Finally we leave! After the inaugural party yesterday the Rio de Janeiro Olympics is ready to go live with what matters most: the athletes' competitions. They will obviously be the real protagonists of a festival awaited all over the world, yet another unmissable appointment in a summer that has already given us the European Championship in France.
This time, however, football, despite being one of the sports in the competition, will not be the master. Of course, the presence of Neymar and the "gold curse" of Brazil (which also started between the whistles after the 0-0 with South Africa), will make that interesting too but the Olympics, as we know, bring other athletes and other sports to the fore.
The list of stars present in Rio is long and ranges across all disciplines. Impossible not to start from Usain Bolt, unanimously recognized as the fastest man in the world. The Jamaican is on the hunt for what would be his third consecutive hat-trick (100m, 200m and 4×100m), a feat that would further propel him to the top of sporting history.
Same place it rightfully belongs to Michael Phelps, already absolute record holder with 18 Olympic gold medals: the American swimmer will try again in the 100m and 200m butterfly, in the 200m medley and 4×100m freestyle, all races in which he obviously starts as the favourite.
You think of the Olympics and basketball comes to mind, especially the US national team. The times of the Dream Team are long gone (LeBron and Curry withdrew, Kobe Bryant withdrew) but coach Krzyzewski's team will still be able to count on Kevin Durant, called to drag his teammates to conquer the third consecutive gold after those in Beijing and London.
And then there's tennis, another sport full of world-famous stars. Of course, Roger Federer's absence is not one that goes unnoticed but Novak Djokovic (hunting for the first gold of his career), Andy Murray (holder of London 2012), Rafa Nadal and Serena Williams (overwhelming favorite in the women's circuit) are still a nice sight.
All eyes will also be on cycling, where Chris Froome will be looking for medals both in the road race and in the time trial and the couple Mark Cavendish and Bradley Wiggins will try to give further satisfaction to the British national team.
It's Italy? Don't worry, we haven't forgotten ours at all, who arrived in Rio with the aim of defending (and perhaps improving) the haul of 28 medals (8 golds, 9 silvers and 11 bronzes) won in London 4 years ago. Spotlights on, just like yesterday during the opening ceremony, come on Federica Pellegrini, looking for redemption after the last bad Olympics and ready to do battle on Tuesday night in the 200m freestyle, a race that already earned him the gold in Beijing 2008. The other blue stars in the pool will be Gregorio Paltrinieri, very favorite in the 1500m freestyle and eager to take the first Olympic medal of his career and Tania Cagnotto, whose dreams of glory, however, will have to deal with the Chinese Wu Minxia, a true diving legend with 4 gold medals in Athens, Beijing and London.
One of the sports from which we expect the most triumphs is definitely fencing: Aldo Montano, Andrea Cassarà, Elisa Di Francisca, Arianna Errigo, Rossella Fiamingo… Needless to say, a real battery of champions who want to give us endless joy. The same one we present in cycling, where it stands out Vincenzo Nibali: the Shark does not start as favorite but has no intention of giving up without a fight.
We will also try in boxing, where the maximum Clement Russo he will fight to erase the bitterness of Beijing and London (defeated in the final on both occasions) and the welterweight Vincenzo Mangiacapre to improve on the bronze conquered 4 years ago. And then there are hopes, those that can give unexpected joys and perhaps, for this very reason, even more beautiful. Water polo (Settebello and Setterosa), volleyball (coach Bonitta's girls are interesting), canoeing (eyes fixed on Manfredi Rizza), high jump (with Tamberi knocked out it will be up to Fabrizio Donato and Alessia Trost to attempt the feat), golf (again at the Olympics after 112 years, our star is Matteo Manassero) and archery (chips on Marco Galiazzo, already gold in Athens). In short, there really is something for all tastes: for the next 17 days, therefore, it is better not to make any commitments…
