaz Ayana set a new world record when she won the 10,000m race with a time of 29:17.45 . . . meaning her pace for six miles was around a 4:42-minute mile. Wow.

Biles proved she was the "greatest gymnast of all time" and a female icon when she won her fourth gold medal. After people started comparing her to other male greats, she had only had one thing to say to their sexist comparison: "I'm not the next Usain Bolt or Michael Phelps. I'm the first Simone Biles."

You wouldn't know North and South Korea were still technically at war by looking at their gymnasts. Hong Un-jong from North Korea and Lee Eun-ju from South Korea exchanged smiles and took a selfie together, promoting world peace one snap at a time.

Kaori Icho, a Japanese freestyle wrestler, became the first woman ever in any sport to win individual gold medals in four consecutive Olympics. Impressively, Icho was undefeated from 2003 to 2016.

Brianna Rollins, Nia Ali, and Kristi Castlin swept the competition in the hurdles final. Rollins won gold, Ali won silver, and Castlin won bronze, with times just milliseconds apart. After the race, Castlin took the opportunity to dedicate her win to victims of gun violence.