Greece will enter first, leading the Parade of Nations, during the opening ceremony at the Maracana Stadium.
The first Olympic games as we know them today were held in Athens in 1896 as a tribute to their origin. The games brought together 14 nations and 241 athletes to compete in 43 events. The games were held in the newly refurbished ‘Penathenaic Stadium’, funded by the Greek government and a wealthy individual investor George Averoff.
Understandably the Greeks wanted the Olympics to remain in Athens on a permanent basis, however the IOC didn’t feel that this was in the spirit of the games so they decided to rotate the venue internationally on a 4 year basis.
The following is the list of number of competitors participating in the Games – TOTAL 96 (for both men and women):
Sport Men Women Total
Archery 0 1 1
Athletics 11 16 27
Cycling 3 0 3
Fencing 0 2 2
Gymnastics 2 7 9
Judo 2 0 2
Rowing 8 2 10
Sailing 5 2 7
Shooting 1 1 2
Swimming 10 5 15
Synchr. Swim 0 2 2
Table tennis 1 0 1
Water polo 13 0 13
Weightlifting 1 0 1
Wrestling 0 1 1
Total 57 39 96
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