The Tribune

THE athletics at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games gets under way in 100 days, with 47 titles on the line and 2,000 athletes from more than 200 nations set to compete in the Brazilian city. Some of those athletes and countries are on the brink of rewriting Olympic history.

Personal glory

Usain Bolt became the first man to win back-to-back Olympic sprint doubles when he successfully defended his 100m and 200m titles in London four years ago. In Rio in August, the Jamaican sprinter could win an unprecedented third sprint double. And if he also wins the 4 x 100m relay, as he did so in Beijing and London, Bolt’s Olympic gold medal tally would stand at nine. Only one man - jumper Ray Ewry of the United States - has ever won more Olympic gold medals in athletics.

Allyson Felix has stated her intention to compete in the 200m and 400m as well as both relays in Rio. If she triumphs in all of those events, she would join Fanny Blankers-Koen as the only woman to have won four gold medals at one Games. Simply reaching the final in those events would mean that Felix will have contested 11 Olympic finals; Merlene Ottey is the only woman to have featured in more Olympic finals.

Veronica Campbell-Brown is just two Olympic medals away from tying Ottey’s tally of nine Olympic medals, the record number for women. Felix, meanwhile, is three medals away from that figure.

Sanya Richards-Ross and Felix already share the record for the most Olympic gold medals won by a woman, along with Blankers-Koen, Betty Cuthbert, Barbel Wockel and Evelyn Ashford, all of whom have four Olympic titles. If either Felix or Richards-Ross wins one more gold medal in Rio - or if Campbell-Brown wins two golds - they would become the first woman to win five Olympic titles in athletics.

Jesus Angel Garcia, already selected to represent Spain in the 50km race walk, will be making his seventh Olympic appearance, tying Ottey’s overall record and breaking the men’s record of Olympic appearances.

Tirunesh Dibaba, Valerie Adams, Barbora Spotakova and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce all stand a chance of becoming the first woman to win three successive Olympic titles in an individual event.

National hopes

Brazil could be inspired by the home crowd to achieve a record medal haul. Their best tally at a single Games to date is two medals, achieved in 1988 and 1952.

Australia, France, Great Britain & Northern Ireland and Greece will be represented in athletics for a record 29th Olympics. They are the only nations to have participated in athletics since the start of the modern Olympics.

Bhutan, Nauru, Kosovo and South Sudan could be the next nations to make their Olympic debut in athletics. Of the 12 IAAF member federations yet to compete at the Olympics, these are the only four eligible for Olympic participation.

Ethiopia, having filled the podium places in the women’s 5,000m at last year’s IAAF World Championships, stands a chance of becoming the next nation to achieve a medal sweep in an athletics event at the Olympics. To date, 10 nations have achieved the feat: USA, Great Britain, Sweden, Russia, Soviet Union, Finland, Kenya, Unified Team, East Germany and Jamaica.

Relay protests

The Olympic torch arrived in Brazil on Tuesday, but more than just the flame has been ignited in the country. Brazil’s embattled President Dilma Rousseff signalled the start of the nationwide torch relay in Brasilia, the capital, but protests highlighting the country’s deep political and economic crisis have ensued.

President Rousseff presided over the flame ceremony in Brasilia, even though she faces impeachment and is unlikely to be in office when South America’s first Olympics open in less than three months.

“Brazil is ready to host the most successful Olympics in history,” she said in a speech to start the torch relay, which will reach 329 Brazilian cities and end on August 5 at the opening ceremony in Rio’s Maracana stadium.

However, security experts have been expecting protests during the relay, and on Tuesday a few hundred protesters gathered on a relay route controlled with a heavy police presence. One sign in English read: “OlyImpeachment is here.” Another read: “Our democracy is at risk.”

President Rousseff is expected to be suspended from office next week as the country’s senate hears an impeachment case against her, which means Vice President Michel Temer is likely to be president during the Games.

She promised that Rio is ready with completed venues and top security. “Brazil is completely ready to offer protection to the athletes, the technical staffs, heads of delegations, tourists, and journalists - to all our visitors,” she said, adding that the country was working with international security agencies “who have experience with terrorism”.

“The Olympic torch will be received with joy in all cities in our immense Brazil,” she said. “The flame will illuminate a hospitable and responsible country.”

She also touched on the political and economic turmoil rocking South America’s largest country. “We know political problems exist in our country today. We know there is political instability. Brazil will be capable in a difficult period, a very difficult, critical period in the history of our democracy of dealing with the problems ... It’s important to fight, and we know how to fight.”

The Olympic flame arrived in a lantern on a flight from Switzerland and was taken to the Planalto presidential palace.

The first torchbearer was double gold-medal winning volleyball player Fabiana Claudino, who will also captain Brazil’s Olympic team, and he was followed by Brazilian mathematician Artur Avila Cordeiro de Melo.

The relay across Brazil will involve 12,000 torchbearers. Rio organisers hope it will spark excitement for the games, which has lagged as Brazil battles bribery and corruption scandals, its deepest recession in decades and the Zika virus outbreak.

• The Tribune is following Team Bahamas in the build up to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and will be reporting from Brazil this summer. The ‘242 on the Road to Rio series’ will appear every Monday and Thursday. Comments and responses to bstubbs@tribunemedia.net