Live results from day one | Full schedule for opening day in Rio
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All times are Rio: add four hours for UK, 13 for eastern Australia; subtract one hour for east-coast US, four for west-coast US
nick.ames.casual@theguardian.com on email. Tweet @NickAmes82
4.31pm BST
Chris Froome's media relations not always the best but BBC's @Natpirks saved his backside by reminding him to register for race today
The road race continues for another three hours or so, but for Froome it could have been over before it began...
4.30pm BST
Ireland now3-1 down to India in the hockey by the way. I should have learned from last time, but I haven’t, so I’ll say that is probably them done.
4.25pm BST
Because @NickAmes82 asked about our office views. pic.twitter.com/6vTtWMP0Uj
Not quite sure this is going to make for varied entertainment, but I’ll give you this one. You’re not getting a view of mine; a small element of mystique must remain.
4.23pm BST
Full-time in the sevens, 29-3 to Great Britain, job done in a reasonably convincing way. Next they play Japan this evening (UK time), and Canada tomorrow. Those two will face each other shortly.
4.22pm BST
There’s all kinds of excitement in the still-packed media marquee for the men’s road race. An unknown journalist sitting across from me has just purchased a large plastic bowl of over-priced leaves and what look like very small hard-boiled eggs, which he is currently attempting to negotiate with a plastic fork that doesn’t appear up to the task due to a lack of rigidity.
Meanwhile out on the course, there’s about 125 kilometres to go and the six-man breakaway lead the bunch by 4min 35sec. Jarlinson Pantano (Colombia), Michael Albasini (Switzerland), Pavel Kochetkov (Russia), Simon Geschke (Germany), Sven Bystrom (Norway) and Michal Kwiatkowski (Poland) are the men in the escape party.
4.20pm BST
Great Britain starting to run a few tries in now, over at the sevens. It’s now 24-3, which gives things a rather better complexion.
4.17pm BST
I’ve just arrived at the end of a path at the end of a track, over a bridge, under another bridge, across a field, up a sandy incline, past a small hamlet, down an endless straight boulevard at the end of a two-and-a-half-hour journey from central Rio, at what is surely the most distant of all these Olympic venues. Behind the doors there are other doors. And at the end of it all, beneath a searing sun, accompanied by a few other haunted looking pilgrims, there’s the Olympic shooting, and next up the men’s 10m final at 3.30pm Brazil time.
The first medal of the games has already been won here. America’s Virginia Thrasher got the gold in the women’s 10m air rifle. She’s talking to the press right now looking utterly elated. Next to her Du li, who got the silver, looks devastated.
4.15pm BST
Tidings from the lake: GB men’s double sculls pair John Collins and Jonathan Walton have finished fourth in their heat, so will be relying on the repechage to reach the last four. It was a fun race, though, New Zealand beating Azerbaijan on a photo finish.
4.11pm BST
Brazil are giving Great Britain a game in the rugby sevens; it’s currently 7-3 to Team GB. There’s slightly more positive news for Ireland in the men’s hockey, meanwhile – they’ve pulled one back against India and are 2-1 down in the third quarter.
4.08pm BST
More from the boxing. The Italian lightweight, Carmine Tommasone, the first of three professionals admitted to the tournament, was the fourth bout up on day one of what is going to be a gruelling fortnight for the world’s best “amateur” boxers. After three entertaining rounds of no little skill, Carmine got the nod over a disappointed Mexican, Lindolfo Delgado. The middle round, which went against popular sentiment and to the Italian, was the only contentious spell.
For those who trust AIBA’s president, Dr Wu, this is supposed to be the future of boxing, with all participants, fully paid, partly paid and hardly paid at all, drawn under the same umbrella. Critics ask, what’s the hurry? The decision was sprung on the sport only a few months ago (Chris Eubank Jr expressed an interest in putting on a vest again, only to be told Antony Fowler, the Great Britain captain had already taken the spot he was after).
Meanwhile, on goes Tommasone. If he ends up on the podium, Dr Wu will no doubt take a bow, too.
4.05pm BST
Full story from Sean on that early drama in the rowing – really interesting read, this:
Related: Serbian Olympic rowers sink in ferocious conditions on Rio waters
4.02pm BST
Rugby sevens action! Great Britain are now in action against Brazil in the women’s competition. I’ll be having a good look at this. GB could definitely use an early win against theoretically far inferior opponents, although they’ve been a bit scrappy so far and it’s scoreless.
3.56pm BST
The IOC is apparently going to investigate reports from last night that Lebanese athletes blocked their Israeli counterparts from getting on the same bus to the opening ceremony. More when – and if – we get it....
3.54pm BST
News on that earlier incident in the lake:
Official ruling from rowing executive committee: sunken Serbians will be allowed to enter repercharge. Normally a DNF means you are out
3.54pm BST
The view from Russia House. Must have been hard to decide on numbers for catering purposes. pic.twitter.com/PtKuby7nd8
3.53pm BST
More good news for followers of British rowing. Kath Grainger, the remarkable 40-year-old who is defending a double sculls title, is safely through into the semi-final along with her partner Vicky Thornley. Could a fifth Olympic medal be on the cards for Grainger?
3.49pm BST
Heather Watson should be playing Shuai Peng in the women’s tennis in the next hour – we’ll have a beady eye on that.
3.46pm BST
Ireland 2-0 down to India in the men’s hockey now. Do get involved here, with your emails and such. Anything grabbed/thrilled/concerned you early on day one?
3.44pm BST
Keeping an eye on the road race, which still has four hours – 147km to be precise – or so to go. Currently heading through a wooded, hilly area with a good sprinkling of people shouting encouragement from the side.
3.42pm BST
More rugby sevens is happening, and it won’t surprise you that New Zealand’s women are 21-0 up against Kenya at the break.
3.38pm BST
From the rowing: British men’s pair Stewart Innes and Alan Sinclair have finished second in their heat, securing a place in the semi-finals. The French ran away with it, though.
3.36pm BST
There’s some judo news too. Team GB’s Ashley McKenzie, competing in the men’s -60kg, is through to the last 16 after beating Turkey’s Bekir Ozlu. Next up for him though ... it’s only the world champion, the Kazakh Yeldos Smetov.
3.33pm BST
Some early boxing news. Birmingham’s Galal Yafai, the youngest of three fighting brothers, is through in the light-fly division, impressive in a unanimous win over a willing Cameroonian, Simplice Fotsala. That’s the good news. The not-so-great news is Yafai’s next opponent will almost certainly be a Cuban.
3.33pm BST
The view from back of press centre at mens road race. Not bad. #rio2016 pic.twitter.com/nJbhVImQDA
How’s the view from your office?
3.30pm BST
That first men’s hockey match has finished Argentina 3-3 Holland, and a belter it was.
3.26pm BST
In the hockey, Argentina have just been penalised for having too many players on the pitch ...
Ireland’s men are also playing hockey. They’re a goal down to India.
3.25pm BST
Full story on Virginia Thrasher’s historic moment:
Related: Virginia Thrasher wins first gold medal of Rio Olympics for USA in 10m air rifle
3.23pm BST
Meanwhile in the men’s rowing...
Serbia have capsized! Never seen that at an Olympic Regatta before. Conditions look extremely difficult #Rio2016 #rowing
3.21pm BST
Did I say Holland seemed to have done the job at 3-1 against Argentina in the men’s hockey? I did, and I was very silly indeed. It’s now 3-3, and this match keeps on giving.
3.17pm BST
Worth paying good attention to Barry’s update below for some excellent colour from the cycling. Meantime, I have the women’s rugby sevens match Andy mentioned in front of me. It’s currently 24-7 to France and the fast-moving nature of proceedings is certainly enthusing a boisterous-sounding crowd.
3.14pm BST
The media centre at the road race is packed, with a lot of excitable Colombians here jabbering into microphones for the benefit of the folks listening to the radio back home. Alternatively, it may just be the same two Colombians wandering around different places to jabber into microphones. They seem to be everywhere. Out on the course, the early climbs seem quite attritional and there’s worse to come later. The riders have just picked up some much-needed refreshments and the peloton seem fairly unconcerned by the six-man breakaway. Ian Stannard is doing a good tow on the front of the bunch for Team GB, while Chris Froome is also up there along with Geraint Thomas.
There’s a long stretch of cobbles to be negotiated on each circuit of the Grumari and one of the Turkish riders came a nasty cropper on the first circuit. I don’t know if he continued to race, but last time I saw him he was flat on his back, covered in dust, looking very sorry for himself and getting treatment for a cut on his cheekbone. Steve Cummings seems to be many of the British journalists’ idea of a dark horse. That’s the same Steve Cummings who was a late replacement for Peter Kennaugh, and who – as recently as a month ago – was calling on Team GB coach Rod Ellingworth to resign due to a conflict of interest over his role with Sky. Cummings, who rides for Dimension Data, felt he was originally overlooked for a place on Britain’s Olympic team because Sky riders were getting preferential treatment. Considering his excellent form this year, it’s difficult to disagree with that assessment.
3.12pm BST
Big story here from Owen Gibson:
Related: All Russian athletes to be banned from Paralympic Games in Rio
3.08pm BST
Hardly anyone turned up this morning to see Austrians Clemens Doppler and Alexander Horst lose 2-0 to the Italians in the beach volleyball. The 12,000 capacity grandstand was no more than 10% full when the men christened the sand in the Copacabana arena at 10am local time. Brazilians are not known for their timekeeping — they have a special phrase they deploy when they actually want you to turn up at an anointed hour: English Time. But maybe they didn’t fancy paying R$100 (£24) to watch a sport they can see for free on the beach outside any day of the week.
That the grandstand is standing at all is reason to celebrate. Five weeks ago not oneseat had been installed, with unseasonably cold weather and high winds causing waves to crash in from the Atlantic right onto the construction site. The builders hadonly just left on Friday night when police were called amid reports of a bomb threat, which saw robotic bomb detection devices used to establish there was nothing to worry about.
3.05pm BST
A little bit of Olympic history at the Deodoro Stadium, where the first ever women’s Olympic rugby match has just kicked off. France are playing Spain. There are around 200 people here. They were treated to a reset scrum in the very first minute, the intricacies of which will, I’m sure, have won over many new fans.
3.03pm BST
Holland now lead Argentina 3-1 in the hockey, which should be enough for them.
3.02pm BST
Now that some medals are on the board, you’ll not want to let this out of your sight:
Related: Rio Olympics 2016 – medal table and results in full
3.01pm BST
Women’s handball result: Brazil 31-28 Norway. Cheers and smiles everywhere.
3.00pm BST
There are hugs, soft words, tears. Thrasher came from nowhere there. “It’ll take a while,” she says, presumably referring to the sinking-in process. What a lovely way to start Rio 2016 off.
2.58pm BST
What a performance from the unheralded 19-year-old American in the women’s 10m air rifle! She sees off Du Li, who had been brilliant in qualifying, and makes an indelible mark on Rio 2016. Congratulations to her – that’s a genuine surprise from the world No23.
2.56pm BST
Not sure about the background music while the competitors shoot. Can’t help, can it? Certainly hasn’t done anything for Yi Siling – she has to settle for bronze and is Rio 2016’s first confirmed medalist!
2.53pm BST
Thrasher is just 19 and it’d be quite something to beat the Chinese pair here. And that’s the trio who will shoot out for gold: Thrasher, Du Li and the champion Yi Siling. We have our medalists; now who will be our first winner?
2.50pm BST
Nope, Vdovina is out of the 10m – dropping all the way to fifth. We now have a confirmed top four, with the USA’s Virginia Thrasher in the lead.
2.48pm BST
Huge queue of maybe a kilometer to get into beach volleyball this morning. Empty seats in venue. Brazil play in 30!! pic.twitter.com/FviMFgg4cu
An early teething problem or two perhaps. This isn’t one the locals will be keen on missing.
2.44pm BST
After 10 shots, Russia’s Daria Vdovina leads the 10m air rifle. We couldn’t see an early shock here, could we?
2.40pm BST
@NickAmes82 Netherlands 1 - 1 Argentina : Half-Time
Some really good early matches between big names in the team sports, so far.
2.37pm BST
Norway really are keeping Brazil honest in the women’s handball; it’s 21-19 to the hosts at the moment.
2.34pm BST
The women’s 10m air rifle final shouldn’t be far away. Defending champion Li Siling only just scraped it this far, I gather, while compatriot Du Li set the first Olympic record of Rio 2016!
2.28pm BST
@NickAmes82 Netherlands 1-0 Argentina In Field Hockey
Another event that’s underway – the London 2012 men’s silver medalists off to a good start in their first game.
2.26pm BST
“Greetings from the men’s road race media centre at Forte Copacabana, a fortified (obviously) sticky-out bit of headland on the intersection of Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, with two big eff-off guns pointing out to sea and protecting the harbour.It’s hot but not too hot here, there’s a nice sea breeze and the scenery is absolutely stunning.
“Colombia’s Jarlinson Pantano has thrown down the gauntlet early doors and is in a breakaway group of five riders that have opened a gap of 7min 55sec on the peloton. Tom Dumoulin has already dropped out, unable to go for long with his fractured arm. Bad news for him, but good news for Chris Froome’s time trial chances.”
2.25pm BST
Beach volleyball is that most Rio-ish of sports and it’s underway here. Currently on my screen is Austria v Italy in the men’s event. Once again the location is impossibly pretty, right on the Copacabana. The Italians lead 13-9 at the moment.
2.20pm BST
Serbia levelled up the water polo right at the end! 13-13. Serbia will be relieved, although they’d been expected to win. Hungary may kick themselves, having been leading for most of the game against the favourites. From the chunks I watched, that was really rather entertaining. Next up in this competition: USA v the Olympic champions, Croatia!
2.18pm BST
Dumoulin’s retirement was planned to give him the best shot possible for the time trial, I am told – he’s well favoured for that. Thanks to those who’ve fleshed that one out for me.
2.10pm BST
Half-time in the handball – Brazil are 17-16 up, though it’s tight. The game has gone off at a nice pace. Always nice to watch more of sports like these, which (I personally find) are essentially pretty enjoyable but rarely seen over here, at the Games.
2.07pm BST
An early casualty in the road race, regrettably – Holland’s Tom Dumoulin had to retire a few minutes ago. He’d been struggling with a fractured wrist.
2.02pm BST
The water polo is a bit of a thriller, Hungary looking as if they’d get away, Serbia clawing them back before the Hungarians edged 11-9 up with one of the four quarters to play. These two big hitters are serving up an early treat.
1.58pm BST
These Games’ first gold medal, by the way, will be awarded in that women’s 10m air rifle event. It begins in about half an hour.
1.52pm BST
The women’s handball is underway and Brazil are 8-6 up over Norway in front of a perky crowd. I found myself at a live handball game in Iceland a few months ago. My conclusion: wouldn’t want to be a goalkeeper.
1.49pm BST
Thanks very much to Adam Hirst, who has just emailed me his own run-through of the road race course. He’s Rio-based and clearly knows a thing or two, so it’s well worth a read.
1.42pm BST
Sadly, Jen McIntosh is out of the 10m air rifle, finishing 15th with a score of 414.7. It must be a strange feeling, that – being eliminated pretty much as soon as the Games have begun. Not scoffing, just observing; not sure many of us will ever be 15th best in the world at what we do.
As an addition to this – she does get a bite of the 50m cherry on Thursday ... so all’s not lost.
1.38pm BST
The breeze in the cycling is an offshore one, apparently, which should lessen the severity of those climbs a bit. They’re currently going along at sea level, though, adjacent to golden sands peopled by a sprinkling of sunbathers. King’s Cross is almost as nice this afternoon.
1.34pm BST
Hungary 8-5 up in that water polo, by the way. On a similar but less watery note, the Brazilian women’s handball team will shortly get that competition underway against Norway. There’s table tennis in a bit, too, and it’s starting to feel like an Olympics – where you dabble, pick, mix and feast upon a mixture of excellence and curiosity.
1.30pm BST
And off they go! It’s quite a sight and, again, some backdrop. We’ll keep you up with developments.
1.30pm BST
Barry is there too, and they’re about to get going...
Three minutes to go. 247.5km the distance with 14 climbs.. It's hot pic.twitter.com/DG5f08u2yz
1.29pm BST
Steve Cummings, Ian Stannard, Geraint Thomas and Adam Yates are the other Britons taking part, by the way – Froome is certainly not the only show in town, and although an individual race this is very much a team effort in which the bigger guns are given careful support.
1.24pm BST
I say “focus on” – we’ll be going back and forth, of course, as the road race doesn’t exactly get sorted out within minutes. It’s 247.5km long and, over a similar distance at London 2012, was won by Kazakhstan’s Alexander Vinokourov in five hours, 45 minutes. So if you’re in Rio, that’s a finish at 3.30pm-ish; in London, tune in around 7.30pm for the conclusion.
1.17pm BST
In situ for the cycling – which we’ll focus on once it’s begun.
There are worse spots for a finish line. pic.twitter.com/oNptmNAG9D
1.12pm BST
There is British interest in the women’s shooting, by the way, with Jen McIntosh competing as we speak. Can she finish in the top eight of qualifying and progress? She was 24th early on, so it’s not looking great, but I’ll let you know if she rallies.
1.10pm BST
I never really liked swimming much at school, but tolerated it whenever we were allowed to play water polo at the end – probably because it was the nearest thing to football that you could do in a pool. Serbia v Hungary is already pretty entertaining, the Hungarians taking an early 3-2 lead and pressing for another.
1.08pm BST
Campbell wins his heat! He’s through to the quarter-finals and that is very much an early case of Job Very Well Done.
1.03pm BST
Now for Alan Campbell’s rowing heat as he makes his piece of history. It’s underway ...
While that race develops, check this out as it’s great – our virtual audio tour of Rio to take while you’re on the go. Pokemon is so last month:
Related: RioRun: take a virtual audio tour of Rio de Janeiro as you go
12.59pm BST
Some water polo is about to start, meanwhile. It’s the men’s competition and Serbia, highly fancied for gold, face regional rivals Hungary. Keeping half an eye on it for you.
12.58pm BST
Hannes Obreno, of Belgium, has won that third rowing heat by the way.
12.56pm BST
More rugby sevens reading for you here – this, from Martin Pengelly on the challenges facing the US team, is worth your time:
Related: Olympic sevens fuels search for next generation of American rugby talent
12.53pm BST
We’ve already had a first Iraqi men’s single sculler in these heats; now there’s a Libyan debut in heat three, with Alhossen Qanbor racing.
12.48pm BST
Drysdale won that heat by a long way, incidentally. I’m sure we’ll be seeing and hearing plenty more of him as this competition develops.
12.47pm BST
Really think rugby sevens could be a surprise hit at these Games. Here's a piece with the GB women's team. https://t.co/LYBt5OBUjV
Make sure you read this from Owen. The sevens start at midday Rio time for Team GB, with the small matter of a game against Brazil.
12.44pm BST
New Zealand’s Mahe Drysdale, the Olympic champion, is currently stretching out in the second heat. The lapping of water, the golden early morning Rio light, it’s a highly pleasant start to proceedings here.
12.38pm BST
The first winner of ... errr ... anything at Rio 2016, then, is Cuba’s Angel Fournier Rodriguez, who came first in that men’s single sculls heat, pursued by rowers from Mexico and India. Don’t be alarmed – Campbell wasn’t in this one.
12.34pm BST
Twenty-two of the 32 competitors in this event are making their Olympic debuts. That’s something, no? The first three from each heat go into the quarter-finals; the next three enter a repechage.
12.32pm BST
And they’re off in the first rowing heat – the Games have begun! Have to say, the setting is spectacular; water backed by verdant mountains, what’s not to enjoy? Of course we don’t quite know what lies beneath.
12.29pm BST
Team GB’s representative in the upcoming men’s single sculls will be setting a record. Alan Campbell will become the first sportsperson from Northern Ireland to take part in four Olympics – can he emulate, or improve on, his own bronze from London 2012? We should get an indication shortly.
12.21pm BST
The tennis starts in around two and a half hours’ time, by the way. No Andy Murray today but Kyle Edmund and Heather Watson will be in action, with Watson also playing in the doubles with Johanna Konta and another pair, Dom Inglot & Colin Fleming, also out on court later.
12.17pm BST
Have you read this yet? William Fotheringham sets the scene nicely for Froome’s medal bid this afternoon:
There has been no course this tough for an Olympic road race in recent memory. The limitations of the host cities tend to mean truly demanding climbs are impossible to include. The profile of the Rio course is different. The eight short steep climbs of Grumari and Greta Funda will do some damage early in the 237.5km but the decisive moves will be made on the eight-kilometre ascent of Vista Chinesa, tackled three times in the final 80km.
The Rio course looks comparable with one-day Classics such as Liège-Bastogne-Liège, but not quite as tough as a major mountain stage of the Tour de France, while the 12km flat run-in to the finish in Fort Copacabana will favour anyone with either sprinting ability or tactical nous who can get over the climbs.
12.14pm BST
Also in a quarter of an hour or so: the qualifiers for the women’s 10m air rifle. The gold medallist at London 2012 was China’s Yi Siling.
12.05pm BST
Afternoon all. John’s warmed you up beautifully there for the first sport of the Games – discounting the football, of course – so let’s crack on. First up, in 20 minutes’ time or so, are some heats in the men’s single sculls – that’s rowing of course. So we’ll be right up with the best news from that, but the big early story will be the men’s cycling road race at 9.30am Rio time (1.30pm UK ), in which Chris Froome makes an appearance. What are you looking forward to this afternoon? There are 12 golds on offer today, all in all.
11.59am BST
Right, time for a change here. I’m stepping away and Nick Ames will take you through the rest of the morning in Rio – he’ll be delivering the first of the action but remember the blog continues throughout the day, taking in everything from day one of the Games.
11.42am BST
With Rio beginning to wake up it’s probably a good time to remind you of what is coming up today:
Related: Rio Olympics 2016 – full events schedule
11.33am BST
You’ll be pleased to hear our team in Rio is attempting to get to the bottom of what nobody is calling KayakSofagate. If they discover anything, we’ll let you know.
11.13am BST
Cracking stuff here from Les Carpenter on the Russell family’s final Olympic hope:
Inside a little house on Omaha Street, not far from the border of Washington DC, a father still clutches his Olympic dream. Gary Russell is a boxing man who wanted a family of boxing men who would win a pile of Olympic medals. And so he and his wife Lawan had six sons and he named them all Gary Russell because a great boxer, George Foreman, named his children after himself. Only their middle names distinguished them. Then he trained them to be fighters, coaching them all in the basement of the house on Omaha Street because they were Russells and they didn’t need gyms with rings and punching bags to win. They had each other.
He gave their boxing family a name: “Enigma.” It fit them, he thought. They would be different than everyone else. Nobody was going to figure them out.
Related: Boxing: Gary Russell aims to realize Olympic dream that eluded his brothers
11.02am BST
The BBC in the UK are currently showing a replay of the opening ceremony. You can relive it by reading Tom Lutz’s minute-by-minute report:
Related: Olympics opening ceremony 2016: Rio kickstarts the Games – as it happened
10.51am BST
How are Team GB’s Super Saturday trio going to get on in Rio? Sean Ingle presents Super Saturday II: the Quickening. (Which as a tagline, only really works for Mo Farah and for a couple of Jess Ennis-Hill’s events. “Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water” would be rather apt for Rio if only they competed in some sort of aquatic event …).
Related: Super Saturday the sequel: Ennis-Hill, Farah and Rutherford aim for gold repeat
10.34am BST
There hasn’t been a great deal to gladden the heart in the buildup to the Games, but here’s a feelgood story you may have missed: how the kindness of strangers got Darrell Hill’s dad to the Games:
Related: Uber driver makes it to Rio to see his son compete thanks to passenger's kindness
10.25am BST
One of the more intriguing overnight rumours from Rio is the report of a kayaker being capsized after hitting a submerged sofa during training. No one has been able to verify the story, though of course that hasn’t prevented the creation of a Rio Kayak Sofa Twitter account.
10.17am BST
The first medal dished out at the Games will be the women’s 10m air rifle. Who’ll be the first to top of medal table? China in all likelihood, with Yi Siling, the 2012 winner, and Du Li among the favourites. Andrea Arsovic could give Serbia an early spell in the spotlight – she won the European Championship this year.
9.49am BST
Fancy some more reading as we wait for Rio to wake up? We’ve got you covered:
Related: Britain invests and expects as Team GB aims for masses of medals in Rio
Related: 100 Olympians to watch at Rio 2016
Related: From helplessness to hope: inspirational tales of the Refugee Olympic Team
9.29am BST
Residents of Mangueira, a favela overlooking the Maracanã Stadium in Rio, had a decent view of the Olympic Games opening ceremony fireworks:
9.17am BST
Team GB’s big hope today comes in the men’s road race. Much of the focus is on Tour de France winner Chris Froome but a one-day race is a very different beast to a stage race. Today’s spin around the roads south of Rio will be more akin to a spring Classic. It even has a few cobbles thrown in. So Steve Cummings, Adam Yates and Geraint Thomas will all fancy their chances of getting a medal – Thomas has said they’ll decide on a de facto team leader during the race. Given the parcours I’d suggest any member of that trio actually has a better chance of success than Froome.
The route – hilly enough to persuade Peter Sagan to try his hand in the mountain biking instead – will suit Alessandro Valverde and Vincenzo Nibali, who have both been targeting this race, and I have a sneaking suspicion Wout Poels will be to the fore. The top climbers will look to ramp up the pace on the climbs to eliminate the one-day dangermen – riders like Dan Martin, Phillippe Gilbert and Zdenek Stybar – before the flat section at the finish.
8.50am BST
As you would expect, there are some staggering images of last night’s opening ceremony. Here are a few of the best:
Related: Rio Olympics 2016: opening ceremony – in pictures
8.47am BST
I should point out that Guardian live blogs over the course of the Olympics will be a 24/7 affair. Every day of the Games will be covered live for 24 hours by our offices in London, New York and Sydney, with a new blog launching at 7am BST each day. For some of the bigger events we’ll be running separate blogs – for example, our US team will be covering USA v France in the women’s football and USA v China in the men’s basketball later today – but in general these daily live blogs will be your key calling point for all our Olympic coverage.
8.36am BST
A slightly unusual thing to look out for in the swimming later today (the first heats begin at 1pm in Rio, 5pm BST): the world’s elite swimmers will be watched over by lifeguards. “It is a Brazilian law that any public pool over a certain size has to have lifeguards,” Ricardo Prado, the sport manager for aquatics, told Reuters. “We wish we didn’t have them either [at the Games] but we have to have them.”
8.29am BST
Given that it’s 4.30am in Rio, you’ve got time to catch up on some of the things you might have missed yesterday.
8.01am BST
The Olympics, of course, brings to the forefront a few sports that the world tends to be less than familiar with. Handily our video team are here to explain all, kicking off with beach volleyball:
7.44am BST
Owen Gibson and Jonathan Watts were also in the stadium to report on the ceremony and the final day of buildup in Brazil:
Related: Rio 2016 opening ceremony a mix of pared patriotism and climate concern
7.43am BST
If you missed last night’s opening ceremony, you can watch some video highlights here (UK only):
And so we’re off. Eight years, two discredited presidents and an endless smear of negative publicity in the making, Rio 2016 finally juddered into life with an opening ceremony that was at times delightful, at others a little rickety and home-made.
Let’s face it, nobody likes opening ceremonies. Even Danny Boyle’s wonderful pageant of decline and whimsy and creative nostalgia at London 2012 was basically a lot of things going on for a long time before some sport was allowed to happen, albeit redeemed on that occasion by the genuinely rare achievement of not being brain-achingly mundane, facile, or clogged with schmaltz.
7.29am BST
It’s finally here. After the interminable, sometimes chaotic, buildup, it’s time for the sport to take centre stage (which it has been for a day or two if you’re a footballer, but anyway …) Today their are actual real-life medals up for grabs, the first of which will come in the women’s 10m air rifle at around 10.30am (2.30pm BST).
Related: Rio Olympics 2016 – full events schedule
11.53pm BST
Welcome to day one of the Games, with Rio having just drenched us in all in the trademark colours, sights and sounds you’d expect of a South American opening ceremony, but also, rather more awkwardly, a long and rather bleak lecture about the perils of climate change. In a fascinating bait and switch move, the Brazilian organisers promised us MacGuyver but served up an entirely different kind of American hero: Al Gore.
There was a lot to take in but we did our very best.
We’re sorry, Dame Judi Dench. We’ll try not to drop litter, or massively multiply as a species, or exist as captive consuming proles. All of which seems to annoy you.
Among the boffins with their virtual medal tables, Gracenote has predicted that Team GB will hit third with a haul of 56. At Wolverhampton University, Professor Alan Nevill’s mathematical formulae has predicted they will fall just short of their target with 46.
These Games of the XXXI Olympiad may never have come at a more desperately necessary time for the United States. Not since Mexico City 1968 has the US team left behind a country in deeper turmoil and division – and a population more in need of 17 days of respite.
The Lords of Winterfell!! #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/ByTUIwbvjG
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