Rio Olympics 2016: how to watch, live stream, schedule, and what to expect

Friday, August 5, marks the start of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

For months, people questioned whether the games would actually take place. Would the Olympic Park be ready in time? Would the Zika virus prove too dangerous for the athletes and spectators? Would the political turmoil and economic collapse bring the entire event to a standstill?

But now those questions come to an end as athletes, tourists, dignitaries, and journalists from around the world gather in Rio to kick off two weeks of sporting competition, in an Olympic Games expected to draw billions of viewers worldwide.

The 2016 Olympics will run from August 5 until August 21 and will feature 42 sports, 306 total events, 136 medals for women, and 161 medals for men. About 10,500 athletes are expected to compete at the Olympics in Rio, including the first Olympic team composed entirely of refugees.

Here is a guide to the next two weeks:

How to watch:

More than 2,000 hours of Olympic events are scheduled to air over the course of the next two weeks. While not all events will be aired on TV, NBC is slated to stream an additional 4,500 hours of Olympic coverage on its website, with concurrent streams for competitions going on at the same time. However, after a 30-minute grace period, NBC will require users to log on with their TV provider.

Rio 2016 also has an official YouTube page with clips.

The schedule:

Opening ceremony: Friday, August 5, at 7 pm Eastern at the Maracanã Stadium (NBC will stream the show at a one-hour delay on the East Coast, at 8 pm Eastern, and at a four-hour delay on the West Coast, at 8 pm Pacific)

While most of the events will start on or after the opening ceremony, the Olympic games kicked off on August 3 with soccer. The US women’s soccer team won its Olympic opening match against New Zealand. (The US men’s soccer team failed to qualify for the Olympics this year.)

The much-anticipated women’s gymnastics all-around final is scheduled for Thursday, August 11, at 3 pm Eastern.

Closing Ceremony: Sunday, August 21, at 7 pm Eastern at Maracanã Stadium

Here is the full schedule of sporting events.

What to expect:

The 2016 Rio Olympics comes at a difficult time for Brazil. As Vox’s Libby Nelson explained, Brazil is in a much different place than it was when it won the Olympics bid in the late 2000s. Then it had a growing economy and a shrinking unemployment rate. Since that time, the country has entered the worst recession in its history; the president, Dilma Rousseff, is awaiting impeachment trials for campaign finance corruption; and the country’s political foundation is still recovering from a separate, even larger multibillion-dollar corruption scandal involving many top government figures (not to mention the recent spread of Zika plaguing South America).

But even with these obstacles, and many others associated with building an Olympic Park from the ground up, the Rio Olympics also brings some high points: the introduction of the first refugee team, with 10 athletes from conflict zones across the globe competing in judo, swimming, and track and field; the introduction of rugby sevens to the Olympics; a final go at Olympic gold from American swimming favorite Michael Phelps; and a much-anticipated gymnastics matchup between 2012 American Olympic gold medal winner Gabby Douglas and first-time American Olympian Simone Biles.

As the first South American country to host the Olympics, Brazil has a lot at stake. But with all the problems that have plagued the country in the runup to the games, expectations are low. And that might very well play in its favor.

Rio Olympics: Australia refuse to move into athletes village

Australia are refusing to move their athletes into the Rio Olympic Village because of concerns about the state of their accommodation.

Problems include "blocked toilets, leaking pipes and exposed wiring", according to team boss Kitty Chiller.

Chiller said she had raised concerns with local event organisers and the International Olympic Committee, and was "pushing hard for a solution".

Australian staff are in nearby hotels with the first athletes due on Monday.

Alternative accommodation for team members arriving over the next three days has been arranged.

The $1.5bn (£1.14bn) 31-building village has tennis courts, football pitches, seven swimming pools and will house 18,000 athletes and officials at the height of the Games, which start on 5 August, less than two weeks away.

Chiller, the head of Australia's Olympic delegation, said extra maintenance staff and more than 1,000 cleaners have been engaged to fix the problems but the faults, particularly the plumbing issues, have not been resolved.

She said in a statement on the Australian Olympic website: "Due to a variety of problems in the Village, including gas, electricity and plumbing, I have decided that no Australian team member will move into our allocated building.

"Problems include blocked toilets, leaking pipes, exposed wiring, darkened stairwells where no lighting has been installed and dirty floors in need of a massive clean."

Organisers have conceded there have been "teething troubles" and promised that crews would be "working 24 hours a day until the issues are resolved".

But Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes responded to Australian criticism by saying the Village is "more beautiful" than Sydney for the 2000 Games and that he was about to put "a kangaroo jumping outside" to "make them feel at home".

SHOCKING! Star wrestler Narsingh Yadav fails dope test, Rio participation doubtful

Barely 10 days before the start of the Olympics, India suffered a huge embarrassment as 74kg freestyle wrestler Narsingh Yadav failed a dope test conducted by NADA, a development which has cast doubt on his participation in Rio Games.

Narsingh was selected for the Rio Olympics in controversial circumstances.

National Anti-Doping Director General Navin Agarwal confirmed that Narsingh's 'B' sample also tested positive for a banned steroid and he appeared before a NADA disciplinary panel on Saturday.

"Yes, he (Narsingh) tested positive for a banned steroid. His B sample was also found to be positive. Narsingh was personally present when his B sample was opened," NADA DG told PTI on Sunday.

"He appeared before a disciplinary panel yesterday. The panel sought for more reports regarding the matter. We will proceed further and I am hoping that the panel will proceed quickly. Till then we will have to wait," he added.

Asked if Narsingh will miss the Rio Olympics, Agarwal said, "It is too early to comment in that regard. We will try to complete the whole thing quickly. I cannot speculate on that."

Interestingly, Narsingh was selected for the Rio Olympics in controversial circumstances as double Olympic medallist Sushil Singh had also staked his claim to represent the country in 74kg freestyle.

But Narsingh was favoured as he had earned the Olympic quota in the World Championships last year.

Narsingh had to fight a lengthy legal battle with two-time Olympics medallist Sushil, also in the same category, to get the chance to compete for India at the Olympics.​

Cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar to fly to Rio for meet the Indian Olympic squad

Indian cricket icon Sachin Tendulkar will travel to the Rio Olympics after being invited by International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach along with other eminent global personalities.

Tendulkar, who is an Indian Olympic Association goodwill ambassador, will leave for the Brazilian city on August 2 and also meet the Indian contingent during his trip.

“This will be Tendulkar’s first visit to the Olympics games. He would be leaving for Rio de Janeiro on 2 August, during his visit he would also be meeting the Indian contingent to wish them well for the games,” a source close to Tendulkar said.

“Sachin recently visited the government hospital in Mumbai to get a yellow fever vaccination which is mandatory for countries like Brazil,” he added.

Tendulkar, who underwent a knee surgery in London recently, is expected to be reasonably fit to travel to Rio and is keen to go there to support Team India.

His trip to Rio comes amid speculation that cricket could be included in the 2024 Games roster.
In his role as goodwill ambassador with the IOA, Tendulkar met the Rio-bound Indian wrestling contingent -- comprising Narsingh Yadav, Vinesh Phogat, Babita Kumari, Sakshi Malik, Ravinder Khatri, and Hardeep -- and also posted videos on his facebook page, profiling the athletes who have qualified for the Games.

Tendulkar is also an active member of the Parliament’s upper house -- the Rajya Sabha.

Rafael Nadal makes Rio Olympic entry list

Paris - Spanish superstar Rafael Nadal was included on the entry list for the Olympic Games tennis tournament on Friday after appealing to the International Tennis Federation (ITF).

The 14-time Grand Slam champion had not met the qualifying criteria, which involves a set number of Davis Cup appearances in an Olympic cycle, for next month's Games in Rio.

World number four Nadal hasn't played since a wrist injury forced him to withdraw from the French Open and also ruled him out of Wimbledon.

Nadal was the gold medallist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics but missed the 2012 London Games because of a knee injury.

He is due to carry Spain's flag at the opening ceremony in Rio on August 5.

Reigning champions Andy Murray and Serena Williams will defend their Olympic titles on the Rio hard courts, the ITF had already confirmed.

Top stars including world number one Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer are also playing in Brazil.

However, Maria Sharapova misses Rio due to her doping suspension as does fellow former world number one Victoria Azarenka who revealed Friday that she is pregnant.