You wouldn’t believe it with the lack of media coverage but the 31st Summer Olympics, the pinnacle of athletic competition, is about to begin. The event starts with the opening ceremony on Friday in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where athletes from 206 countries will compete in 28 sports for 306 Gold medals. The Games will see the introduction of two new sports to the Olympic programme with Golf returning and Rugby 7s making its debut. The build-up to the games has been marred by doping allegations and concerns over the Zika Virus. But there is no doubt all this will take a back seat when the competition begins in earnest on Saturday 6th August.

Let’s take a look past the negativity and have a look ahead to what will be a very exciting three weeks of competition. What could be the highlights of the games? Will it be the supreme dominance of an athlete at the top of their game like Usain Bolt in Beijing 2008 and London 2012; will it be the hometown hero story like Cathy Freeman in Sydney 2000; or the triumph of an underdog who has triumphed over adversity just to toe the start line, like Billy Mills 10,000m victory in Tokyo 1964?

The Olympic Games is the greatest multi- sport event in the world and often the only chance we get to see some sports on the television, such as fencing, judo and taekwondo. But no doubt the highlight of any Olympic Games is the athletics competition. So what and who should we be looking out for? Our hometown heroine Alyson Dixon goes in the marathon on Sunday 14th August; she is joined by fellow North East athlete Sonia Samuels. Other North East athletes to look out for include Morpeth’s Laura Weightman, the Glasgow Commonwealth Games silver medallist begins her competition in the heats of the women’s 1500m on Saturday 13th August. Also, representing the region will be the Teeside Tornado, Richard Kilty who is one of a possible NINE men hoping to make the 4x100m relay team, who provided they can get the baton around the track safely will be in with a medal chance. Of course, Team GB’s medal hopes rest on the shoulders of our London 2012 Olympic champions, will we see a repeat of Super Saturday? Where Greg Rutherford, Jessica Ennis and Mo Farah all took Olympic gold, all will be back to defend their respective titles. Where else might the medals come from, with the exception of the relay teams one to look out for is Scotland’s Laura Muir in the women’s 1500m, the 23 year old is in fine form winning the recent Diamond League at the London anniversary games in a British record time of 3.57.49 surpassing the record of double Olympic champion Dame Kelly Holmes.

Despite the time difference I am sure we’ll all find time to sit back and enjoy the sporting showcase that is about to unfold, let’s hope for plenty of medals for Team GB and some good performances for our local athletes. But most importantly let’s enjoy the Olympic Games for what it’s all about, athletes from all over the world with a multitude of back stories uniting with the common aim of being, as the Olympic motto says, ‘Citius - Altius – Fortius’ (faster – higher – stronger)!

Wilson on Fire!