Lighting Our Way To The Summer Olympics

Rio de Janeiro is gearing up to host the world's elite athletes in an Olympics that promises transcendent moments in sports — and potential controversies outside of the competition. Compelling stories are already emerging, and that means that it's time to relight The Torch, NPR's Olympics blog.

The Summer Games begin Aug. 5, and more than 10,000 athletes from 206 countries will participate in the first Olympics ever held in South America.

Brazil has a flair for both spectacle and athletic excellence. But the country is also facing questions about its preparations and its political stability. Concerns over the Zika virus are already having an impact, with at least one American athlete withdrawing and international authorities issuing medical advice to those who want to attend.

The Torch is a team effort: NPR is sending familiar names (and voices) like Melissa Block and Tom Goldman to Rio for these games, along with Russell Lewis and Bill Chappell. They'll join correspondent Lulu Garcia-Navarro, who's based in Brazil.

We'll focus on stories from Brazil that you don't want to miss, and we want to give our audience a feel for what it's like to be at these Olympic Games. To do that, we'll send sights and sounds from Rio via Twitter and other social media, from Facebook to Snapchat.

If you'd like to catch up on our Olympics coverage, here are some recent stories:

Rio will see the first-ever Olympic team fielded solely from refugees.

Many Olympic sailors have complained about the pollution and debris in the water where they'll be racing.

Despite a ban, Russia's track and field athletes may still have a chance to compete in Rio.

And last week, Rio's governor declared a "State Of Calamity" ahead of the games.