Rio gears up for tonight's Olympics Opening Ceremony


The Rio Olympics officially get underway on Friday night with an Opening Ceremony that Brazilian officials hope will put concerns about their preparations, security, Zika, and doping to rest. Competition will unfold under tight security — the U.S. reportedly has sent more than 1,000 security personnel, including intelligence analysts, law enforcement agents, and more than a dozen highly trained Navy and Marine Corps commandos, to work with the Brazilian police and military. The U.S. has chosen swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history with 22 medals, to carry the American flag in the Opening Ceremony.
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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