Rio Olympics 2016: 31st Games set for opening ceremony

Athletics track in Rio 2016 Olympic Stadium.

The 31st Olympic Games officially start in Rio on Friday with the opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium.

Athletes from 206 nations and a refugee team are in Brazil to compete in 31 sports and be watched by a global audience of billions. The build-up has been dominated by a Russian doping scandal, the Zika virus and issues with the city’s security, infrastructure and venues. But it is time for the sporting action to take centre stage.

When does it start?

The Games – held in South America for the first time – officially take place between 5 and 21 August, but they have actually already started. The opening ceremony is at midnight BST on Friday night but the action kicked off two days ago with the women’s football. Defending Olympic men’s tennis champion Andy Murray will be Great Britain’s flag bearer inside Rio’s Maracana stadium on Friday.

An estimated three billion people will watch the ceremony, which has taken five years to produce and includes 300 dancers, 5,000 volunteers and 12,000 costumes. Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen and Briton Dame Judi Dench are confirmed to have roles in the production before the 207 competing teams take part in the Parade of Nations.

Who is taking part?

Swimmers Yusra Mardini and Rami Anis are part of the Refugee Olympic Team.

There will be 10,500 athletes from a record 207 teams competing in Rio, including the Refugee Olympic Team, while it will be the first time Kosovo and South Sudan have taken part in the Games.

The Refugee Olympic Team will compete under the Olympic flag and has 10 members – five from South Sudan, two from Syria, two from DR Congo and one from Ethiopia.

With 554 athletes, the United States has the largest Olympic team, but 100m runner Etimoni Timuani, who is the only athlete from the South Pacific nation of Tuvalu. The Rio Games will be the first to feature Olympians born since the year 2000 – and the youngest is 13-year-old Nepalese swimmer Gaurika Singh.

What about Russia?

The build-up to Rio has been overshadowed by events in Russia, after the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report into state-sponsored doping in the country.

It seemed at one stage that no Russian athletes would be at the Games after Wada recommended a blanket ban.

But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said individual sporting federations must rule on whether Russians can compete.

Their decisions were then ratified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) before a three-person IOC panel made the final decision.

On Thursday, the IOC cleared 271 Russian athletes from the country’s original entry list of 389, though its track and field athletes have been barred by the sport’s governing body.

Any other problems?

Plenty.

Brazil is in a deep recession and political crisis, while protests marred the arrival of the Olympic torch in Rio on Wednesday.

A New Zealand jiu-jitsu athlete claims he was kidnapped in Rio, while Chinese state media criticised security after women fencers were robbed and shooting team members found “unauthorised payments” on their credit cards.

Brazil has drafted in 85,000 security personnel from 55 countries who will be stationed at the sport venues, Olympic Village, airports and main roads – almost twice as many as were at the 2012 London Olympics. There is also 200km of security fencing being used.

More than 500,000 tourists are expected to come to the Games and organisers say more than one million of the 7.5 million tickets remain unsold.

Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images Brazilian police are underfunded and now have to provide security for a huge international event. — Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
Brazilian police are underfunded and now have to provide security for a huge international event.

There have also been issues with the Olympic Village and the sailing venue.

Australia initially refused to move into the village, in the Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood, citing electrical problems, gas and water leaks among other issues in their building.

When they did eventually move in, the team were evacuated for a small fire and returned to their rooms to find essential equipment had been stolen.

At the sailing venue in Guanabara Bay, a taskforce removed 25.4 tonnes of floating rubbish during last year’s Olympic test event.

But Rio officials admit they have failed to keep up promises to clean the water and the Associated Press says swallowing just three teaspoons of water from the bay is likely to lead to illness.

This is not the first time a host city has been criticised for its preparations, but the IOC says Rio is now “ready to welcome the world”.

And then there is Zika

Less Than Six Months Out, The Rio Olympics are a mess. Mounting household garbage and heaps of party refuse remain uncollected since the Carnival because of a trash collectors' strike that coincided with the time of the annual festival. Brazil, along with many destinations in the Americas, is experiencing an outbreak of Zika virus. Because Zika virus infection in pregnant women can cause serious birth defects, CDC has special recommendations for pregnant women traveling to Brazil. See “Zika Virus in Pregnancy” on this page and the Zika in Brazil travel notice for more information. The Zika outbreak in Brazil is dynamic — Less Than Six Months Out, The Rio Olympics are a mess. Mounting household garbage and heaps of party refuse remain uncollected since the Carnival because of a trash collectors’ strike that coincided with the time of the annual festival.
Brazil, along with many destinations in the Americas, is experiencing an outbreak of Zika virus. Because Zika virus infection in pregnant women can cause serious birth defects, CDC has special recommendations for pregnant women traveling to Brazil. See “Zika Virus in Pregnancy” on this page and the Zika in Brazil travel notice for more information. The Zika outbreak in Brazil is dynamic

Brazil is at the centre of an outbreak of Zika virus, that is spread by mosquitoes and can lead to birth defects. It is so serious the World Health Organisation has recommended pregnant women avoid travelling to the Games – but mosquitoes are rare in August and in June it recommended the Games not be moved or cancelled. That advice has not stopped a number of the world’s top golfers and tennis players withdrawing, citing Zika fears.

But what about the actual sport?

Competitions will take place across 32 venues in Rio, with football matches also scheduled for the cities of Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Manaus, Salvador and Sao Paulo.

There are 306 events in 31 Olympic sports but none are bigger than the 100m sprint final and the world’s fastest man Usain Bolt.

The Jamaican is aiming for an unprecedented triple triple, as he tries to win the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay titles for the third time – and his battle with American sprinter Justin Gatlin is likely to be a highlight of the Games.

USA swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, will be looking to add to his 18 gold medals.

American tennis player Serena Williams could win her fifth Olympic medal, while Team USA’s star-studded basketball team will be aiming for their third consecutive gold.

Brazil’s Barcelona striker Neymar will once again carry the hopes of the home nation as they go for gold in the men’s football.

Among those who miss out are top tennis players Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka, NBA stars Stephen Curry and LeBron James and a number of golfers.

Anything new?

Rio marks the return of golf and rugby to the Olympics.

Golf is returning after a 112-year absence but without more than 20 of its top players.

The top four male golfers Jason Day, Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy and Dustin Johnson have all withdrawn because of Zika fears.

In fact, only four of the top 10 will be in Rio – and McIlroy said he probably will not even watch television coverage of golf at the Games, preferring “track and field, swimming, diving, the stuff that matters”.

Rugby sevens will be making its debut at the Olympics, although rugby union featured regularly at the Games until 1924.

Team GB medal hopes

Great Britain’s athletes have been set a minimum target of winning 48 medals, which would make Rio their most successful overseas Olympics.

Sport statistics company Infostrada is forecasting Team GB will finish fourth in the Rio 2016 medal table with 51 – 18 gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze.

World champion Mo Farah will be attempting to defend his 5,000m and 10,000m titles.

Fellow defending Olympic champion Jessica Ennis-Hill will be up against team-mate Katarina Johnson-Thompson in the women’s heptathlon.

Nicola Adams, who became the first British woman to win Olympic boxing gold in London, will be out to defend her title, while cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins could become Britain’s most decorated Olympian with gold in the men’s team pursuit.

Swimmer Adam Peaty, taekwondo’s Bianca Walkden, cyclist Laura Trott, sailor Giles Scott and shooter Amber Hill are among Britain’s gold medal prospects in Rio.

What time are the big events?

Rio is four hours behind the UK and most of the gold medal events will be late evening/early morning so be prepared to become a night owl or an early riser.

Britain’s first gold medal could go to Chris Froome or Lizzie Armitstead as they go in the men’s and women’s road race on Saturday and Sunday.

Swimming dominates the early part of the Games with the track and field events starting on Friday, 12 August.

The highlight of the action inside the Olympic Stadium is the men’s 100m final at 02:25 BST on Monday, 15 August, so set your alarm clocks.

Saturday, 13 August sees a potential London 2012 ‘Super Saturday’ repeat, with Ennis-Hill in the heptathlon, Farah in the 10,000m and Greg Rutherford in the long jump.

♦ Culled from the BBC

Rio 2016: Meet the 2016 Olympic Refugee team

Athletes of the Refugee Olympic Team take pictures with a staff member in front of the statue of Christ the Redeemer

The Olympics, in theory, are a place where politics remain outside the stadium, where athletes compete for their country without the baggage of parochial grievances. It’s a nice theory. The reality is that political and military disputes that dot the entire planet often sweep up innocent athletes in their tornado, and the International Olympic Committee can express views as partisan as any nation. But on occasion, politics can prove a net positive, as the IOC is demonstrating with the creation of a team entirely composed of refugees from war-torn and economically ravaged countries.

The refugee team will march and compete under the Olympic flag, and includes 10 athletes: five from South Sudan, two from Syria, two from Democratic Republic of Congo and one from Ethiopia. The team will field competitors in swimming, judo, and athletics.

“These refugee athletes have no home, no team, no flag, no national anthem,” IOC presdient Thomas Bach said. “The invention of this refugee team is to give them a home in the Olympic village together with all the athletes around the world.”

The refugee team will be housed in the Olympic Village, and will be given all the honors accorded other nations, including a spot in the Opening and Closing ceremonies. The refugee team will march in just ahead of host Brazil.

Athletes marching in the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Rio today will be joined by the first refugee team ever to compete in the Olympics. The 10 athletes on the refugee team will march immediately before participants from Brazil, the 2016 Olympics host country. The refugee athletes will not walk under the flag of their nations or march to the sound of their own national anthems –- instead the Olympic flag will be raised and the Olympic anthem will be played.

Here are the members of the refugee team:

Rami Anis from Syria

In 2011, Rami Anis, 25, fled his hometown Aleppo, Syria’s largest city, which is now at the center of the nation’s civil war. He left to avoid violence and kidnappings — but also for the sake of his swimming career. At the time he had no idea that he wouldn’t return to Syria. “I thought that I would be back after two months, but unfortunately the war kept getting worse,” Anis, who now lives in Belgium, told ABC News. This summer in Rio, he will be part of the first refugee team to ever participate in the Olympics. He is hoping to break his 55-second-record for the 100 meter butterfly and swim it in 54 seconds. “I’m very proud. It’s the dream of any athlete to participate in the Olympics,” he said. “I will carry the IOC’s flag, but my soul and heart will be with my home, Syria.” His love for swimming came from his uncles who are Syrian swimming champions. Anis has been swimming since he was 7 years old and professionally since he was 14.

Rose Lokonyen from South Sudan

Rose Lokonyen used to run barefoot through the Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya. The 23-year old athlete has lived there since she was 10. She fled her country with her family to escape violence. Now, she will run the 800 meter in Rio. She will also be a flagbearer at the opening ceremony.

Yusra Mardini from Syria

About two years ago, Yusra Mardini was swimming to save her life. She was one of 20 refugees crossing the Mediterranean Sea in a boat when the motor stopped. “It was quite hard to think that you are a swimmer and you might end up dying in the water,” Mardini, now 18, said in an article on the Rio Olympics website. In 2014, Mardini fled the Syrian war with her sister who was with her on the boat. Mardini dived into the water with her sister and one other passenger and pushed the boat to the shore. Everyone on board was saved. She lives in Berlin, where she trains at Wasserfreunde Spandau 04 and will be swimming the 100 meter freestyle and the 100 meter butterfly in Rio.

James Chiengjiek from South Sudan

James Chiengjiek was 11 when he lost his father, a soldier. Chiengjiek stayed in his hometown, Bentiu, and looked after the family’s cattle. Two years later, at 13, he decided to flee his country to avoid the civil war and the risk of being recruited by rebels as a child soldier. “Even if you are 10 years old they can recruit you to join them,” he said in an article on the Rio Olympics website. Now, 15 years later, he will compete in the 400 meter run at the Rio Olympics.

Yiech Pur Biel from South Sudan

Conflict and fighting forced Yiech Pur Biel to flee his home in South Sudan in 2005. In a refugee camp in Kenya, he started playing football. He said he faced many challenges in the camp. “In the refugee camp, we have no facilities — even shoes we don’t have. There is no gym. Even the weather does not favor training because from morning up to the evening it is so hot and sunny,” he told the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. He will be competing in the 800 meter run in Rio and said he can give other refugees hope as an Olympic athlete. “I can show to my fellow refugees that they have a chance and a hope in life. Through education, but also in running, you can change the world,” he told the UN refugee agency.

Paulo Lokoro from South Sudan

Paulo Lokoro used to take care of his family’s cattle in South Sudan until the war forced him to flee with his uncle. “The war started so we ran away. We ran to the bush and stayed in the bush. There was no food, we just ate fruit,” Lokoro said in an article on the Rio Olympics website. Lokoro fled to the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya in 2006 where he rejoined his mother. The camp is home to 180,000 refugees, many of whom left South Sudan as children. In Rio, 24-year-old Lokoro will run the 1,500 meter event.

Yonas Kinde from Ethiopia

Runner Yonas Kinde has been under international protection in Luxembourg since 2013. He takes French lessons and drives a taxi to make a living and said getting used to his new life has been difficult. “At the beginning I didn’t realize the refugee life was like this. It was difficult for the moment. The other side is, we are free here. There are some problems with the refugee situation, but I remember I have a big change from before and it’s very good,” he said in an article on the Rio Olympics website. He will run the marathon in Rio.

Anjelina Lohalith from South Sudan

Anjelina Lohalith was just 6 years old when she fled the war in her home country of South Sudan. Lohalith, now 21, said she hopes that she can return to her country, reunite with her family and build a house for her father. “Since I came from there to here, I have never communicated with them,” she said of her parents, whom she hasn’t seen since she was 6, according to an article on the Rio Olympics website. In Rio, she will compete in the 1,500 meter run.

Yolande Bukasa Mabika from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Yolande Bukasa Mabika doesn’t remember much of the day from her childhood when she was separated from her parents. She mainly remembers running alone and being taken by helicopter to Kinshasa, the Congo’s capital. There she lived at a center for displaced children where she took up judo. “Judo never gave me money, but it gave me a strong heart. I got separated from my family and used to cry a lot. I started judo to have a better life,” she said in an article on the Rio Olympics website. She now lives in Brazil where she will participate in the Olympics in the judo 70 kilogram category.

Popole Misenga from the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Popole Misenga’s mother is one of the millions of people who have been killed by decades of war in Congo. The war forced him to flee at age 9. He lived alone in the forest for eight days until he was rescued and taken to the country’s capital, Kinshasa. “When you are a child, you need to have a family to give you instructions about what to do, and I didn’t have one. Judo helped me by giving me calmness, discipline, direction — everything,” he said in an article on the Rio Olympics website. He now lives in Brazil and will be competing in the Olympics in the 90 kilogram category for judo.

Kirani James: Can Grenada runner break Michael Johnson’s record at Rio 2016 Olympics?

(CNN) As he takes an enforced break in the shade at his local Alabama running track, it appears the only thing that can stop Olympic 400 meters champion Kirani James is a high school basketball team.

The man who stunned the athletics world with his exploits at London 2012 is having to put his training on hold while a group of NBA hopefuls huff and puff their way around the circuit.

James himself was just a teenager when first he won the world title in 2011, and then followed it up by becoming the first Olympic medalist from the Caribbean island of Grenada.

Just as he took that unexpected success in his prodigious stride, during this brief break from the searing Tuscaloosa heat the runner is more than happy to chat at length about his other passion: Soccer.

“What do you think about Wayne Rooney? He’s not a midfielder!” he tells CNN. “Don’t play him at all if you’re going to play him there,” he says, answering his own question.

While new Manchester United manager Jose Mourinho will have to tackle the dilemma of the England captain’s future role when the English Premier League season kicks off next month, James is laser-focused on his imminent date with destiny at the Rio 2016 Games.

The big question is not just if the 23-year-old can retain his title, but if he can break the world record set by American legend Michael Johnson in 1999.

James is unbeaten this year with six wins from six races, setting meeting records in four of them. His personal best is 43.74 seconds, still some way off the American legend’s leading 43.18 — and also his Olympic milestone of 43.49.

Johnson has spoken in glowing terms about James, but has also questioned his technique.

That constructive criticism, however, has not phased James’ unflappable coach Harvey Glance, himself a former Olympian who won relay gold for the U.S. as a sprinter in 1976 and twice equaled the 100m world record.

“Kirani’s kind of a victim of his own success in the fact that he’s doing it young, and when Michael set the world record, Michael was 32 years old. Kirani’s got nine more years before he can even reach that age, so let’s put that in perspective,” Glance tells CNN.

“Michael is a perfectionist and like most people are when they’re world record-holders, we want everything to be perfect, we want everything to be fine.

“I understand that there is some clean-up that Kirani had to make, and he’s made that. They call his finish ‘rugged,’ they call his finish ‘a little bit unorthodox,’ but I call it a finish.

“I don’t make it any more difficult than what it really is. He finished with the best of them. Can he get better? Sure, he’s 23 years old. Will he get better? Yes he will.”

Breaking Bolt

When it comes to breaking records, James has significant history. At the age of 14, he won gold in the 400m at the 2007 CARIFTA (Caribbean Free Trade Association) Games in the under-17 category with a time of 47.86.

Two years later, at the same event, James ran a then personal best of 45.45 seconds, which not only set a new championship record, but also beat the six-year-old mark held by superstar Usain Bolt in the process — a fact not lost on the modest Grenadian.

“Breaking Usain’s record at the CARIFTA Games was something that I had as a goal growing up,” he says during the interview at Glance’s home in Alabama, where he has been based since accepting a scholarship at UA.

“It was a double win in terms of breaking the record and having Grenada finish one and two in the 400m. I think that was a very special moment, not just for me but for Grenada.”

World beater

Having made history with a 200 and 400m double victory at the 2009 junior world championships, James made his mark on the senior stage two years later when he shocked defending champion LaShawn Merritt to win the 400m crown in Daegu, South Korea, timing his run to perfection.

Kirani James celebrates winning 400m gold at the 2014 Commonwealth Games.

With a time of 44.60 seconds, he set another personal best as, aged 18, he became the event’s youngest winner.

“At the end of the day, all I try to do is just try to represent my country well,” James says of the impact his heroics had on his fellow Grenadians, whose population numbers just over 100,000.

“I just try to instil pride in everyone that’s affiliated with my country and myself.”

If the 2011 world championships final was close-run, the 400m decider at the London Olympics later pretty much turned into a procession with 100 meters to go, as James conquered the field with ease to become the first non-American to beat 44 seconds.

“Winning gold at the Olympics, I think, was a very historic moment for my country, for myself,” James says.

“Just going into those Games, all I wanted to do was perform well, to represent my country well. I think just having that mindset kind of allowed me to go about competing without having much stress on me.

“It was just a great feeling, and it filled me with pride just to be out there and to compete and to have our national colors on. It’s something that I will cherish every day of my life.”

James’ compatriots clearly cherished what he managed to achieve in London, taking to the streets of Grenada to celebrate.

One such supporter was his own mother, though the dutiful son’s first phone call back home after taking gold did not go quite to plan.

“I called my mother and she was out in the streets along with everybody else,” James explains. “All I could hear was celebrations in the background, I couldn’t hear her because there was so much noise.

“I guess she just kept handing the phone to various people. Either that or they were grabbing the phone from her. I think that’s when it really hit me that I did something very extraordinary for my country.”

Rio calling

Looking ahead to his Brazilian mission — the 400m final is on August 14 — James is coy when asked about the sort of time he could run, with 2008 champion Merritt among his rivals after winning the U.S. Olympic trials, along with 2015 world champion Wayde van Niekerk of South Africa.

“Anything could happen — the weather could be perfect or it could be raining,” he shrugs. He’s more vocal, though, in offering support to the beleaguered host city — currently facing a range of issues including the Zika virus, crime, construction and pollution problems — saying that Rio “won the Games for a reason because the Olympic committee saw something special in them.”

And he is hoping to again show the world something special.

Unlike those high school kids momentarily halting his training session back in Tuscaloosa, James has no intention of being schooled in Rio.

Culled from the CNN