What's coming up?published at 11:49 British Summer Time 6 August 2016

11:49 BST 6 August 2016

Gymnastics

The men's individual all-round qualification begins from 18:30 BST and there are five Brits to keep your eyes on. 

Max Whitlock (below, and upside down), Louis Smith, Nile Wilson, Brinn Bevan and Kristian Thomas will be taking to the floor.

Smith, Thomas, and world champion Whitlock were all part of the team that won team bronze at London 2012 - and could well make the podium for a second Games in a row.

Image source, AP

Image source, Getty Images

According to a report by Bloomberg,, external NBC had lobbied the International Olympic Committee to have the nations parade in English language alphabetical order rather than Portuguese at the opening ceremony.

The reasoning was the 'United States' comes right towards the end giving stateside television audiences an incentive to watch to the end.

'Estados Unidos' comes midway through the parade and provides the audience with an easy point to tune out and turn in for the evening.

Image source, Getty

When is a live spectacle not a live spectacle?

Viewers in the US had to make do with not-so-live coverage of Rio's Olympic opening ceremony, and many were not happy about it.

The country's Olympic broadcaster, NBC, decided to show the ceremony at prime time in all time zones - meaning that audiences on the east coast saw it with an hour's delay, while those on the west coast had to wait for four hours after the ceremony had started before coverage began.

More on that here.

Alistair Magowan
BBC Sport in Rio

Even knights of the realm need to queue up to get past security at the rowing venue, Lagoa, which looks stunning as the sun peaks over the ocean to light the surrounding hills. 

Image source, BBC Sport

Truly a one-man team.

Etimoni Timuani is the one and only representative from the Pacific Island nation of Tuvalu.

He competes in the men's 100m. And his personal best is a (relatively) sluggish sounding 11.72 seconds.

Maybe he is just trying to maximise screen time for his country.

Britain's men's and women's hockey teams are both in action in Rio today - although for those of us on this side of the ocean, there's technically a day between them...

The men's team- ranked fourth in the world - play Belgium in their pool A match at 16:30 BST.

While the women, who recently beat world number one side Netherlands - get their Games under way against Australia at 00:30.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, Getty Images

In 2008, Australia sports minister Kate Ellis wore GB colours to a wheelchair basketball match at the Beijing Paralympics.

In 2012, her successor Kate Lundy rowed the Eton Dorney regatta course in TeamGB kit.

We are going for the hat-trick in the now traditional medal table forfeit bet with the Australians.

Our sports minister Tracey Crouch is up for the challenge.

“I am extremely competitive, and whatever they bet me, I will win,” she said, perhaps missing the point that it will be the British team winning the bet for her if she turns out victorious.

We are still waiting for Aussie counterpart Sussan Ley to pick up that gauntlet.

Image source, Getty Images

One event to keep across later is the beach volleyball competition on the iconic Copacabana.

Viewers will be able to get into the midst of the action via immersive, live 360-degree video.

The 360-degree coverage can be viewed via a headset and the BBC Sport 360 app or on the BBC Taster website.

It's fascinating stuff. Here's a sneak peek...

There were one or two, ahem, dodgy outfits knocking around Rio last night.

One of the best is this from the Mozambique contingent at the opening ceremony. 

Sir Matthew Pinsent likened the Mozambique team's clothing to the "interior of a 1970 Datsun car". We'll take his word for it.

Some more 'did I really wear that?' moments over here in our picture gallery.

Image source, Reuters

Alistair Magowan
BBC Sport in Rio

What's a 514m descent like from the steepest summit during the Rio Olympics road race? 

I didn't have the time or stamina to cycle up there myself but there were many amateur cyclists who were blowing at the top, where they were rewarded with stunning views over the city.

The drop down the other side to the Jardim Botanico, past the Vista Chinesa, is a winding passage through the glorious Tijuca forest. So it could play into the hands of Great Britain's Chris Froome, who made a name for himself as a competent descender during his recent Tour de France victory.

Riders will get to experience this hilly loop three times in the latter half of the 256km race before they make an eight kilometre sprint for the finish on Copacabana. 

Nick Hope
BBC Sport in Rio

What a difference an hour makes! The sun rises pretty rapidly here in Rio and it's great to see hundreds of people now lining the streets queuing to enter the Park.

Ok it's a little rough around the edges and the impact of budget cuts is obvious in places, but all that should be forgotten today as Olympic fans soak up the festival of sport!

Oh my.

This is going to be a picture-postcard Olympics even if there are still some concerns about the small print.

The rowing gets going at 12:30 with Alan Campbell in the single sculls heat the first Briton to get on the water.

Fancy a look round the BBC's Rio offices? Well, we have just the thing courtesy of a Facebook live video presented by our very own Nick Hope. That's over here., external

Sally Gunnell
Former 400m hurdles Olympic champion on BBC TV

The Olympic Games always throw up so many stories. We can talk about Mo Farah or Jessica Ennis-Hilll, but in reality absolutely anything can happen. There are so many new tales to be told, new names will emerge, and some people you've never heard of before will come out and produce amazing performances.

Image source, Getty Images

Image source, .

All too easy to forget the drought that preceded the gold rush at London 2012.

On Day One four years ago, the men's road race turned into Great Britain against the rest of the world as the field conspired against Mark Cavendish and his team.

Cav trailed in outside the medals and it was briefly doom and gloom.

It was not until Day Five that Heather Stanning and Helen Glover won GB's first gold in the women's pair. But then they really started rolling in.

Lord Camomile: Imagine if you'd fallen asleep watching the opening ceremony and then woken up to the repeat. 

"They're still going on!??"

Every chance this is happening around the country as we speak - you can watch last night's opening ceremony on BBC Two right now.

You've just missed Tonga's star of the show...

Image source, Getty Images

Britain took home gold in the individual and team dressage at London 2012, so keep your eye on Gemma Tattersall and William Fox-Pitt from 14:40 BST on day one.

The word 'dressage' is French for training - and a good partnership is one where the horse performs a series of movements with apparent minimal intervention from the rider.

Sometimes described as ballet for horses, it should be good to watch - even if you can't tell your piaffes from your passages.

Image source, Rex Features

Image source, Rex Features

The Wall Street Journal lead headline is something about Tottenham and Roger Federer.

But the main picture is the Rio opening ceremony above an interesting feature story about how female athletes have less events to compete in compared to their male counterparts., external

Image source, Wall Street Journal

USA Today meanwhile watched the opening ceremony, external with the inhabitants of one of Rio's favelas.

“What’s it going to be like tomorrow? Today everything’s pretty, but what about tomorrow?" asked Eleonora de Freitas.  

Five cups of coffee part of your Olympic breakfast, Ross?

Of course, the opening ceremony is not the start of the Olympic Games.

Waiting for the Games to actually be opened before you start sporting is so 20th Century.

The men's football got under way on the catchily-titled Day minus-two.

Here are the best of the goals so far.