Let the games begin

Tourists and residents cheer the successful host of the 31st Summer Olympics taking place in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro at Copacabana beach, Thursday. Beginning with the opening ceremony at Rio’s Maracana Stadium, Saturday morning (KST), the 17-day sporting drama will run through Aug. 22. / Joint press corps

Team Korea takes aim for 10 gold medals

By Baek Byung-yeul

The 2016 Summer Olympics start with a glittering opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, early Saturday morning (KST).

The three-hour opening ceremony of the first-ever Olympics hosted in South America will be attended by more than 70,000 spectators, 11,000 athletes and world leaders packing the famous stadium, along with an expected TV audience of 3 billion from around the world.

Despite all the ongoing problems in the host city, all attention will shift to the athletes who will begin their quest for gold in the world’s biggest sporting event.

In the 17-day sporting drama, athletes from 206 countries plus a team of refugees will compete in 31 events.

Fernando Meirelles, Brazilian film director, who is in charge of the opening ceremony, said the ceremony will be a chance to have a glimpse of the host city’s charm.

“It is very contemporary, very pop. And, of course, it is Brazil, the music is good, and whatever we are showing may not be huge but it looks good and is in good taste. We have heart and I think that is enough,” the Oscar-nominated director said in an interview with the Rio 2016 Olympics website.

The ceremony has taken five years to produce including 300 dancers, 5,000 volunteers and 12,000 costumes.

Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen and British actress Dame Judi Dench are confirmed to have roles in the production before the 207 competing teams take their parts in the “Parade of Nations.”

South Korea is fielding 204 athletes competing in 24 sports in a bid to clinch at least 10 gold medals to finish in the 10th place of the medal tally.

With fencer Gu Bon-gil carrying the national flag, the South Korean delegation will be the 52nd to appear during the Parade of Nations.

The entrance order has been determined in alphabetical order in the language of the host country ― Brazilian Portuguese. Greece will be the first one to appear and the refugee Olympic team will be the penultimate with the host Brazil bringing up the rear.

The South Korean delegation got off to a great start as its men’s football team defeated Fiji by a whopping 8-0 margin in the preliminary group match, Friday.

South Korea's medal hunt is expected to begin on Sunday as sharp shooter Jin Jong-oh will try to defend his 10 meter air pistol gold medal.

The Korean archers’ campaign for gold starts with the men's team competition on Sunday. South Korea has won three of the past four Olympic gold medals in that event. The men’s team is comprised of Kim Woo-jin, Ku Bon-chan and Lee Seung-yun.

Park Tae-hwan, who won a legal battle to have the Korean Olympic Committee (KOC) ban on him lifted, will seek redemption, going for his third straight medal in the 400 meter freestyle. The 2008 Olympic champion earned silver in 2012.

South Korean judokas will continue their quest for medals Tuesday as An Chang-rim and Kim Jan-di will compete in the men’s 73 kg and the women’s 57 kg events.

In the meantime, it remains to be seen whether Brazil could wrap up the Games without suffering any incidents as the host city still faces a variety of issues ― terrorism, the Zika virus, police threatening to strike, the rise of crime and environmental issues amid the impeachment process of the Brazilian president.

Still, organizers hope the opening ceremony which will be imbued with samba rhythms will lift the mood throughout the nation and send a message of tolerance and care for the environment.

“The message that should be taken home from the ceremony is the importance of tolerance,” said Meirelles, the event’s creative director.