This years Summer Olympics is being held from August 5 - 21 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is also known as the XXXI Olympics. This particular Olympics is making history because it is the first one held in a South American country. The first!!!!!!.There are other interesting things to know about this Olympics that made me think and realize that somethings take a while. The torch began its journey on April 21st and is due to arrive in Rio on August 5th. After running through and around Greece, the torch went to Switzerland and on to Brazil on May 3rd. It is being taking all around Brazil, through 300 villages and cities, being carried by 12,000 people. It begins in Brasilia and ends in Rio.
I honestly had been thinking the torch would be taken on board ship so it could make its way over, sort of like it might have been in the 30's but I woke up to the fact this is the 21st century so it traveled by plane.
More facts!
1. This is the first time the games are being held in South America.
2. The torch began its journey on April 21, 2016.
3. The games expect 10,500 athletes from 206 countries to participate in 306 events.
4. Rugby with seven players on a side is debuting at this Olympics - both men and women. Apparently, the United States are the defending champions as we won the last game back in 1924 before it was eliminated and there were 15 players on a team then.
5. Golf is returning after a 112 year absence. It was last an Olympic sport in 1904.
6. A team of refugee athletes will be competing under the Olympic flag for the first time.
7. There are 7.5 million tickets being sold. They range in price from $40 for some swimming events to $3000 for the best seats of the Opening ceremony.
8. The kitchen staff will be providing 60,000 meals per day to the athletes.
9. There will be 33 different venues in four different districts of Rio.
10. Some of the football games will be held in cities other than Rio. Note that football in this case is probably soccer.
11. The Olympic Village covers 185 acres with space for 17,700 beds in almost 9500 apartments in almost 50 buildings. Each apartment has three to four bedrooms.
In 1984 Los Angeles games, the soccer was held outside the greater LA area, the venues were: Stanford Stadium (Stanford, Ca), Harvard Stadium (Cambridge, MA) and Navy-Marine Corps Stadium (Annapolis, MD)
ReplyDeleteWow, all over the country. Thank you so much for sharing that. Cool.
DeleteI think it is too bad that the first South American Olympics have been troubled by the problems in Rio and the Zica virus. It puts a damper on what should be a glorious celebration. Thanks for sharing at the Blogger's Pit Stop.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by. Yes, the closer we get, the more things we hear about Rio and I'm glad I'm not going but I can watch on the Television. Thank you for your comment.
DeleteYou might enjoy this Olympic post: http://csuhpat1.blogspot.com/2016/08/los-angeles-memorial-coliseum.html
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