It's been three days since the world witnessed a spectacular Olympic opening ceremony hosted by Brazil. Spreading a theme of saving the environment, Rio took center stage when millions of people tuned in from all corners of the globe to watch the opening ceremony of the greatest sporting spectacle on earth, the first time the games will be hosted in South America. 

So how did it all start? The early Olympic Games were celebrated as a religious festival from 778BC until 393AD when the games were named for being a pagan festival as the Olympics celebrated the Greek god Zeus. In 1894, a French education Baron Pierre de Coubertin proposed a revival of the ancient tradition and thus the modern day Olympic Summer Games were born. 

The Olympics in Rio was not short of controversy with the Brazilian government on the brink of collapse and people protesting about the approximate 10.24 billion Euros being spent on the Olympics. Even on the opening night there were anti games supporters who were protesting outside the Maracana stadium in Rio. However all that aside the games which will run for a total of 16 days will see around 16,000 athletes competing in 306 competitions across 42 different sports. 

For the first time in over 100 years, golf is back on the Olympic roster. It last appeared in 1904 in Sr. Louus, Missouri. Golf’s top four players will not be competing as they have cited the Zika virus as their reasons for not attending putting a rather damp squib on the sport. Also making a maiden appearance at Rio 2016 is Rugby Sevens with both the USA women’s and men’s teams touted as medal contenders. 

Rio will be the first games to feature Olympic athletes born in the year 2000 with the youngest athletes largely being gymnasts. The youngest competitor is Nepal’s 13 years old Gaurika Singh competing in the 100m backstroke while the oldest competitor is New Zealand’s Julie Brougham at 62 years will be competing in the dessage. For the first time in history a team of 10 refugees will be competing in the games under the Olympic Flag. The Refugee team includes athletes from the Kakuma refugee camp in Kenya, two Syrian swimmers, two judokas from the Democratic Republic of Congo and a marathon runner from Ethiopia. In unison they will stand as a symbol of hope for refugees worldwide and will compete as the Refugee Olympic Team. 

Feeding the athletes is a mammoth task and the organisers predict they will prepare 60,000 meals per day to feed the atheletes. The meals will include Brazilian staples like rice and black beans and barbecued meat along with tapioca and Amazonian superfood acai. Let's hope the Sri Lankan team has taken enough seeni sambol and a few green chillies to satiate their chillie cravings! 

70,000 volunteers mostly from Brazil, USA, UK, Russia and China amongst other countries will help ensure the smooth running of the games while 85,000 soldiers and policemen will be deployed to ensure the games are safe from incidents. 

“Vinicius” is the mascot the 2016 games. A yellow and blue creature representing Brazilian wildlife, Vinicius resembles a cat or a monkey that can fly and has the power to stretch its limbs and body. It is named after Bossa Nova musician Vinicius de Moraes, one of the writers of “The Girl from Ipanema” It is hoped that Vinicius will help the games raise USD 398 in merchandising.