Unbelievable facts
The Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil begin on August 5 and will run until August 21, 2016.
The opening and closing ceremonies will take place at the Maracanã Stadium, and during the games, about 16,000 athletes will compete for 306 medal events in 42 sports.
More than 1.6 million foreign tourists visit Rio de Janeiro every year. It is the most visited city in Brazil, as in 2015 alone, about a million tourists came to Rio for the carnival.
Read also: Interesting facts from the history of the Olympic Games
Here are some interesting facts you wanted to know about the 2016 Olympics.
2016 Summer Olympics
1. For the first time in history, the Olympic Games will be held in South America. Rio de Janeiro was voted for in 2009, leaving behind cities like Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo.
2. The Olympic torch relay began on April 21 in the birthplace of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece, passing through Brazil in just over 90 days and ending in Rio de Janeiro on August 5.
3. The opening and closing ceremonies will take place at Maracana Stadium, which holds the record for the largest number of football fans.
Although it currently has a capacity of about 78,000 people, it was able to attract 173,000 fans during the 1950 World Cup final. The final of the 2014 FIFA World Cup was also held here.
Read also: The 15 most serious Olympic scandals
4. It is expected that about 10,500 athletes from 206 countries will take part in the Olympics, competing for 306 medal events.
5. The competition will take place in four different zones: Copacabana Beach, where beach volleyball competitions will take place, Barra da Tijuca, where the Olympic Park is located, and Deodoro, where Water sports competitions, the BMX Olympic Center and equestrian centers will be held, as well as in Maracana, where there are two major stadiums.
Sports at the 2016 Olympics
6. Golf will return to the Olympics after a 112-year hiatus. The International Olympic Committee has decided to re-include this sport, which was last held in 1900 and 1904.
7. For the first time, Olympians born in 2000 will participate in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
According to the rules, athletes born before January 1, 2003 can take part in competitions, but some sports have different age restrictions. The youngest participants are likely to compete in sports such as gymnastics and diving.
8. A team of athletes who were forced to leave their country will take part in the competition. The IOC said that about 5-10 members of the refugee team will compete under the Olympic flag.
9. The mascot of the 2016 Olympics is Vinicius, a yellow-blue character representing Brazilian wildlife.
It looks like a cat or monkey that can fly and stretch its limbs and body.
It was named after Brazilian musician Vinicius de Moraes, who became one of the authors of the famous bossa nova composition “The Girl from Ipanema”. The organizers hope that the mascot will help them raise 1 billion reais ($398 million) from the sale of goods.
10. A total of 7.5 million tickets are available for the Olympic Games, ranging from $40 for some swimming events to almost $3,000 for the best seats for the opening ceremony.
The most popular competitions are football, basketball, volleyball and handball.
11. The organizers plan to cook about 60,000 meals a day to feed the athletes. Traditional Brazilian dishes such as rice, black beans and grilled meats, tapioca, cheese buns and acai berries will be offered.
2016 Olympic participants
12. 70,000 volunteers are expected to participate in the 2016 Olympics, mainly from Brazil, the United States, Great Britain, Russia and China.
13. About 85,000 soldiers and police officers are involved in the Olympics, the largest security group formed for the event in Brazilian history, in two times more than the security forces that attended the 2012 London Olympics.
14. The organizing committee gave taxi drivers in Rio de Janeiro the opportunity to sign up for free online English courses.
15. The motto of the Rio Olympics was “Viva sua paixão”, which means “Live your passion”.