The 2016 Olympics are in full swing in Rio de Janeiro and everyone’s excited to see how their country’s athletes will perform and who will win an Olympic medal. Here are 12 facts about this year’s games that you simply have to know.
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Rio de Janeiro won its bid in 2009 and is the first South American city to host the Games; Africa is the only continent to have never hosted the Olympics
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2. This is the first Olympics in 112 years to include golf, which hasn’t been an Olympic sport since the 1904 Olympics
3. It’s also the first Olympics in 92 years to include rugby, which was last played at the 1924 Olympics
4. A total of 10,500 athletes from 205 countries are taking part, including, for the first time, a team of refugee athletes who are competing under the Olympic flag
5. More than 130,000 people, many of whom are volunteers, are working to make the Olympics work
6. This is the first Olympics to feature athletes born after the year 2000
7. The Olympic mascot, Vinicius, is a mixture of Brazilian animals, while the Paralympics mascot, Tom, is a mixture of Brazilian plants
8. Around 7.5 million tickets have been made available, though many seats at popular events have remained empty
9. The oldest competitor is 62-year-old Julie Brougham from New Zealand, who’s competing in dressage
10. The youngest competitor is 13-year-old Gaurika Singh from Nepal, who’s competing in the 100m backstroke
11. The US has the largest team with 556 athletes taking part, while Tuvalu has the smallest team, with just one athlete competing
12. It’s estimated that organisers have to prepare around 60,000 meals a day for the Olympic athletes
