Pele says he was invited to light the Rio Olympics cauldron

The Olympic tournament is the first major competition for the US since the retirement of key players such as Abby Wambach and Lauren Holiday following last year’s world title in Canada.

But this will be the first time Phelps has participated in the opening ceremony, which can be a grueling experience in which the athletes spend hours on their feet.

With the 400 IM no longer part of his program, he was available to lead the American team into one of the world’s most iconic stadiums. Gary Hall carried the flag at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.

Phelps initially retired after the 2012 London Games, but he changed his mind about a year later.

A mischievous Michael Phelps hinted the Rio Games may not be his last when the most decorated Olympian of all-time said on Wednesday he was excited his infant son Boomer would be in the stands to watch “the potential” last races of his career. For Athens, I wanted to win gold for my country.

The 18-time Olympic gold medallist said the Russian doping controversy indicated drug cheats were not just swimming’s problem.More than 100 Russians, including seven swimmers and the entire track and field team, have been banned from Rio. The Opening Ceremony is scheduled for this Friday. Phelps set another record at the Beijing 2008 games, earning 8 gold medals in a single Olympics, though he is only set to compete in three individual events at Rio. “What we’ve found is that people who stream tend to actually watch more television rather than having it cannibalize our audience”.

Phelps conceded he wasn’t at his best for the London Games and didn’t really want to be there.

It’s an early sporting high for Brazil, where reservations about the cost of bringing the Olympics to South America for the first time have produced violent reactions. He was also arrested for drunk driving for the second time.

Canada beat Australia 2-0 in a battle between two quarter-finalists from last year’s World Cup despite playing 70 minutes with 10 men to top Group F.

Just below the highlights, and when appropriate, there will be a tune-in button that says “Watch Live on NBCOlympics.com”.