Rio 2016 schedule: When is the opening and losing ceremony ceremony, 100m finals and relays?

It’s a big test for...

The opening ceremony is supposed to highlight what’s best about the host nation. For ‘City of God’ director Fernando Meirelles, that is not going to be easy on Friday night.

Amid a poor economic climate, Brazil’s suspended president, Dilma Rousseff, will skip the grand opening to the Games, which begins at 11.15pm BST, following accusations of mishandling government money in 2015. Rousseff is due to appear in an impeachment trial at the end of August.

It will be a tough test for Meirelles to present some positivity about the country, while not ­seeming to lavish in a shrinking economy.

Brit watch

Team GB’s attempt to better their 65 medal haul of four years ago begins in the men’s cycling road race at 1.30pm on Saturday. Hot off his recent Tour de France win, cycling phenomenon Chris Froome will be looking to continue his success and add a gold medal to his CV having won bronze in London. If Froome can win in Rio, he would surely add his name to the list of all-time sporting greats.

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Geraint Thomas will join Froome in a five-man pack vying for medals in the road race, while swimmer Hannah Miley will be looking to make a splash in the women’s 400m individual medley at 6.3opm on Saturday.

Stars from afar

America’s women’s football team are ranked the best in the world, and for good reason. Not only are they the Olympic champions, having won their third successive gold medal in 2012, they are also the current world and Concacaf champions.

On Saturday at 9pm, they face France, who are improving and are in the running to win a medal at this year’s Games.

That’s a first

The first beach volleyball games are to be held at the world famous Copacabana beach. Brazil will be playing on home soil – well, sand – and will be hoping to win gold after the disappointments of four years ago.

Although neither the men or women’s pair claimed gold in ­London, both are highly ranked and are expected to claim a medal in their home Olympics. Pressure is highest for male pairing, Alison Cerutti and Emanuel Rego, who although were seeded top, lost the final to German pair, Julius Brink and Jonas Reckermann in London. They begin their Games on Saturday.

It’s a big test for...

Following on from the men’s action, Lizzie Armitstead, Emma Pooley and Nikki Harris get their campaign under way in the women’s cycling road race at 4.15pm BST on Sunday. Armitstead won gold last year in the World Championships, adding to the silver she won in London.

Back in the pool, Adam Peaty is the world record holder in both the 100m and 50m breaststroke and will be looking to be in contention in the 100m final on Saturday night at 2.53am.

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Tom Daley, and partner, Dan Goodfellow, will be taking part in the men’s 10m platform syncro on Monday evening at 8pm. Away from the pool, Louis Smith will be looking to lead the men’s artistic gymnastic team to gold following their Bronze in 2012, also at 8pm.

That’s a first

For the first time in Olympic history, rugby sevens will be played and it will be the women’s teams who get things kicked off.

Favourites and pioneers of the sport, Australia, were the first to turn professional and have dominated the women’s rugby sevens circuit.

If they can win gold, co-captain, Sharni Williams believes they can lay down a legacy for generations to follow and change the landscape of the sport. They go for gold on Monday night at 11pm.

Star turn

Having won five medals in London – as a 17-year-old, four of which were gold – American swimming prodigy Missy Franklin will be looking to add to her already large medal collection but will only swim three events: the 200m freestyle, 4x200m freestyle relay and the 200m backstroke. Since 2012, Franklin has graduated from high school, gone to college, injured her back and turned professional.

If she can return to the form she showed in London, she could be on her way to joining the all-time great American Olympians. She goes in the 200m freestyle at 5pm on Monday.

All-star cast

One of the most talented and dominant sporting teams of the past decade, the men’s American basketball team will field its latest edition of all-stars, as they look to seal a third consecutive gold. Although without Lebron James and Stephen Curry, they still boast some of the world’s finest, including Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving. As long as there’s no repeat of the disastrous bronze medal year of 2004, when Argentina were the shock winners, the US are a shoo-in for gold. They play Venezuela on Monday night at 11pm.

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Stars from afar

Brazil and Barcelona star Neymar missed the recent Copa America and will now be focusing all his talent on leading Brazil in the Olympics.

Having made his move to Barcelona a year after London 2012, Neymar has gone on to become one of the world’s top players. He possesses pace, skill and flair – everything that fans love to see.

On Wednesday at 11pm BST, Brazil play Denmark in their third group game, arguably their hardest match so far. If Neymar can translate his club form on to the Olympic stage, Brazil stand a great chance of reaching the final on home soil in the famous Maracana stadium.

Brit watch

Great Britain’s eventing team – minus Zara Phillips who missed the cut – are looking to better the silver medal they gained at the London Olympics, in the final at 2pm on Tuesday.

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Meanwhile, with Rodger Federer and Novak Djokovic both dropping out, and Rafael Nadal still working on his fitness, Andy Murray is the favourite to take men’s tennis gold. Having won Wimbledon for a second time earlier this summer, he is in top form. The men’s third round is on Wednesday from 2.45pm.

Making a splash

Michael Phelps should be successfully negotiating the men’s 200m butterfly semi-finals and 4x200m freestyle heats on Tuesday and Wednesday, in which he won a silver and gold medal respectively in London 2012. Phelps and Ryan Lochte, however, will face a challenge for the 4x200m relay, as Great Britain are the reigning world champions.

Although Phelps retired shortly after the London Olympics, he quickly reversed that decision in order to participate and add to his 22 medals at Rio and cement his position as the most successful Olympian of all-time. Fellow American Missy Franklin will feature in the in the 4x200m freestyle at 2.19am on Tuesday morning, an event in which she won gold in 2012. One to keep an eye on should be Australian swimmer Cameron McEvoy, who has the chance to win five golds, with his speciality being 100m freestyle.

Plucky outsider

Olympic double trap gold medallist and world record holder Peter Wilson stole the show at London 2012 – his gold was Britain’s only shooting medal. Two years later, the world record holder retired aged 28.

The young star in the making, however, is Amber Hill who gained a spot in the six-strong team and is aiming to become the first British woman to win Olympic gold – although at only 18, it will be tough.

That’s a first

Thursday sees the return of Golf at the Olympic Games. The sport has received much press recently, with the likes of Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, Dustin Johnson and Jordan Spieth all withdrawing from the competition, leaving Bubba Watson as the highest ranked player at the Olympics.

With these absences, Great Britain’s chances of gold have increased, with 2013 US Open winner Justin Rose and the current Masters champion, Danny Willett, being the top ranked Britons. Only the USA – Watson and Rickie Fowler – have a higher-ranked pair. Tee-off is 11am.

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Brit watch

GB’s assault on track cycling begins on Friday. With Sir Chris Hoy gone, Team GB will be looking for a new talisman to lead them to glory and they have a few in the likes of Jason Kenny, Mark Cavendish and Phillip Hindes.

On the women’s side, with Victoria Pendleton also now gone, Laura Trott is in pole position to lead GB’s women, starting off with the team sprint at 8pm on Friday.

Away from the velodrome, Nicola Adams begins her defence of her Olympic gold, as the women’s flyweight prelims begin at 3pm on Friday.

Key clash

In arguably the most eagerly anticipated British athletics clash in recent memory, Jessica Ennis-Hill goes head-to-head with her heir to the heptathlon throne, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, beginning on Saturday morning at 12.20am.

Ennis-Hill, 30, was hailed as the golden girl of British athletics in London when she took gold in the heptathlon under intense pressure. In Rio, however, she will face stiff competition from her compatriot, who is seen as a genuine contender.

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The 23-year-old won the European indoor pentathlon last year while also breaking Ennis-Hill’s British record. After a disastrous World Championships last year, where she committed three fouls in the long jump to scupper any hopes, KJT will be looking to prove she can hack it on the biggest of stages.

An unknown great

In Judo circles, there aren’t many more dominant than Frenchman Teddy Riner also known as “Big Ted”. Widely regarded as the overwhelming favourite for gold in the men’s +100kg class, Riner has gone unbeaten in nearly six years. Riner won gold in London and now has eight world titles and five European ones. He gets under way from 2pm on Friday.

Insomniac’s guide

Days nine and 10 are where we the see the track and field events really heat up. As most of the events are in the evening in Rio, only the fully committed athletics fan will stay up to watch.

One reason why you may want to brave it until 3am, is that we could hopefully see both Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson win heptathlon medals from 2.53am on Saturday night.

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The men’s 10,000m final – where Mo Farah will look to win gold is at 1.25am and Greg Rutherford goes in the long jump at 12.50am. The women’s 100m final, which is likely to include Jamaican star, Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce, will be run at 2.35am. Sunday sees the men’s 400m semis, women’s marathon and the men’s 800m semi-finals take place well into the early hours.

Brit watch

Team GB’s women’s hockey team take on the United States in the pool B group match at 10pm on Saturday. The British team will be looking to build on their 2012 bronze medal.

Their task is not an easy one, however, as they have been drawn in a group with Australia, Argentina and the USA, all of whom are ahead of them in the world rankings.

He sounds familiar...

Named after the legendary sportsman who passed away in June, Muhammad Ali is Team GB’s flyweight boxing hope in Rio and he starts his quest for gold in the preliminaries on Saturday at 3pm.

Yorkshireman “Mo” stands only 5ft 6in tall, weighs little over eight stone – in comparison to the Louisville Lip’s 6ft 3in heavyweight frame – and was named after Ali by his boxing-mad dad.

While admitting that he has always admired Ali, Mo revealed that it was watching Amir Khan fight at the 2004 Olympics that inspired him to start boxing and the silver medallist in Athens has already provided him with “loads of advice”. His rivals for the gold in Rio include the Cuban Yosvany Veitia and Elvin Mamishzada of Azerbaijan.

Dominant force

The badminton group stage continues this weekend, with China looking to continue their stranglehold over the sport.

At London, China won eight medals in the badminton, including five golds. In fact, since 1992, China have accrued 38 badminton medals in the Olympics, with Indonesia their closest rival with 18. Men’s singles champion Lin Dan, will be looking for a hat-trick of golds, and it seems that is certainly well within his reach.

Stand-out star

Undoubtedly the most recognisable athlete in the world, Usain Bolt will surely take centre stage in the men’s 100m final at 2.25am on Monday morning. Having broken on to the scene in 2008 in Beijing in the 100m and 200m, Bolt arrives in Rio looking to capture his third successive triple gold medal haul, with the 4x100m also on his radar.

The controversial Justin Gatlin could provide a real threat to the Jamaican, while fellow countryman, Yohan Blake could also challenge Bolt, especially as the champ has only just recovered from a hamstring problem.

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Brit watch

Christine Ohuruogu will be looking to add another Olympic medal to her résumé, assuming no freak incidents happen in the heats or semi-finals, she will gunning for her second gold in the 400m early on Tuesday morning at 2.45am.

Away from the track, Jack Laugher will be competing in the men’s 3m springboard preliminaries.

Charlotte Dujardin competes in the individual dressage competition in pursuit of a second ­successive gold medal.

Back on track

For any bicycle lover, Monday and Tuesday are essential viewing. Mark Cavendish will take to the saddle in the men’s omnium at 9.23pm on Monday. Double 2012 gold medallist Laura Trott will be competing in the women’s event at 10.17pm on Tuesday.

Also taking place that day is the women’s sprint and the men’s keirin – where Jason Kenny has the unenviable task of filling the saddle of 2012 winner, and six-time gold medallist, the now retired Sir Chris Hoy. These are the final two days of the track cycling section and Team GB will be targeting a repeat of last year’s medal haul – even without the likes of Hoy and Victoria Pendleton.

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Stars from afar

Fresh from appearing on the cover of Time magazine, 19-year-old Simone Biles is going to her first Olympics as a three-time world champion gymnast.

Such is her immense talent that even Jaycie Phelps – a member of “The Magnificent Seven” US team who won the all-around team event 20 years ago – could see her star potential when she was coaching her as a child. She is so far ahead of the pack that the 2008 gold medallist, Nastia Liukin, claims that the Texan is “in a calibre with nobody else in the world”.

But 4ft 8in Biles has also admitted that the pressure of being such an overwhelming favourite “kind of stresses me out a bit.” Time will tell how she copes in Rio.

Brit watch

Having won gold and bronze in London, respectively, Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee will be expected once again to be in the medals in the triathlon at 3pm on Thursday.

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What makes matters easier for the two brothers is that main rival and current triathlon world champion, Javier Gomez, will not be competing at this year’s Olympics due to a broken elbow.

On Wednesday at 2pm, Britain’s equestrian jumping team will hope to qualify for the final. Ben Maher and Nick Skelton are the survivors from the London gold medal-winning team, with John and Michael Whitaker finishing off the four-man team. Elsewhere, Saskia Clark and Hannah Mills will be hoping to pick up medals in the women’s 470 sailing class, from 5pm.

Insomniac’s guide

These two days are jam-packed full of athletics. Britain’s Shara Proctor could be a contender in the long jump final at 1.15am on Thursday morning, after her silver-medal performance in the world championships last year.

The men’s 110m hurdles semi-finals, where Aries Merritt will be looking for a shot at defending his gold medal and the men’s high jump final are after midnight on Wednesday.

Usain Bolt is set to go in the men’s 200m semi-final, potentially alongside Adam Gemili at 2.30am on Friday morning. These two days are definitely for the track and field fanatic.

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Plucky outsider

One of the more unique athletes in the Olympics, Japanese canoeist Kazuki Yazawa is not only an Olympian but also a training Buddhist monk.

Following the 2012 Olympics where he finished ninth in the men’s K-1 slalom, Yazawa decided to turn his attention to Buddhism.

Every day he wakes before dawn to pray before hitting the slalom course. Although he now has two occupations to concentrate on, Yazawa still thinks he could win a medal in Rio.

Stars from afar

The last few days of the Olympics usually consist of highly anticipated track and field events, but there is more. Japanese wrestler Kaori Icho has long been the best in the 63kg division. She is a 10-time world champion and three-time Olympic gold medallist. If she wins, she will become the first female wrestler to win four Olympic golds. It’s not all about Usain Bolt.

Key clash

Mo Farah was one of the stars of London 2012. At 33, he has admitted it will be tough to retain gold in the 5,000m and 10,000m races.

He recently finished third in the world half-marathon behind two Kenyans, Geoffrey Kamworor and Bedan Karoki. The 5,000m track will suit Farah’s strengths more so than the recent 13-mile road race. However, four years later on and with two younger competitors vying for his gold medal, can he still do it? We’ll find out on Saturday morning at 1.30am.

Unknown star

While fellow Brit and team-mate Jade Jones gets most of the attention, Bianca Walkden is the reigning world Taekwondo champion in the women’s +67kg category.

Saturday sees the +67kg contenders go into their round of 16 stage with Walkden being one of the tournament favourites to be in the medals, if not win gold.

It may be the penultimate day of the Olympics, but that’s not to say there isn’t a chance for Great Britain to pick up another medal.

Marquee events

The final days leading up to the closing ceremony are some of the most exciting in the Olympics and Friday and Saturday are no exception. Early Saturday morning includes the men and women’s 100m relay (2.35am and 2.15am) which will likely include both Jamaican teams.

Although both relay teams are favourites for gold, they will probably face perennial rivals, the USA. The 4x400m relays could be a different story early on Sunday morning.

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The US women have won the 4x400m five consecutive times. In the men’s, United States and the Bahamas are the favourites for gold, as three-time silver medallists, Russia, have been banned from the Olympics.

Brit watch

Great Britain’s most decorated female boxer, Nicola Adams will be hoping to return to the final of the women’s flyweight division at 6pm on Saturday.

Since 2012, Adams has added the Commonwealth, European and World Amateur championships to her list of honours. At 33, she is seen as one of Great Britain’s more likely gold medallists and will be looking to complete a double of Olympic golds.