While the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympic Games is still close to 48 hours away, the games officially got underway yesterday through the women's football match between Sweden and South Africa.

The nightscape of Rio de Janeiro is quite brilliant. From up above at night-time, this sprawling city of close to 500 square

A sharp increase in police killings has cast "a shadow of death" over Rio de Janeiro as it prepares to host the Olympic Games, Amnesty International claim in a report.

International Olympic Committee chief Thomas Bach demands a sweeping overhaul of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as Russian appeals against bans mounted just three days from the opening of the Rio Games.

Nobel Peace Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus will bear the torch of the Rio Olympic Games which is starting in the Brazilian city on August 5.

World number 11 and former Australian Open runner-up Dominika Cibulkova joins the Olympic Games tennis tournament's growing list of absentees.

World number four Stan Wawrinka withdraws from the Rio Olympics with a back injury on Tuesday.

Nobel Peace Laureate Prof Muhammad Yunus will bear the torch of the Rio Olympic Games which is starting in the Brazilian city on August 5.

Having made its debut in the 1984 Los Angeles Olympic Games, Bangladesh will make its ninth consecutive appearance in the Rio Olympics in Brazil. Each edition has seen Bangladesh’s contingent increase slightly, and this time the South Asian nation will be represented by seven athletes in five different sports.

Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams will display their Grand Slam talents in Rio, but with serious questions being asked over tennis's place in the Olympics after a host of high-profile pull-outs.

Key Event Timings RIO OLYMPICS 2016

See the latest updates of Rio Olympics Medals Tally

Wardell Stephen Curry II, born March 14, 1988, is an American professional basketball player for the Golden State Warriors of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was drafted in 2009 by the Golden State Warriors, and eventually developed into one of pro basketball's top players with his stellar shooting skills. Many players and analysts have called him the greatest shooter in NBA history. In 2014–15, Curry won the NBA Most Valuable Player Award and led the Warriors to their first championship since 1975.

Dafne Schippers, born 15 June 1992, is a Dutch athlete, competing in heptathlon and the sprints. She is the 2015 World Champion at the 200 metres and holds the European record of 21.63 seconds at this distance. At age 9, she started competing in athletics. Schippers won gold medals in the heptathlon at the 2010 World Junior Championships in Athletics and 2011 European Athletics Junior Championships.

Rafael "Rafa" Nadal Parera, born 3 June 1986, is a Spanish professional tennis player currently ranked world No. 4. He is widely regarded as the greatest clay-court player in history, and owing to his dominance and success on the surface, he has been titled "The King of Clay". His evolution into an all-court threat has established him as one of the greatest players in tennis history.

Mohamed Muktar Jama "Mo" Farah CBE, born 23 March 1983, is a British distance runner. On the track, he mostly competes over 5000 metres and 10,000 metres, but has run competitively from 1500 metres to the marathon. He was a gold medallist in the 5000 m and 10,000 m at the 2012 Summer Olympics and the 2015 World Championships in Athletics. He was the second man in history to win long-distance doubles at successive Olympics and World Championships, and the first in history to do the triple-double.

Michael Fred Phelps II, born June 30, 1985, is an American competition swimmer and the most decorated Olympian of all time, with a total of 22 medals in three Olympiads. Phelps also holds the all-time records for Olympic gold medals (18, double the second highest record holders), Olympic gold medals in individual events (11), and Olympic medals in individual events for a male (13). In winning eight gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Games, Phelps took the record away from fellow American swimmer Mark Spitz (7) for the most first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games.

Lin Dan, born October 14, 1983 in Longyan, Fujian is a professional badminton player from China. He is a two-time Olympic champion, five-time world champion, and six-time All England champion. By the age of 28 Lin had completed the "Super Grand Slam", having won all nine major titles in the badminton world: Olympic Games, World Championships, World Cup, Thomas Cup, Sudirman Cup, Super Series Masters Finals, All England Open, Asian Games, and Asian Championships, becoming the first and only player to achieve this feat. He also became the first men's singles player to retain the Olympic gold medal by winning in 2008 and defending his title in 2012.

Novak Djokovic, born 22 May 1987, is a Serbian professional tennis player who is currently ranked world No.1 in men's singles tennis by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP). He is considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time. He is coached by former Slovak tennis player Marián Vajda and former German tennis player and six-time Grand Slam champion Boris Becker.

Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, born 5 February 1992, commonly known as Neymar or Neymar Jr., is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club FC Barcelona and the Brazil national team. At 19, Neymar won the 2011 South American Footballer of the Year award, after coming third in 2010. He followed this up by winning it again in 2012. In 2011 Neymar won the FIFA Puskás Award for Goal of the Year. In 2015 he came third for the FIFA Ballon d'Or behind Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.