The battle for Olympic medals will take place in 32 venues in Rio, plus five football co-host cities: Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Manaus, Salvador and São Paulo.

Here we take a closer look at the venues where Bermuda’s athletes will bid for glory.

Athletics

The Estádio Olímpico João Havelange

Also referred to as Stadium Rio, the venue was built for the 2007 Pan Am Games, where long jumper Tyrone Smith finished fourteenth with a leap of 7.32 metres in his first major competition.

The stadium officially opened on June 30 in 2007 with a match between Botafogo and Fluminense.

At the same time the Rio government, the owner of the stadium, put out a tender for the use of the stadium. Botafogo, having struggled to find a permanent home in the previous decades, was the only club to bid and therefore won the right to lease the stadium for a period of 20 years.

After the Maracaña Stadium closed in 2010 for building works for the 2014 World Cup, both Flamengo and Fluminense moved most of their home matches to the Stadium Rio.

Because of the large distance between the stands and pitch and often low attendances, the venue has earned a reputation of being a somewhat cold and soulless football stadium.

It will be one of the main venues at the Rio Games, with its capacity being increased from 46,931 to about 60,000 seats.

The athletics events run from August 12 to 21.

Swimming

Olympic Aquatics Stadium

Enveloped by a work of art by celebrated Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão, the stadium will be an attraction for culture lovers.

Built using “nomadic architecture” that will allow it to be taken down after the Olympics and rebuilt as two smaller venues, the stadium has a capacity of 14,997.

The stadium has two pools, one for competition and one for training, each with a capacity for 3.7 million litres of water.

The seating surrounds the competition pool, with front-row seats as close as ten metres.

A special filter system will reduce the use of chemicals by 25 per cent and the water will be maintained between 25 and 28 degrees Celsius, as advised by Fina, swimming’s governing body.

It will host the swimming events from August 6 to 13.

Triathlon

The Fort Copacabana is the starting point for the triathlon events.

Set at the south end of Copacabana Beach, the military base defines the district of Copacabana and contains the Museu Histórico do Exército (Museum of the History of the Army) and a coastal defence fort.

Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf Mountain and Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas will provide picturesque backdrops to Flora Duffy’s race, which will be held towards the end of the Games on August 20.

Duffy is already familiar with the venue, having finished twelfth in Copacabana at the 2007 Pan Am Games.

Sailing

Guanabara Bay

The bay has been at the centre of controversy, as it has shown high levels of viruses and sometimes bacteria from human sewage in the waters where hundreds of sailors will compete.

As part of Rio’s bid for the 2016 Summer Games, the Brazil government promised to clean up the bay, known for its striking views, although many sailors have complained about the pollution and debris in the water.

After a four-day visit to Rio in March, World Sailing, the international governing body for the sport, declared itself “satisfied” with preparations for the regattas.

The International Olympic Committee has also said that local organisers have followed testing procedures of the water established by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that focus on testing for bacteria.

It said it “had reassurances” from the WHO “that there is no significant risk” to the health of competitors.

The sailing events run from August 8 to 18.

Rowing

Lagoa Rodrigo de Freita

The lagoon has also had its fair share of negative publicity because of environmental issues, including water as well as land pollution.

Thirteen rowers on the 40-member United States team came down with stomach illness at the World Junior Rowing Championships 12 months ago — a trial run for the Olympics.

The team doctor said she suspected it was because of pollution in the lake where the competition took place.

However, FISA, the World Rowing Federation, has issued an update on the water quality at the lagoon and stated that it did not believe athletes had increased health risk through incidental water contact by competing at the venue.

The rowing events will be held from August 6 to 12.