We’re always down for a party. But when it comes to an event that only happens every four years? It’s truly a cause for celebration.
Local NBC affiliate KARK begins broadcasting the opening ceremonies of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio De Janeiro on Friday at 6:30 p.m. If you are hosting or attending a watch party, consider this your primer to impress your friends and family at this and all subsequent gatherings through Aug. 21 with your bountiful Olympics knowledge. Game on.
Fun fact #1: Supermodel Gisele, arguably Brazil’s best-known representative, will have a role in the opening ceremony.
For starters, what’s a party without the food? Café Bossa Nova in Hillcrest, whose logo is “Experience Brazil without leaving Little Rock,” is a given. Chef Shuttle even delivers their famous cheese bread and black beans and rice, which instantly makes you a beloved host or guest.
Fun fact #2: This is the first time a South American country has hosted the Olympics.
After you’re nice and full, swimming and gymnastics will be among the top sports to watch in the first week, with track and basketball coming in the second half. Of course, many news outlets have offered top storylines in terms of athletes and events to watch. Some of the most popular surround Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps, for whom Rio will be their last Olympic Games.
By most estimates, 29-year-old Jamaican sprinter Bolt is the face of the Games to the world. He already has six gold medals and is going for “Triple Triple” in Rio — aiming to become the first man to win three successive 100-meter Olympic titles.
Fun fact #3: Yes, Bolt really is his last name.
It’s also pretty easy to see why Phelps is such an exciting athlete. When the world first met him at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, he was only 15 and placed fifth in his only individual event: the 200-meter butterfly. Going into his fifth Games in Rio, Phelps is the most decorated Olympian of all time, with his record of 22 total Olympic medals.
Fun fact #4: Phelps owns a record 18 gold medals, two silvers and two bronzes.
Although the ripe ages of 29 and 31 aren’t “old” by most standards, age seems to be on a different scale for athletes. Dr. Kirk Reynolds, a physician with Arkansas Specialty Orthopaedics specializing in sports medicine and shoulder surgery (who has worked with athletes training for Olympic sports at the Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs, Colo.), explains it this way:
“The normal aging process for all of us is that our level of activity declines. This obviously is a faster decline for some versus others. The physiology of muscle is such that often times athletes simply cannot continue to perform at such a high level. It is also very difficult to continue the level of training at this age that is required to participate in Olympic events, which only come around every four years.”
But you certainly can’t rule out athletes of a certain age. In fact, many Olympic fans recall the 1992 Dream Team — the first American Olympic team to feature active NBA players — among their all-time favorites. Most of the players were at or near the peaks of their NBA careers, but they won the gold medal at the Barcelona Olympics.
Fun fact #5: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls, Karl Malone of the Utah Jazz, Magic Johnson of the Los Angeles Lakers, Larry Bird of the Boston Celtics, Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks, David Robinson of the San Antonio Spurs, and Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers were among the most well-known players on the iconic 1992 Dream Team.
And on the other end of the age spectrum, we’ll no doubt be rooting for pole vaulter Lexi Weeks, a 19-year-old Razorback from Cabot! That event is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 16.
And for those would-be Olympic athletes watching from home? Dr. Reynolds says his biggest piece of advice would be to follow your dreams.
“This may sound cliché; however, without a dream it is impossible to succeed. I believe young athletes need to try multiple different sports to find the activity that they are most skilled at and enjoy the most. Children who are interested in gymnastics and swimming obviously will start at a much younger age. My advice to the parents would be to not push them into an activity that they are not enjoying.”
If you go full theme and elect to give out medals to guests, here’s a bonus piece of trivia for you.
Fun Fact #6: The gold medals are not really gold. They are mostly silver with gold plating.
Go Team USA!