2016 RIO OLYMPICS: THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH OPENS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 06 Aug 2016
The 2016 Summer Olympics opens at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, and commonly known as Rio 2016, a major international multi-sport event in the tradition of the Olympic Games as governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to be held from August 5 to 21, 2016.
Brazilian marathoner Vanderlei Lima lighted the Olympic flame. He was virtually robbed of a gold medal in the 2004 Athens marathon when, leading the race at around the 35km mark, he was attacked by a crazy Irishman. He recovered but fell back to third place and ended up getting the bronze.
A note on the flame from the organizers: ?The Brazilian cauldron breaks with a tradition of cauldrons that produce a large volume of fire. This cauldron is intentionally small and low emission. Symbolically the small flame answers the call to reduce warming caused by polluting gases. With what we know today, it is no longer possible to burn tons of gas and consider it beautiful.?
The climax continues with magnificent fireworks continuously exploding from the Olympic rings. President of the Rio 2016 committee Carlos Nuzman said: ?I am talking to the whole planet! We welcome you to Rio, the Olympic city. We stand to deliver history. The Olympic dream is now a wonderful reality.?
A record number of countries are participating in a record number of sports. 11,239 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), including first time entrants Kosovo and South Sudan, joined the Games. With 306 gold medal events, the games will feature 28 Olympic sports including new sports rugby sevens and golf, which were added by the International Olympic Committee. These events will take place at 33 venues in the host city and at 5 venues in the cities of S?o Paulo (Brazil's largest city), Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Bras?lia (Brazil's capital), and Manaus.
These are the first Summer Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach. Rio became the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics and the second in Latin America since 1968, the first being done in Mexico. The preparations of these games have been marked by controversies including the political instability of the country's federal government, as well as health and safety concerns involving the Zika virus and the considerable pollution in the Guanabara Bay, as well as a doping scandal involving Russia which has affected the participation of its athletes in these Games.
The Olympic sports with the corresponding gold medals are the following: Archery (4), Athletics (47), Badminton (5), Basketball (2), Boxing (13), Canoeing (16), Cycling (18), Diving (8), Equestrian (6), Fencing (10), Field Hockey (2), Football (2), Golf (2), Gymnastics (18), Handball (2), Judo (14), Modern Pentathlon (2), Rowing (14), Rugby Sevens (2), Sailing (10), Shooting (15), Swimming (34), Synchronized Swimming (2), Table Tennis (4), Taekwondo (8), Tennis (5), Triathlon (2), Volleyball (4), Weightlifting (15), and Wrestling (18).
The participating nations with the corresponding number of athletes are the following: Afghanistan (3), Albania (6), Algeria (67), American Samoa (4), Andorra (5), Angola (25), Antigua and Barbuda (9), Argentina (213), Armenia (33), Aruba (7), Australia (421), Austria (71), Azerbaijan (56), Bahamas (28), Bahrain (35). Bangladesh (7), Barbados (12), Belarus (121), Belgium (108), Belize (3), Benin (6), Bermuda (8), Bhutan (2). Bolivia (12), Bosnia and Herzegovina (11), Botswana (12), Brazil (465) (host), British Virgin Islands (4), Brunei (3), Bulgaria (51), Burkina Faso (5), Burundi (9), Cambodia (6), Cameroon (24), Canada (314). Cape Verde (5). Cayman Islands (5), Central African Republic (6), Chad (2), Chile (42), China (413), Chinese Taipei (60), Colombia (147), Comoros (4), Congo (10), Cook Islands (9), Costa Rica (10), Croatia (87), Cuba (120), Cyprus (17). Czech Republic (105), DR Congo (4). Denmark (122). Djibouti (7), Dominica (2), Dominican Republic (29), Ecuador (38), Egypt (120), El Salvador (8), Equatorial Guinea (2), Eritrea (12), Estonia (45), Ethiopia (34), Federated States of Micronesia (5), Fiji (51), Finland (56), France (395), Gabon (6), The Gambia (4), Georgia (39), Germany (425), Ghana (14), Great Britain (366), Greece (95), Grenada (6), Guam (5), Guatemala (21), Guinea (5), Guinea-Bissau (5), Guyana (6), Haiti (10), Honduras (26), Hong Kong (38), Hungary (160), Iceland (8), India (124), Indonesia(28), Iran (64), Iraq (23), Ireland (77), Israel (48), Italy (309), Ivory Coast (12), Jamaica (68), Japan (333), Jordan (8), Kazakhstan (104), Kenya (89), Kiribati (3). Kosovo (8), Kuwait (9), Kyrgyzstan (19), Laos (6), Latvia (34), Lebanon (9), Lesotho (8), Liberia (2), Libya (7). Liechtenstein (3), Lithuania (67), Luxembourg (10), Macedonia (6), Madagascar (6), Malawi (5), Malaysia (32), Maldives (4), Mali (6), Malta (7), Marshall Islands (5), Mauritania (2), Mauritius (12), Mexico (125), Moldova (23), Monaco (3), Mongolia (43), Montenegro (34), Morocco (51), Mozambique (6), Myanmar (7), Namibia (10), Nauru (2), Nepal (7), Netherlands (242), New Zealand (199), Nicaragua (5), Niger (6), Nigeria (75), North Korea (35), Norway (62), Oman (4), Pakistan (7), Palau (5), Palestine (6), Panama (10), Papua New Guinea (8). Paraguay (11), Peru (29), Philippines (13), Poland (243), Portugal (92), Puerto Rico (42), Qatar (38), Refugee Olympic Athletes (10), Romania (97), Russia (271), Rwanda (8), Saint Kitts and Nevis (7), Saint Lucia (5), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (4), Samoa (8), San Marino (5), S?o Tom? and Pr?ncipe (3), Saudi Arabia (12), Senegal (22), Serbia (104), Seychelles (10), Sierra Leone (2), Singapore (25), Slovakia (51), Slovenia (61), Solomon Islands (3), Somalia (2), South Africa (137), South Korea (205), South Sudan (2), Spain (306), Sri Lanka (9). Sudan (6), Suriname (6), Swaziland (2), Sweden (152), Switzerland (104), Syria (7), Tajikistan (7), Tanzania (7), Thailand (46), Timor-Leste (3). Togo (5), Tonga (7), Trinidad and Tobago (32). Tunisia (61), Turkey (103). Turkmenistan (9), Tuvalu (1), Uganda (21), Ukraine (203), United Arab Emirates (13), United States (554), Uruguay (17), Uzbekistan (70), Vanuatu (4), Venezuela (87), Vietnam (23), Virgin Islands (7), Yemen (4), Zambia (7), Zimbabwe (31).
The parade of nations started with Greece, the birthplace of the Olympics. Host Brazil marched as the last contingent and was the most applauded as expected. A team of refugees also got one of the loudest cheers. They are the athletes, with no team, no flag, no national anthem, as they represent people from war-torn countries worldwide.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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