Brazil’s Olympic Games gets underway Thursday: what to watch

Although we’re still two days away from the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, the action got underway today with the men’s football and rugby sevens tournaments kicking off. And tomorrow, Brazil will make its debut in this year’s Games, with four events to keep an eye on.

Marking another milestone for women in sports, Brazil’s first participant in this year’s competition will be 21-year-old archer Ana Luíza Caetano, who takes part in the women’s individual ranking round first thing in the morning (4:30 a.m, Brasília time). This preliminary stage is used to seed the 64 athletes, who will return for the elimination round on July 30.

The men’s ranking round takes place directly afterwards (9:15 a.m.), where 26-year-old Marcus D’Almeida will be representing Brazil. The pair will also compete as a mixed team at the end of next week.

Before that, however, Brazil’s women take to the court to face Spain in the preliminary phase of the Olympic handball competition at 9:00 a.m. For this first stage, the 12 qualified teams are split into two groups of six, with the best four in each progressing to the quarter finals. Beyond Spain, Brazil’s group also includes Hungary, the Netherlands, Angola, and hosts and reigning Olympic champions France.

And to round off Thursday’s events, despite the disappointment of the men’s side failing to qualify for the competition, the women’s football team gets their campaign underway against Nigeria at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux. Kick-off is at 2:00 p.m. Brasília time.

Brazil are drawn into Group C alongside Japan, Spain, and Nigeria, and will be battling for one of the pool’s top two spots. 

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