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Here's Where The Rio Events Will Be Held

by Chris Tognotti

On Aug. 5, the Rio Summer Olympics will officially begin, with the opening ceremony scheduled to kick off three weeks of breathtaking athletic competition. Athletes from all across the world will be facing off, striving for gold at basically the highest, most elite level that exists, representing their home countries (and, for the very first time, the international refugee community too). But where will they be competing, you ask? Here's a list of all the Rio Olympics venues and stadiums, because these games aren't all happening in the same place.

All in all, the Rio Olympic events will play out across dozens of different locations, as detailed on the official website of the 2016 games. Needless to say, perhaps, but the biggest and most impressive venue is Maracana Stadium, which seats nearly 80,000 spectators, making it the biggest such stadium in all of Brazil. That's where the final matches in both men's and women's soccer will be held (or football, as they quite sensibly call it everywhere else but America), as well as the opening and closing ceremonies.

But beyond Maracana, there's still dozens of other venues (and specific parts of different venues) where the individual events will play out. Here's the full list!

YASUYOSHI CHIBA/AFP/Getty Images
  • Amazonia Arena will host soccer.
  • The Beach Volleyball Arena will host, you guessed it, beach volleyball.
  • Carioca Arenas 1, 2, and 3 will host basketball, wrestling, taekwondo, and fencing.
  • Corinthians Arena will host soccer.
  • The Deodoro Aquatics Center will host the modern pentathlon.
  • Deodoro Stadium will host the modern pentathlon and rugby sevens.
  • The Fonte Nova Arena will host soccer.
  • Fort Copacabana will host road cycling, marathon swimming, and the triathlon.
  • Future Arena will host handball.
  • Lagoa Stadium will host rowing and canoe sprint.
  • Mane Garrincha Stadium will host soccer.
  • Maracanazinho will host volleyball.
  • The Maria Lenk Aquatics Center will host diving, synchronized swimming, and water polo.
  • The Marina da Gloria will host sailing.
  • Miniaero will host soccer.
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  • The Mountain Bike Center will host, yup, mountain biking.
  • The Olympic Aquatics Stadium will host swimming and water polo.
  • The Olympic BMX Center will host BMX cycling, naturally.
  • The Olympic Equestrian Center will, surprising no one, host the equestrians.
  • The Olympic Golf Course will host golf. For real!
  • The Olympic Hockey Center will host, unbelievably enough, hockey.
  • The Olympic Shooting Center, true to its name, will host shooting.
  • The Olympic Stadium (Engenhao) will host soccer and athletics.
  • The Olympic Tennis Center will host tennis, just like you'd expect.
  • Pontal will host road cycling and athletics.
  • The Rio Olympic Arena will host artistic, rhythmic, and trampoline gymnastics.
  • The Rio Olympic Velodrome will host track cyclings.
  • Riocentro Pavilions 2, 3, 4, and 6 will host boxing, badminton, table tennis, and weightlifting.
  • Sambodromo will host athletics and archery.
  • Whitewater Stadium will host the canoe slalom.
  • The Youth Arena will host the modern pentathlon and basketball.
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As previously stated, Maracana Stadium will be taking center stage on the first and last days of the games, and it'll serve as the backdrop for the climactic men's and women's soccer finals. All in all, that's 37 different venues for the various sports that'll be taking place next month. If you're interested in taking in some of the sights, sounds, and the rush of the competition, then by all means tune in and watch ― NBC will be carrying the Olympic games from opening to closing.