Rio News

facebook

twitter

Home > The 31st Summer Olympic Games, Rio > Rio News

2016 Rio Olympics Open with Grand Ceremony

[News] l 2016-08-06

Anchor: The Rio 2016 Olympic Games officially opened. Over 200 South Korean athletes will compete in the summer games and they are aiming big. Team Korea is hoping to secure at least ten gold medals to finish in the top ten.
Park Jong-hong has more.

Report: The much-anticipated 2016 Rio Olympics kicked off with a lavish opening ceremony on Friday.

At the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, spirits were high even before the official launch as the pre-ceremony festivities got fans amped up for the global sports gala.

Ten-thousand athletes from 206 countries around the world have gathered for the Games, which are the first-ever Olympics to be held in a Latin American country.

For 16 days they will be competing for 306 gold medals in a total of 28 categories while promoting international friendship and harmony.

What’s notable in the latest quadrennial event is that the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team is taking part. Also, golf and rugby have been added as official sports categories.

South Korea has dispatched 204 athletes in 24 events along with 129 executives.

South Korea was the 52nd country to march in during the Parade of Nations, which saw all of the participating countries enter in Portuguese alphabetical order.

Heading the delegation at the ceremony were flagbearer Koo Bon-gil of fencing, the delegation chief Chung Mong-kyu and male and female captains Jin Jong-oh and Oh Young-ran.

Observing the custom of the games, Greece was the first to enter the stadium while the host country was the last at 207th. North Korea was country number 156.

South Korea’s goal is to finish in the top ten with at least ten gold medals to mark the third consecutive time to do so since the 2008 Games in Beijing and 2012 Olympics in London.

Hopes are high that Team Korea will take home the gold in the typically strong events like archery, taekwondo, judo, sharp shooting, fencing and badminton.

With star athletes like mythic gymnast Son Yeon-jae, swimmer Park Tae-hwan and footballer Son Heung-min putting their best feet forward, South Korean fans are expected to go through some sleepless yet thrilling nights during the coming weeks of the Olympic games.
Park Jong-hong KBS World Radio News.








TOP