Aussie winners and losers in Rio

FIVE AUSTRALIAN WINNERS AND LOSERS AT THE RIO GAMES

WINNERS

* KYLE CHALMERS. The 18-year-old swimmer just wanted to reach the final of the 100m freestyle. He ended up winning gold in the sport's blue riband event.

* MACK HORTON. The 20-year-old won the men's 400m freestyle gold medal and then won plaudits from other athletes for kickstarting a debate about the presence of past drug cheats in Rio.

* CHLOE ESPOSITO. The 24-year-old won gold in the women's modern pentathlon, the first Australian to medal in the multi-discipline event.

* KIM BRENNAN. The 31-year-old rower won gold in the women's single sculls and was afforded the honour of being Australia's flag-bearer at the closing ceremony.

* CATHERINE SKINNER. The 26-year-old, who hails from rural Victoria, held her nerve to win the women's trap. It was Australia's first gold medal in shooting since the 2004 Athens Games.

LOSERS

* CATE CAMPBELL. Won gold in the women's 100m freestyle relay but the world record holder admitted choking in the individual final when she came sixth.

* FABRICE LAPIERRE. Arrived in Rio as a world championship silver medallist but finished 10th in the final.

* HOCKEY. The men's team were world No.1 but eliminated in the quarter-finals; the women were ranked third in the world and finished sixth.

* CYCLING, WOMEN'S TEAM PURSUIT: Last year's world champions finished fifth.

* BASKETBALL: The Boomers choked in a semi-final, then lost the third-place playoff match to remain without an Olympic medal. Meanwhile the Opals bowed out in the quarter-finals, missing on a medal for the first time since 1988.