AS South Africa’s flag-bearer, Wayde van Niekerk, is as chuffed as a kid under the Christmas tree. It's an honour that goes with much weight, but he's a man who has been living up to the hype for the last 18 months.
The 400m world champion is expected to add to the gong he collected last year, and he is also primed to be part of a heist on the track for Team South Africa.
With just two weeks to go to the Olympics, and key announcements being made, and everything that needs to happen in the final countdown to the biggest show on Earth finally coming together, you can see the excitement on the faces of the key players. This is what the Games are all about.
Ask Usain Bolt if there is anywhere else in the world that he would rather be over the next month, and he will flash a grin that spells Copacabana.
That smile grew even wider on Friday night, when the greatest sprinter in the history of athletics made a triumphant return from a lame hamstring.
Bolt’s win in the 200m at the Centenary Games in London allowed the world to breathe a collective sigh, because it confirmed that Superman hadn’t succumbed to kryptonite.
Bolt will have his moment, his chance to treble up on his sprint doubles.
Bolt will have the chance to do what very few have ever done, and soar beyond the pantheon of champions that have come before him.
He needed the Olympics, almost as much as the Games needed him.
SuperSport held a launch party for their coverage of the Games this week, with wall-to-wall channels dedicated to showing every nook and cranny of Rio.
During the clips that reminisced about the glorious past, one couldn’t help but get goose bumps, as Bolt scorched to the line in record time, brazen and beautiful and bristling with history-making intent in Beijing.
It was there, in 9.69 seconds, that we knew we had a legend.
Others, like Daley Thompson, or Jessica Ennis, or the incomparable Carl Lewis, take a bit longer to get ingrained in the memory, their five-ringed exploits a sure ticket to the hall of fame.
But, those clips, even the ones with tears, reminded each and every one gathered about the power of three incredible weeks, which come around once every four years.
Inevitably, there will be tears. There will be glorious tears, which can’t be washed away by anything other than a commitment to come back in four years, to right those wrongs in Tokyo.
There is no other remedy, save for doing it properly on the unique stage.
Along with the tears, though, there will be a flood of medals, and heroes and legends made over the next month.
There will be new Bolts, and new Jesse Owens, new Dawn Frasers, and perfect 10s, and synchronised sensations, and everything else that makes the next month the incredible spectacle it has always been.
Brazil has had problems, yes, but those will disintegrate into the smoke of hope over the next few weeks, as perfection takes priority.
Bolt and his Jamaican posse will arrive, all swag and expectant of further bling.
The Americans will arrive, stars and stripes and aspirations flashing.
And, alongside them, Wayde and his rainbow warriors will be there, resplendent in their light blue blazers, their crisp shirts and their dreams that have been brewing for four years.
For some, athletes, and officials, and fans alike, the Olympics are like Christmas.
To their uncontained joy, they can hear the sleigh, slipping past the Redeemer, headed for the Maracana Stadium.
It is time. - Sunday Independent