It all began in 2009 when the “chance to bring the Olympics to a continent that had never hosted the Games worked in Rio’s favor. During its presentation, the bid team showed a graphic of the world and marked all the places that have held an Olympics. South America was glaringly bare.” – (http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/03/sports/03olympics.html?_r=0), (http://www.mapsofworld.com/sports/olympics/trivia/host-cities-of-olympics.html

Image source: Wikipedia

Host city motto – Um mundo novo – a new world (Portuguese)  Other Olympic related mottos also exist.

“Rio will become the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics [and Paralympics]. These will be the first games to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country, the first to be held entirely during the host country’s winter season (the 2000 games began on 15 September – five days before the Southern Hemisphere’s vernal equinox), the first since 1968 to be held in Latin America, and the first since 2000 (and third overall) to be held in the Southern Hemisphere.” – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2016_Summer_Olympics

Olympic mascots have been a part of the games since about 1972, depending on who you ask. The games in Rio are no exception, as seen here, reported by the BBC.  The Rio mascots’ official home can be found at https://www.rio2016.com/mascots/#!home.

Image source:  https://www.rio2016.com/mascots/#!home

Ahead of the Olympics, check here for key facts about the 206 participating countries in four venues. You can read about the games in at least four languages and follow the games here.  Follow the torch from here and learn its hidden secrets.  You can also get a Google street view of the games.

Image source:  http://www.bbc.com/sport/olympics/36084489

The competition venues will be clustered in four zones – Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro and Maracanã – and connected by a high-performance transport ring. Nearly half of the athletes will be able to reach their venues in less than 10 minutes, and almost 75 per cent will do so in less than 25 minutes.

Mystery and meaning                     Image source:  http://rio2016olympicswiki.com/rio-2016-olympic-torch-unveiled-photos-videos/126/

NBC is providing a full schedule of the Olympics.  The official source of Olympic news is also available now and here you can download the full athletics timetable for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

See one view of how Olympic medal data can explain the world.

Featured stories and a Philadelphia connection:

 PhilaU Textile Engineer Mark Sunderland Designs Innovative Rowing Suits for Rio Olympics

‘Symbol of Hope’: Refugee Team Named for Rio Olympics

First male swimmer to make five Olympics

 Triple threat at the Olympics

Rio Olympics will have some of the smartest sports cameras ever

Testing for Doping at Rio

Metric minded – Countries that are more gender equal in important ways enjoy greater athletic success at the Olympic Games, an effect that holds not only for female but also for male athletes. – The robustness of the win–win effect. – (PsycINFO (ProQuest))

Google Street View of Rio will allow fans to follow the games closely.

Images  for the above list are located within the stories.

Gaming the Olympics! Design your own Olympic Games:

Create stories, games and animations and more.

Cautions:

Zika virus information from the World Health Organization.

CDC – current situation directives

A Harvard commentary.

Footnote to the games:

Future games news

Dig deeper

2016 Rio Summer Olympics – Lexis Nexis Academic

Political Handbook of the World (Sage/CQ Press)

ProQuest Central

Latin American Periodicals Tables of Contents

Hispanic American Periodicals Index (HAPI)

Brazil Arquivo Nacional

Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)

Olympic materials from the Falvey catalog

Merrill Stein is the Geography/Psychology/Education librarian. Office:  Room 221. Phone:  610-519-4272.