In August 2016, the global population united as one to enjoy a marvellous spectacle: the planet’s greatest sportsmen and women competing in the world’s oldest sporting competition. Like any other Olympic Games, Rio 2016 was full of long-awaited successes, agonising near-misses and historic sporting feats that shocked, wowed and inspired.

Yet sport – at any level – has a knack of producing stories which, by virtue of their absurdity, defy belief. Anything can happen, from the insane and the surreal to the grotesque and the hilarious: just ask viewers of programmes such as You’ve Been Framed and A Question of Sport to verify this.

And, with Rio 2016 no exception, Varsity has compiled a list of some of the stories that made the rounds on social media, amusing and confusing sports fans in equal measure.

6th August – Leo in Rio?

Fans of Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio did a double-take as they watched the final of the men’s team archery competition: it appeared that the star of Titanic and The Revenant was competing at Rio 2016. But, instead of Leo, it was 27-year-old Arizonan Brady Ellison competing against South Korea alongside teammates Jake Kaminski and Zach Garrett and securing Team USA a silver medal after a 6-0 defeat to South Korea.

The uncanny similarity faded somewhat once Ellison removed his headgear – after all, Ellison is 14 years younger than the Oscar winner. And Ellison is in fact entitled to a degree of fame is his own right – a three-time Olympian, he is the first recurve archer in history to win three World Cup titles.

7th August – Olympic fame: it’s all relative

Two members of the Peaty family took the world by storm during Rio 2016. 21-year-old swimming sensation Adam Peaty smashed the 100m breaststroke record and grabbed Team GB’s first gold medal of the Games, while Mavis Williams, Adam’s grandmother, found social media fame for her adoring tweets. Labelled the #OlympicNan, Williams’ gushing support of her grandson – describing him as a "gladiator" – melted hearts across the world.

And, as Peaty posted another world record time of 57.13 seconds to end a 28-year wait for a British male to win gold in the pool, his grandma sat 6,000 miles away in her Sheffield home surrounded by TV cameras, all looking to capture her reaction to the final.

7th August – BRB Bae, Gotta Go Fence. TTYL.

While competing in the Round of 32 of the men’s individual foil competition, fencer Enzo LeFort took PokemonGO dedication to a whole new level. As his German opponent launched a clever attack, the 24-year-old Frenchman stumbled and fell, causing his phone to fall out of his back pocket onto the piste.

Looking sheepish, and to a backdrop of a cacophony of boos, the bronze medallist at the 2014 World Championships was forced to hand his phone over to an official. The debacle appeared to destroy any concentration or confidence he had, as he subsequently lost the match 15-13.

9th August – H₂O₂ in its element

It is easy to imagine that diving into a pool of water from a height of 10 metres can be nerve-wracking. And it is easy to imagine that this feeling was enhanced for Team GB’s pair of Tonia Couch and Lois Toulson, as the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre’s diving pool turned green overnight. Maintaining a violent shade of emerald for around 24 hours, the water was reported by a German athlete to "smell like farts" and caused some other competitors discomfort with their eyes.

Social media teamed with theories as to what was responsible for the colour change: a green advertising board and inadequate levels of chlorine were both blamed, until it was subsequently confirmed by organisers that the unauthorised dumping of 80 litres of hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) had neutralised the chlorine in the pools and meant that algae was able to bloom. Prior to the start of the Olympics, concerns have been raised about how the pollution in Rio’s bays and rivers might endanger the athletes – it seemed though the pool water wanted a slice of the publicity.

Green is the colour of jealousy after all!

15th August – A cock-up in the pole vault

It was heartbreak for Japanese athlete, Hiroki Ogita, as he missed out on a place in the pole vault final thanks – in no small part, pun intended – to his penis. During the qualification round, Ogita’s attempt to clear a height of 5.30 metres was jeopardised as his manhood ensured the bar was dislodged. Though his second attempt at the height was successful, the 28-year old’s initial foul prevented him from achieving any higher than 5.45 metres in his three attempts.

Close-up screenshots and videos of the incident went viral. Initially upset by this – Ogita tweeted that he "never expected the foreign media to take me down like this" and was "pretty devastated that [the foreign media] would go so far… to mock and ridicule me so much" – he later saw the funny side: "watching again, this is pretty funny, if I say so myself. LOL."

The event’s thrilling but controversial final –as the home supporters’ booing at the medal ceremony reduced Frenchmen and silver medallist Renaud Lavillenie to tears – was eventually won by Brazillian Thiago Bruz da Silva.

16th August – #Twinning

Perhaps theories about twins have some veracity: after 26 miles of running Anna and Lisa Hahner from Germany held hands as they crossed the finishing line of the marathon together. Training partners as well as twins, the two finished in 81st and 82nd respectively, posting times of 2:45:32 and 2:45:33.

This sparked controversy back home - the sisters were accused of seeking publicity and treating the Olympic marathon "like a fun run", with Thomas Kurschilgen, sport director of the German Athletics Federation, expressing his disapproval. "Every athlete in the Olympic competitions should be motivated to demonstrate his or her best performance and aim for the best possible result," he said.

However, the sisters defended their actions by claiming it was done spontaneously and as a result of a sheer coincidence: "it was a magical moment that we could finish this marathon together. We did not think about what we were doing," claimed Anna.

Extraordinarily however, the Hanhers were not the only twins to finish side by side in the race: North Korean sisters Kim Hye-song and Kim Hye-gyong finished in 10th and 11th place with an identical time of 2:28.36.

19th August – Shit happens

In the 50km speed walk, Yohann Diniz, the pre-race favourite and world record holder, managed a ‘Gary Lineker’. The Frenchman was around a third of the way into the race – and leading the chasing pack by almost 90 seconds – when he defecated in his own shorts. Fainting moments later, the 38-year-old showed true Olympic grit by picking himself up and carrying on, sponging away poo and blood from his legs and obviously biting back the pain.

Reportedly suffering from stomach trouble before the race began, Diniz elected to carry on regardless and this heroism was rewarded by a 7th place finish, aided by the disqualification of a rival. Yet this was another unfortunate twist in his pursuit of his first Olympic medal: despite posting the unbeaten world record time of 3:32:33 in 2014, Diniz failed to finish the race at the Olympics in Beijing and was disqualified in London 2012.