It's dream, a passion, pain, sweat and tears. It's not just any competition to an athlete. It is the Olympics. The Olympics this year are being held as we speak in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. As most may know, the Olympics only come around every four years. Athletes persevere through a lot of hard work to become Olympians, and even gold medalists. But sometimes athletes come up just short of a medal. After all of the commitment that most athletes have put into their sport or event, their goals and ambitions are crushed entirely. This year in 2016, many of the United States athletes have come up just a tad bit short.

Mara Abbot, a 30-year-old the United States cyclist began her road to her first Olympics ever. She is outstanding in uphill competitions, and that is why they call her the climber. During the long race, Abbot led the entire time with ease. Her first Olympic gold medal was nearly in reaching distance, but on the last 10 miles, which was decent, three cyclists caught up to Mara in the final stretch. Netherland, Sweden, and Italy passed her in the last 100 meters of the race and won the gold, silver, and bronze. She ended up four seconds behind the rest of her competitors just short of a medal. Yes, it was a disappointment for Abbot, but she was the only United States athlete in the race to finish in the top 10. After the race, she was caught taking pictures with American fans celebrating her fourth place finish. Even though she did not get a medal, she has been an inspiration to younger cyclists and Americans today when she said: "I gave it all I got."

Photo courtesy of cycling.org

Another example, is the United States men's team gymnastics finals. After not finishing well in London during the 2012 Olympics, the boys set out to win the gold. Well, in Rio the bad luck continued. The team placed fifth with their terrible start. On floor exercise, Sam Mikulak and Alex Naddour stepped out of bounds in both routines. Although they had a rough start, the team attempted to make a comeback in the next few events. With a medal in sight, the high bar only stood in the team's way. Danell Leyva up for the Americans, but missed a connection with the bar putting the United States men into fifth again. In spite of not gaining a medal for the second Olympics in a row, the entire team agreed that being Olympians and fifth place in the whole world isn't so bad after all.

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Serena Williams, everyone has heard that name before. She is a four-time Olympic gold medalist, but in Rio, it was just a bit different. She lost a hard third round match on Tuesday night against Ukraine's Elina Svitolina. She lost 6-4, 6-3 and had around 30 or so unforced errors. According to USA Today, Reports Williams explains that she was satisfied with even making it to Rio but obviously disappointed that she did not meet her goals. After losing in the doubles match playing with her sister Venus, the United States pair suffered their first loss ever together in the Olympics. This will also be the very first time that Serena heads back to the United States without a medal.

Photo courtesy of flicker.com

Last, but not least Missy Franklin a United States swimmer who did not earn a spot in the 4x200 -meter freestyle race finals. In replacement of Franklin was the all-star 19-year-old Katie Ledecky. Katie anchored the team and led them to another gold medal with a time of seven minutes 43.03 seconds. Missy, on the other hand, had to sit on the sidelines and watch her teammates take the gold that she couldn't have.

Photo courtesy of en.wikipedia.org

Some of these athletes go unrecognized at the Olympics, but if fans look at the bigger picture not many athletes actually get to the point of being an Olympian. Losing even inspires these Olympic athletes talked about above to get even better over the next four years to possibly do it all over again in 2020. As the Olympics come to an end athletes all need to know that giving it a 100 percent and having hard work and dedication is the definition of a true champion no matter if they came up just a bit short.