NBC will begin its prime-time coverage with an hour-long preview Thursday night, and will televise the opening ceremony on Friday.
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“We think it’s unfair that some Russian athletes like Yelena Isinbayeva and Shubenkov, who have never been accused of doping, are not allowed to compete this time”, Zhukov said. They protested as the Olympic torch passed through the city on its way to the Opening Ceremony.
YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty ImagesBrazilian sailor Isabel Swan (C) holds the Olympic flame as she sails aboard a yacht during the olympic relay from Niteroi to Rio de Janeiro, on August 3, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. International Olympic Committee members also grilled organisers over long security checks, notorious Rio traffic jams and funding.
But a brutal recession, double-digit unemployment, fears about the mosquito-borne Zika virus, embarrassing infrastructure stumbles and a political crisis that led to the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff have all but extinguished the euphoria that greeted the vote victory.
The IOC decided not to ban Russia’s entire Olympic team over evidence of state-sponsored doping, leaving any decision on the matter to the worldwide sports federations.
The reason Rio and Brazil are struggling isn’t because of economic or organizational weakness.
Fans of the national team watched the game in the rehabilitated Praça Mauá square by Rio’s port, home to a new museum and water-front promenade built for the Games.
Bach and the IOC will hope that the Olympic rings can retain enough of their luster to convince a skeptical Brazilian public to fully embrace the games, which cost an estimated $12 billion.
As environmental, construction, transportation and security problems mount, some International Olympic Committee members say they’ll be wary of staging another Olympics in the developing world.
Be sure to tune in on Friday for one of the most exciting events in the Olympic cycle – you definitely don’t want to miss this one.
“They’re masquerading everything”, the 36-year-old said.
RIO DE JANEIRO With a little bit of chaos and a last-minute sprint on preparations, Rio de Janeiro was ready on Friday to revel in a moment seven years in the making: the opening of the Olympic Games.
If the Olympics are to survive, the event must get smaller and truer and less costly.
Organizers of the Winter Olympics in 2022 in Beijing are promising that everything is already on track for the country’s second Olympics, building on experience from the Summer Games in 2008.
CAS rejected the athletes’ appeal to be granted direct entry into the games, saying it was now up to the global rowing and swimming federations to decide whether to let them in or not.
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“We are all looking forward to tomorrow’s opening ceremony, and the athletes and sport taking over”, said Bach. “In every country, there are always problems with politics and poverty, but in general, it’s a lovely country with attractive people and I hope the Olympics brings that to light”.
