Gary Hall was the first at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
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They include familiar faces such as Katie Ledecky, already the best female swimmer in the world at age 19, and Carmelo Anthony, who is seeking his third gold medal in men’s basketball.
The torch rode the waves into Rio on Thursday in the hands of veteran Brazilian surfer Rico de Souza, a day after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced surfing – a major pastime in Brazil – would be one of five new sports included in the 2020 Olympics.
“Athens was about the classics, Beijing was grandiose and muscular, London was smart, and ours – ours will be cool”, said Fernando Meirelles, the director who made a Rio slum famous in the film “City of God”.
McLaren, the man whose report lit the fuse, is another who is upset with the IOC’s actions.
“There were health challenges, environmental challenges, wherever you look, there were huge, huge challenges, if not a deep crisis”, the International Olympic Committee president said.
Bach said all worldwide sports federations had to be informed before a final list could be released.
Russia entered 389 athletes but many competitors implicated in last month’s bombshell World Anti-Doping Agency report, which uncovered state-backed drug cheating, have been eliminated by sports federations.
Hundreds of Russian athletes are in Brazil for the Games, which officially begin Friday.
Some delegations, including Australia and Britain, have said that many of their athletes will miss the four-hour extravaganza at the Maracana stadium to concentrate on their events.
Earlier Thursday, The International Boxing Association confirmed that all 11 Russian boxers registered for the Games had been cleared to compete by the IOC panel. Overall, more than 100 Russians have been excluded, including 67 in track and field. It is unclear whether she will be competing for the Russian team or as an independent athlete.
“As you think about the way that the marketplace has matured, it’s harder and harder for marketers to get attached to premium content. And obviously, with something as sought-after and high profile as the Olympics, they want to get attached to that content and follow the consumers that are interacting with that content, no matter what screen”. “No athletes from any country… had the rules changed to bar those previously guilty of doping”.
The decision may have come as a relief to those who had been preparing for years to participate in the world’s most prestigious games.
“We have received documents on the admission of about 270 sportspeople, now we need to do the updated counting”, Alexander Zhukov, the head of the Russian committee said.
Several ambitious plans to transform Rio have long since been abandoned, including a pledge to clean up the city’s filthy Guanabara Bay.
Speaking Tuesday, Bach called for a complete overhaul of the anti-doping system.
“Advertisers are exceptionally bullish about these games”, Winter said.
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WADA spokesperson, Ben Nichols, told CNN Wednesday, meanwhile, that his organization had been consistent in recommending an all-out ban that was supported widely by governments, athletes and the public. But Nichols added that WADA can only make recommendations and has to respect the final decision of the IOC.
