Rio 2016: the Olympic gaming event

O lympic is a tradition, the Olympic games that are governed by the International Olympics committee are held every four years in different countries. This year the event is being hosted in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; hence the event name Rio 2016. The event is expected to run from 5th August to 21st August 2016. The event that is open to all countries in the world has attracted more than 11,000 athletes from the active 206 national Olympic committees. This includes the new entrants; South Sudan and Kosovo. The Olympic games feature about 28 sporting activities that include golf and rugby that were added in 2009. At the end of the event, 306 sets of medals will have been awarded to respective winners. The different games are being held in 33 venues within the host city; Rio and 5 venues that are located in a city known as Sao Paulo in Brazil. Rio 2016 is the first summer Olympic gaming event to be held under the presidency of Thomas Bach. Moreover, Rio has made history as the first South American city to ever host the Olympic games. However, the lead up to Olympics in Rio de Janeiro was characterized by controversies such as; federal government instability in Brazil, health concerns due to the outbreak of Zika virus and doping scandals that seem to have hit Russia most. Russia was suspended provisionally from all international athletic competitions by the IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) due to the WADA report that implicated a doping program in the country. Nonetheless, individual Russian athletes can apply for exceptional eligibility and participate in international games as neutral athletes. Despite all the controversy, Brazil has proven to be the best place ever for Olympics. The opening ceremony was colorful and great to watch. In addition, the security within Rio has been beefed up since there are no serious crimes or insecurity cases that have been reported so far. [Photo: itv.com]