(MENAFN- The Peninsula) TOver 11,000 athletes from 206 nations, including first time entrants Kosovo and South Sudan, paraded with their respective national flags at the prestigious Maracana stadium in the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro marking the beginning of world";s largest sports gathering — the summer Olympics. With 306 sets of medals, the 17 days of sporting drama will feature 28 Olympic events that will take place at 33 venues in the host city and at five venues including Brazil";s largest city Sao Paulo. Rio is the first South American city to host the global event after beating Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid in three rounds of bidding.
Sports is about bringing people together in the spirit of friendship and respect. In a world shaken by crises, the message that the shared humanity is greater than the forces that divide communities, is more relevant than ever before. The Olympics gives us hope that a better world is possible. The slogan 'Together we can change the world” and OlympicPeace hashtag simply tell the world the great message of humanity.
Qatar has sent its biggest-ever delegation to the Olympics with 38 athletes competing in Rio. Qatar has participated in all six Olympics since the 1992 Barcelona games, and the last games in London in 2012 became the most successful with the national athletes grabbing bronze medals in shooting and athletics. Team Qatar will start its medal aspirations this evening with swimmer Nada Mohammed W S Arkaji participating in the women";s 100 metre butterfly event. As Qatar Olympic Committee President H E Sheikh Joaan bin Hamad Al Thani pointed out, people of this nation is proud of every member of Team Qatar and hope that they will make whole of Qatar proud as well.
The Rio Games is also not spared from controversies and criticisms. The billions of dollars lavished on the Games have angered many Brazilians as the country grapples with a shrinking economy and social problems. However, the major controversy that has divided the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency is the Russian doping scandal. German officials yesterday blasted the IOC over its decision to allow 271 Russian athletes to participate in the Rio Games despite accusations of a state-run doping programme.Top-ranking German sports officials decried the decision as a 'poor signal”, while others demanded the resignation of the IOC Chief Thomas Bach.