Burning Questions for the 2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics are five days away, and there is no shortage of storylines entering these Games.
You've got significant safety and health concerns surrounding Rio, a doping scandal that nearly kept every Russian at home, and it is the last hurrah for megastars Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps.
It all makes the 2016 presidential race look like a bore!
As Americans, we love watching our best kick the snot out of other countries, and this could be a monumental couple of weeks with some of the stars the U.S. will be sending to Rio.
Let's dive into the most polarizing topics and questions entering the Games, which begin Aug. 5.
Can Usain Bolt Go Out as the Champ?
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The greatest sprinter the world has ever seen is looking to pull off the sprinter's sweep for the third straight Olympics, winning the 100 meters, 200 meters and 400x100-meter relay as he did in Beijing and London.
Usain Bolt is entering Rio in unprecedented territory: underdog.
The 29-year-old has battled a hamstring injury this year, which kept him from competing at the Olympic trials in Jamaica, and he's been slower than his top competitors.
In the 100 meters, three other sprinters (Justin Gatlin, Trayvon Bromell and Jimmy Vicaut) have recorded better times than Bolt in 2016. Bolt beat Gatlin by one-hundredth of a second the last time they squared off at the 2015 IAAF World Championships in Beijing, but Gatlin's best time is 0.08 seconds faster than Bolt's this year.
In the 200, Bolt is fifth on the fastest times list this year behind favorite LaShawn Merritt, Gatlin, Ameer Webb and Miguel Francis. Bolt has long wanted to be the first ever to break 19 seconds in the 200 and believes he can do so. He already owns the world record in both the 100 (9.58) and the 200 (19.19).
Breaking 19 seconds could be a long shot, but do not doubt that Bolt has been saving an extra gear this year for the Olympics. Another sweep is certainly in play.
Can Michael Phelps, at 31, Win More Gold?
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Michael Phelps already has more medals (22) than anyone in Olympic history. The next closest on the list, the Soviet Union's Larisa Latynina, has 18 medals—that equals the gold count for Phelps.
The greatest swimmer ever was supposedly going to retire after the last Olympics, but then he decided to come back and make some more history for one final time.
At 31, he'll be swimming in his fifth Olympics. He qualified in three races—the 100-meter butterfly, 200-meter butterfly and 200-meter individual medley, winning all three at trials—and he could compete in up to three relays in Rio.
Phelps needs to swim faster if he wants to win another gold in his individual events. He has the second-best time in the world this year in both the 100-meter butterfly and 200 IM, and his 200-meter butterfly time is only sixth best.
Father Time eventually catches most of us. But this is Michael Freaking Phelps.
He said at the end of trials he believes he can swim faster in all three events, which means the dudes ahead of him better be prepared to up their games, or he's sure to make some more history.
Who Will Emerge as the Biggest Star in Rio?
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Usain Bolt and Michael Phelps are returning legends, but these Games are likely to belong to the ladies: Katie Ledecky and Simone Biles.
The question is which one of the two will America embrace more?
Ledecky has been here before, winning the 800-meter freestyle as a 15-year-old in London in 2012. She is already a superstar in her sport, but her star should grow even more now that she's at her peak for these Olympics. She owns the world record in the 400-, 800- and 1,500-meter freestyle. She's expected to win gold in the 200, 400 and 800 freestyles—the 1,500 is not an Olympic event for the women—as well as the 800-meter relay.
Every race Ledecky has ever competed in at the international level—15 total—she has won gold every single time.
America loves a winner, and that kind of consistent dominance is only rivaled by Biles.
Famous gymnast Mary Lou Retton told Reeves Wiedeman of the New Yorker earlier this year that Biles is the "most talented gymnast I've seen in my life." Biles has the resume to back up such a claim. She became the first gymnast ever to win three straight all-around world championships last year, and she's so good that she could probably win gold in Rio in a weighted vest.
Get ready to see a lot of these two over the next few weeks. Since they're both likely to live up to expectations, we'll determine the winner by who racks up the most endorsement dollars by the end of the year.
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Will There Be Any Issues in Rio?
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The fears of what could go down in Rio are the biggest story entering these Games.
Bleacher Report's Tom Weir recently chronicled the issues facing Rio as the Olympics near, which include:
- The Zika virus, a disease that has no vaccine or medicine to cure.
- Raw sewage at Guanabara Bay, where a super bacteria has been found in the waters that will be home to sailing, triathlons and distance swimming events.
- The bad publicity of human body parts washing ashore on June 29 near the beach volleyball venue.
- High crime rates. Rio acting Gov. Francisco Dornelles warned the Olympics could be a "big failure" because of budget problems that have led to underfunded security.
Rio just sounds like a bundle of joy, huh? Hopefully, the Olympics will be a safe success, but this is a bad look for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) heading in, and it could get worse if there are issues during the Games.
Will USA Basketball Be as Dominant as Usual?
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The U.S. isn't exactly sending its B-team to Rio, but this isn't the best version available. LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis and Chris Paul are all skipping for various reasons, and all four would likely start.
Mike Krzyzewski is 52-1 since taking over—with the only loss coming in 2006 to Greece at the World Championships—but this is arguably one of the worst rosters he has coached. Mainly, the absence of James makes that the case.
So are the Americans vulnerable?
It depends on how this team meshes. Paul has always been the perfect point guard for the all-star squad because he gets everyone involved. This team's point guards, Kyrie Irving and Kyle Lowry, are score-first guards. The Americans also have some potential ball-stoppers in DeMar DeRozan, Kevin Durant, Carmelo Anthony and Jimmy Butler.
The key will be playing unselfish basketball, and Coach K should be able to convince this group to run that way.
Spain is the biggest threat, with a roster that includes Pau Gasol, Ricky Rubio and five other current NBA players as well as veterans Rudy Fernandez and Juan Carlos Navarro. The Spaniards would be scarier if they had Marc Gasol or Serge Ibaka available. Still, that's a formidable roster, and although the U.S. should be heavy favorites, a gold may not be as inevitable as it has been in the previous two Olympic tournaments.
Is There Any Way the U.S. Women's Gymnastics Team Doesn't Win Gold?
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Not likely.
The U.S. men's basketball squad isn't the only team of Americans heading to Rio as runaway favorites, and a gold medal will be the only way the women's gymnastics team can meet expectations.
The Americans have won the last two world championships by more than five points each year and are so deep that they could probably send backups and still come home with gold.
That being said, the U.S. wasn't exactly at the top of its game during trials, especially 2012 all-around champion Gabby Douglas. The Americans are most vulnerable on the balance beam, where they struggled just to stay on the beam at trials.
But with Simone Biles as their leader and the emergence of 16-year-old Laurie Hernandez, the Americans are even stronger than the Fierce Five, the U.S. group that cruised to gold in 2012.
Will the Olympics Be Clean of Doping?
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The IOC recently decided to not ban all Russian athletes amid the country's doping scandal and instead leave the decision up to each sport's federation.
Travis Tygart, the CEO for the U.S Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), said in a statement the federations "may lack the adequate expertise or collective will to appropriately address the situation within the short window prior to the Games."
If that is the case, will the federations be able to catch cheaters during the actual Olympics?
Baseball went through a period where steroids were a black eye on the sport, and Olympic sports like track and field have had their issues as well.
Cheating is going to be around for as long as there are sports, but if it's revealed that Russians who are allowed to participate were among the violators, or another doping scandal breaks during the Games, it could be a public relations nightmare for the IOC.
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