A Mexican delegation of 126 athletes will march proudly behind the national flag at the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympic Games on Friday, August 5, at 6 p.m.
The bandera will be carried by 29-year-old Daniela Campuzano, the first mountain biker to represent Mexico at an Olympic Games. Mexico will have representation in 26 of the 28 sports included in the two-week long sporting festival, which ends on Sunday, August 21.
The most realistic chances of gold medals for the Mexican delegation, which comprises 81 men and 45 women, will come in the taekwondo, diving, walking and soccer competitions. Four years ago in London, Mexico won one gold (soccer), three silver and three bronze medals.
The United States will travel with games’ largest contingent – 555 participants – and will expect to head the medals table, probably slightly ahead of China.
Canada is also taking an impressive number of participants to Rio – 313. Other delegations with sizable numbers include Brazil (465), France (414), Australia (410), Germany (404), China (403), Great Britain (366) and Japan (330). Eleven of the 207 participating nations will be sending teams consisting of just one competitor. Among these are Afghanistan, Burkina Faso, Malawi, the Marshall Islands and Kiribati.
Viewers tuning in expecting to see a high-tech opening ceremony in Rio’s landmark Maracana Stadium next Friday may be disappointed.
According to film director Fernando Meirelles, one of the creative collaborators of the ceremony, it will emphasize “originality” over “luxury,” and “compensate with creativity, rhythm and emotion.”
Meirelles said he would be “ashamed to waste what London spent (in 2012) in a country where we need sanitation, where education needs money … I’m happy to work with this low budget because it makes sense for Brazil.”
Organizers have confirmed that a reenactment of Rio’s famous Carnaval celebration will be included in the opening ceremony.
The lead up to the Rio games have been plagued by endless reports of controversy, not least the threat of Zika virus contagion.
Zika was first identified in Brazil in early 2015 and provoked a call for the games to be moved or called off. However, only a few athletes have decided to miss the games due to health concerns and a recent study from the Yale School of Public Health concluded that the risk of becoming infected with Zika was negligible. The study revealed that between three and 37 people out of a possible 500,000 visitors might be expected to go home with Zika.
A major reason why scientists are playing down the Zika threat is that the mosquito population reaches its lowest numbers during the Brazilian winter, when the Olympics and Paralympics will be held. In addition, Rio de Janeiro authorities have made a huge effort to fumigate the city for mosquitoes prior to the arrival of athletes and visitors.
Although the new Olympic Stadium will be in prime condition, organizers admit that a few of the venues will lack finishing touches as the games get underway. As teams arrived in Rio this week, the athletes’ village was also experiencing problems, with some delegations threatening to relocate, citing water leaks, poor plumbing and other infrastructure issues.
Doping also garnered headlines in the build up to the games, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) deciding not to impose a complete ban on Russia, instead tasking individual global sports federations with the responsibility of electing which athletes should be cleared to compete. The IOC rejected calls from the World Anti-Doping Agency and dozens of other anti-doping bodies to exclude the entire Russian Olympic team following allegations of state-sponsored cheating.
The IOC has banned any Russian athlete who has ever been sanctioned for doping from participating in the Rio games.