The World's largest International sporting event, Olympics 2016 has begun today and NewsDistill will keep you abrest with latest news and live updates on Rio Olympics 2016.
The game was first played on Olympia Mountain in 776 BC on April 5, 1896 in Greece, thus the name Olympics originated.
In modern day Olympics is held every four years, thousands of players from 200 nations take part in the game. The last Olympic was held in London in 2012 and now it is held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The city won its bid in 2009, beating out Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo.
Highlights of Rio Olympics 2016
# Mascot 'Vinicius'
This year Rio Olympic mascot is named Vinicius, a yellow and blue creature representing Brazilian wildlife. It resembles a cat or monkey that can fly and has the power to stretch its limbs and body. It is named after musician Vinicius de Moraes.
# Ticket and Preparation
Around 75 lakh tickets are sold with price ranging from $40 for few events to almost $3,000 to get the best view seat especially during the opening ceremony. Till date, the most popular events are basketball, volleyball, soccer etc. Around 60,000 meals will be prepared every day for the athletes. Along with this, for the security of the athletes, almost 85,000 soldiers and Policemen are deployed for the gala event. This is almost twice the size of security during London Olympics 2012.
# Budget
You will be surprised to hear that Brazil is spending nearly $ 38.7 billion on the Olympics at a time when Brazil is facing major financial crunch. Many have criticized as wasteful spending.
# Number of players
The Olympics is the biggest sporting event in the world. In 2016 Olympics, more than 10,500 players from 206 countries across the globe are participating in the event.
# Participation of New Countries
Currently, 206 countries are participating in Olympics. For the first time countries like Kosovo and South Sudan will participate in the Olympics.
# Addition of new games
This year will witness 28 games in the Olympics. They include basketball and badminton. Baseball and softball have been eliminated. Golf has once again returned this Olympics. For the first time Rugby Sevens has been included.
# Medal with a voice
This year the medal will have a voice. It will be for the first time, a medal will have device installed for voice. Around 2488 Olympic gold, silver and bronze medals have been designed, out of which 812 gold medals, 812 silver medals and 864 bronze medals. No mercury has been used to manufacture gold medal. Silver and Bronze medal have been manufactured with 30% recyclable materials. In addition to that the highlight is that the ribbons for the medal have been created by recycling plastic bottles.
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