The Latest on the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro (all times local):
4:35 p.m.
The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, will be the top seeds in women’s doubles at the Rio Olympics.
In men’s doubles, three-time major winner Andy Murray and his brother Jamie are seeded second, behind the top-seeded French pairing of Pierre-Hugues Herbert and Nicolas Mahut.
In men’s singles, the top seed is Novak Djokovic, with Andy Murray seeded second — mirroring their rankings. Murray is the defending Olympic champion.
With third-ranked Roger Federer and fourth-ranked Stan Wawrinka both out with injuries, fifth-ranked Rafael Nadal is third in the Olympic men’s singles seedings announced by the International Tennis Federation, the sport’s governing body.
In women’s singles, top-ranked Serena Williams is the top Olympic seed. Williams is the defending champion in singles and in doubles with Venus.
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4:20 p.m.
The 2020 Olympics in Tokyo will be continually be compared to the games the city held 52 years ago.
Toshiro Muto, the CEO of the 2020 games, says “the 1964 Olympics in Tokyo had a very large impact to Tokyo and Japan” two decades after the Second World War.
Muto and Yoshiro Mori — the president of the organizing committee — briefed IOC members on Wednesday about preparations with Rio’s games opening on Friday.
Mori promises the games will “the most innovative games in history” and he says 50 percent of the venues “currently now exist.”
Muto says the new national stadium will be completed in November of 2019. He also points out that “four years is a timeframe that focuses the mind.”
Muto also made a large promise — there will be “no waste” — and he used the Japanese word “motainai” for emphasis.
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4:15 p.m.
Rising gymnastics star Laurie Hernandez is turning professional ahead of the Summer Olympics.
The 16-year-old from Old Bridge, New Jersey announced Wednesday she is giving up her amateur status just days before helping Team USA vie for a second straight Olympic gold. Hernandez had verbally committed to competing collegiately at Florida before signing with Shade Global Inc.
Hernandez says it was “not an easy decision to make” but it allows her to focus entirely on gymnastics and enjoying the sport she loves.
The U.S. junior champion in 2015, Hernandez put together a strong showing during the US Championships and the Olympic Trials. She finished second to three-time world champion and Olympic teammate Simone Biles at trials while also posting the top score on balance beam.
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4:10 p.m.
Three-quarters of the U.S. Olympic men’s golf team is in Connecticut this week, playing in the final PGA Tour event before Rio de Janeiro.
Bubba Watson, Patrick Reed and Matt Kuchar will go out as a trio on Thursday and Friday for the first two rounds of the Travelers Championship.
That means, unlike teammate Rickie Fowler, they will miss the opening ceremony Friday in Rio. They expect to fly out after Sunday’s final round, putting them in Brazil well before the Aug. 11 start of the Olympic golf competition.
All three say they will be trying to focus on this week’s tournament, but acknowledged that might not be easy to do. Much of their Team U.S.A. gear was waiting for them when they arrived this week at the TPC River Highland course.
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4 p.m.
IOC President Thomas Bach has led a mourning ceremony for the 11 Israeli athletes and coaches slain at the 1972 Munich Olympics, a tribute that a widow of the one of the victims says brings “closure for us.”
Bach read out of the names of each of the 11 Israelis who died after the raid by Palestinian gunmen in the athletes’ village in Munich. He then led a minute of silence during Wednesday’s inauguration of a “place of mourning” in the athletes village in Rio de Janeiro.
With two widows of the Israeli victims and several current Israeli team members looking on, Bach said the Munich massacre “was an attack not only on our fellow Olympians but also an assault on the values that the Olympic Village stands for.”
After his remarks, an emotional Bach hugged Ankie Spitzer and Ilana Romano, the widows of fencing coach Andre Spitzer and weightlifter Yossef Romano.
Families of the Munich victims have campaigned for years for the International Olympic Committee to give special recognition to the Israeli dead.
Ankie Spitzer says “we waited for this for 44 years, to have this remembrance and recognition of our loves ones.”
She adds: “This is closure for us.”
Bach also read out of the name of Nodar Kumaritashvili, the Georgian luger killed in a training crash on the eve of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
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1:30 p.m.
Two days before the opening ceremony of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the sporting action has begun in the spiritual home of soccer with Brazil’s national sport being played.
A women’s soccer game between Sweden and South Africa started in front of a sparse crowd at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.
But the venue should be fuller when host Brazil, led by Marta, plays China later on Wednesday.
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1:20 p.m.
Kevin Durant can count one Olympic title before the Rio Games begin — he’s the highest paid athlete competing in Rio
The NBA superstar topped a list from Forbes released Wednesday of the athletes with the most earnings between June 2015 and June 2016. Durant earned $56.2 million during that period. He played for Oklahoma City last season, then signed with the Golden State Warriors as a free agent this offseason.
The list tallied both total earnings and salary or prize money.
Three of the top five athletes on the list are tennis players: Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori. Durant is one of four basketball players in the top 10, including Carmelo Anthony, Kyrie Irving and Paul George.
Usain Bolt, at No. 6 with $32.5 million, is the only athlete in the top 10 known mainly for Olympic accomplishments.
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12:40 p.m.
The U.S. men’s and women’s basketball teams arrived in Rio de Janeiro Wednesday to compete at the Olympic games.
The men’s team was taken to the Port of Rio, where the players boarded a cruise ship, Silver Cloud, their home for the duration of the Olympics.
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12:20 p.m.
The new president of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang says: “I assure you our preparations are firmly on track.”
Lee Hee-beom took over the top spot in May — the second leadership change in two years — and told IOC members attending a general assembly meeting that a high-speed train line to serve the resort was on schedule and would be completed in June of 2017.
The head of the coordination commission for the Korean games, Gunilla Lindberg, says $615 million in sponsorships had been lined up, 81 percent of the revenue goal. She said the sponsorships would reach 90 percent of the goal by the end of the year.
Both IOC president Thomas Bach and Lindberg each praised Lee as a “high-energy” leader who would boost preparations.
Lindberg said recent changes at the top “hopefully will help us overcome the remaining hurdles.”
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11:4 5 a.m.
Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes carried the Olympic torch on Wednesday after an evening of protests forced a change in the path of the torch relay in the neighboring cities of Sao Goncalo and Niteroi.
Paes received the flame from former sailor and Olympic medalist Lars Grael.
On Tuesday a protest involving 50 people stopped the relay in Sao Goncalo, one of the poorest cities of greater Rio.
The protesters were demanding improvements in education and healthcare. The same happened later in Niteroi.
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10:40 a.m.
Venus and Serena Williams have arrived in Rio de Janeiro.
The two-time defending Olympic women’s doubles gold medalists got their accreditations processed after flying in Wednesday morning. The sisters have a combined eight golds between them, four apiece. Each has a singles gold, and they teamed up for doubles gold in 2000, 2008 and 2012.
Serena had a Harry Potter book with her for her flight. Venus tried to stifle a few yawns, and there was no fanfare even for superstars like them.
After being processed, the sisters headed off to get their luggage — just like everyone else.
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10:30 a.m.
The Olympic flame hitched a ride on a tour boat to finally reach Rio de Janeiro.
The relay from Greece to Brazil reached its final city on Wednesday with plenty of fanfare and much more to come. Sailors, journalists and even viewers live on Periscope watched the flame arrive in the Olympic host city from Niteroi, just across a short channel leading into Guanabara Bay.
The flame will make its way to Maracana Stadium for the opening ceremony on Friday. The relay began with a ceremonial lighting in Ancient Olympia, Greece, on April 21.
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9:40 a.m.
The most decorated athlete in Olympic history will carry the United States flag during the opening ceremony for the Rio Games.
Michael Phelps was selected in a vote by members of the U.S. Olympic team. The decision was announced Wednesday morning.
Phelps was a logical choice heading into his fifth Summer Games. He has won 18 golds and 22 medals overall, far more than any other athlete.
Phelps skipped the opening ceremony at the last three Olympics to rest up for the grueling 400-meter individual medley, which is held the next day.
But with that event no longer a part of his program, Phelps is available to carry the flag in Friday night’s ceremony at the Maracana.
Phelps says he is “humbled by the significance of carrying the flag and all that it stands for.”
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9:30 a.m.
The International Olympic Committee says it expects total revenue to reach $5.6 billion for the four-year period ending in 2016.
That’s an increase from $5.2 billion during the previous period between 2009 and 2012.
The IOC’s income has climbed steadily since 2000. The total revenue for 2001-2004 was $3 billion, and it increased to $3.9 billion for 2005-2008.
The IOC also reported reserves of $874 million, money that is set aside to keep the IOC running in the event the games cannot be held.
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9:15 a.m.
Pope Francis says he hopes the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will inspire athletes and spectators alike to pursue solidarity.
He told pilgrims Wednesday at his weekly audience at the Vatican that the world is “thirsty for peace, tolerance and reconciliation.”
He is hoping the games, which begin later this week, can inspire everyone to pursue a prize that is “not a medal but something more precious — achieving a civilization in which solidarity reigns, founded on the recognition that we are all members of one human family.”
A delegation from Brazil at the audience cheered when his remarks in Italian were translated into Portuguese.
[Source:- USA TODAY]
