Olympic Opening Ceremony 2016 Live Stream: How to Catch the Action from Rio

The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games commence officially on Friday, August 5, with a grand opening ceremony from the iconic Maracana Stadium.

The world's best athletes are set to compete in the 31st edition of the Games, which will include over 11,000 competitors from a record-high 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), per MapsOfWorld.com.

Per the official Olympics website, Rio is the first South American city to host the Games and will be the maiden event under the leadership of International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach following his appointment in 2013.

Here's how you can watch all the action unfold:

Date: Friday, August 5 

Time: 7 p.m. ET / 12 a.m. BST (Saturday)

TV: NBC (USA), BBC (UK)

Live Stream: NBC Olympics, MSNBC, CNBC

Per Rio2016.com, the Summer Games will feature 42 sports disciplines and 306 events, showcasing a wide spectrum of world-class techniques, exercises and skill in different areas of the 2016 schedule.

Wong Maye-E/Associated Press

Athletics will take centre stage as the leading event at the Olympics. Records continue to break at every edition of the summer event, and the coveted 100-metre title is one of the highlights as participants vie to be the fastest man on the planet.

Per TopendSports, Jamaica's Usain Bolt—a six-time Olympic gold medalist in the 100-metre sprint, 200-metre dash and 4x100-metre relay—holds the three fastest 100-metre times ever recorded. His fastest sprint at an Olympic event was in the final of the 2008 Beijing Games, where he crossed the line in 9.69 seconds to claim gold.

Mark Schiefelbein/Associated Press

Long-distance events will also be contested in South America, with the 10,000-metre and marathon fiercely competitive. The men's marathon date is scheduled for the final day of the Games on August 21, and Great Britain’s Mo Farah is the favourite with bookmakers to win a second consecutive 10,000-metre crown in Brazil, per Odds Shark.

As noted by the Daily Mail, the European record holder was just the second man in history to win long-distance doubles at the Olympics and the World Championships in China four years ago. 

Elsewhere, other stories to look out for include the return to the pool of Michael Phelps, the 22-time medal-winning swimmer, while golf has been reintroduced to the schedule after a 112-year absence. 

Meanwhile, the U.S. women's soccer team are eyeing a first-ever World Cup and Olympics double, and the brilliant Ashton Eaton is targeting a second decathlon gold in consecutive Games.

Michael Sohn/Associated Press

Take a look at the Olympic torch en route to the Maracana with the official Rio 2016 Twitter account:

Away from sporting action, the Games have been rocked by uncertainty in Brazil. Per Christian D'Andrea of SBNation, visitors this summer face concerns over political unrest, environmental indifference and even a global pandemic.

Per Rio2016.com, an ongoing outbreak of the mosquito-borne Zika virus has raised fears regarding its potential impact on athletes and visitors in Brazil, resulting in many competitors withdrawing from the Games. Such participants include golfers Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Vijay Singh, American cyclist Tejay van Garderen and basketball star Steph Curry, per Chiara Palazzo of the Daily Telegraph.

According to Dom Phillips of the Washington Post, Brazil's new health minister Ricardo Barros said there was "almost zero" chance that visitors and athletes could become infected.

Per Sports Illustrated, Rio 2016 is set to be the most-watched Olympics in U.S. history, with favourable live timings set to break the 219 million who viewed the 2012 Games in London—the current record holder.

Despite concerns leading up to the event, Rio 2016 will see the world's best sportsmen and women battle for the top honours in a competition that forces the global population to stand still and take notice.