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LIVE: Olympic Games Opening Ceremony, Photos, videos, live updates from Rio 2016

5th August, 2016
Start time: 9am AEST
Lighting the Olympic flame: Pele
Location: Maracana Stadium, Rio de Janeiro
Australian Flagbearer: Anna Meares
Five years after Brazil we finally have another Olympics (Photo: Twitter)
Expert
5th August, 2016
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7571 Reads

The greatest show in sport has arrived. The Olympic Games Opening Ceremony is upon us, and we’re here to follow every great photo, video and piece of action live.

Follow us for updates and all the best from around the web from 9am AEST.

All the talk in the lead-up to the Rio Games has been negative. But the Opening Ceremony gives the host nation the opportunity to put on the complete spectacle celebrating everything about the country.

Who could forget the one the London Games put on? And while the 2016 version has just a fraction of the budget that the London one did, it still promises to be a unique celebration of everything Brazilian.

The 31st Olympic Games will be brought to life at the Maracana Stadium in Rio, and there will be plenty of dancing, waving of ribbons and confetti as we usher in the first Games to be held on the continent of South America.

Always kept tightly under wraps, we’ll update this live blog with the best photos, videos and other notable updates from the Opening Ceremony.

We can finally forget about the Russian doping scandal and the development delays that have plagued the lead-up to the even, as athletes from the 206 competing nations (plus a refugee team) are ready to compete in 31 sports over two-and-a-bit weeks, watched by billions.

The budget for all four ceremonies was just over $53 million, meaning we might not get the grandiose spectacle of Games gone by. But the tips are in for what we might rightly expect.

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It’s probably going to be a little smaller – focussing less on theatrical effects and more on individual performers. There’s even a tip Katy Perry is going to show up, so we’ll wait for that one.

Samba is expected, being one of the cultural pinnacles of Brazil, and the ladies performing it are tipped to be very good looking, another thing Brazil is famous for.

We’re also expecting Pele to be there to light the Olympic torch. One of Brazil’s best ever athletes was one of the best footballers we’ve ever seen, but there are concerns as to whether he’ll make it due to health concerns.

Some flagbearers of note include Australia’s Anna Meares, Rafael Nadal for Spain and Michael Phelps for the USA.

Let’s find out together! Join us for the Opening Ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, as we cover it live from 9am AEST.

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