Rio Games Get Rolling with Jam-Packed Day of Competition

(ATR) The men’s road race at Fort Copacobana kicks off a busy day of competition in Rio de Janeiro on Saturday.

Elite cyclists take to the Rio streets for a grueling 241-kilometer journey at 9:30 a.m., a race which could determine the first gold medalist of the Games.

Top contenders include three-time Tour de France champion Chris Froome of Great Britain and two-time Giro d’Italia winner Vincenzo Nibali of Italy.

An early gold medal is also targeted in the women’s 10m air rifle final at the Olympic Shooting Center in the Deodoro zone. Men will follow chasing medals of their own in the 10m air pistol event.

In what is believed to be an Olympic first, eight-time Olympian in shooting, Nino Salukvadze of Georgia will compete alongside her 18-year-old son Tsotne Machavariani.

The 47-year-old Georgian shooter achieved gold and silver medals as a 19-year-old in Seoul 1988 and 20 years later added bronze to her collection in Beijing 2008. She is still going strong and her teen-aged son appears to have a promising future as well.

Twenty-one sports in total will get underway across Rio’s four venue clusters on a day in which temperatures are expected to soar up to 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit).

Few Brazilian athletes will be watched at the Rio Olympics as closely as Rafaela Silva, the 2013 world champion in judo.

The 23-year-old judoka grew up in Cidade de Deus, Rio’s famously violent favela. She’ll begin her quest for an Olympic medal just five miles from her home as competition begins on Saturday.

Men’s gymnastics qualifications are on tap at the Rio Olympic Arena in the afternoon. By the end of the day, the top eight nations of 12 overall qualify for the team final and the best 24 gymnasts competing on all six events will punch their ticket for the all-around final.

Swimmers will vie for four sets of medals at the Olympic Aquatics Stadium in the evening concluding with the women’s 4x100m freestyle relay. The first relay race of the Games should prove to be a dual between traditional powerhouses U.S. and Australia.

Written by Brian Pinelliin Rio de Janeiro

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