Let the games begin

The U.S. athletes, 554 strong in blue blazers, marched into the packed Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night to the rhythm of samba music under dancing blue and pink disco lights. This year at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, the host nation let the athletes from the Parade of Nations mingle. The stadium floor became a swirl of colored uniforms with impromptu dance parties. Athletes from different countries snapped selfies together.

The U.S. team has brought the largest delegation of any nation to Brazil, and it should show, especially in three of the events opening today: swimming, basketball, and gymnastics. The swimming competition starts today with the men’s and women’s 400-meter individual medley. The U.S. team includes four-time Olympian Michael Phelps and 19-year-old Katie Ledecky, who has already broken 11 world records.

New faces include college student Kelsi Worrell, the first woman ever to swim the 100-yard butterfly in under 50 seconds. Worrell, a Christian, told a Kentucky newspaper: “I know God’s got my back … and that’s what gives me the most peace.”

The U.S. women’s basketball team, going for its sixth gold medal in a row, has its first game Sunday morning. The men’s basketball team will play its first game against China later today. The men are favored for gold, but will face a talented and close-knit Spanish squad and the remains of Argentina’s “Golden Generation”—in 2004 the greatest team in the world.

Men’s gymnastics begins with a qualification round tonight. U.S. male gymnasts have not won a team medal since 2008, but this team—with three 2012 Olympians—has the experience to medal. Expectations are high for the women’s team, led by favored all-around event star Simone Biles and two of the London medalists: Aly Raisman and Gabby Douglas.

After Douglas won gold in London she told a reporter, “I give all the glory to God.” She says she takes a Bible to competitions and prays. Barely 20 now, Douglas remembers growing up poor, sometimes homeless after her father abandoned the family. Her mother worked multiple jobs to keep her in gymnastics. Success hasn’t changed her, Douglas said. She remembers her roots and that God gave her the talent.