2:50 am
The Italian men's pursuit team has been added to the track cycling program at the Rio Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld the decision to bar Russia's squad from competing.
Kiril Sveshnikov, Dmitry Sokolov and Dmitry Strakhov appealed to CAS after they were included in the McLaren Report that detailed state-directed doping across numerous winter and summer sports.
Their pursuit teammate Sergey Shilov was cleared to compete in Saturday's road race and presumably could have ridden on the track, while teammate Viktor Manakov had never been implicated.
Cycling's governing body, the UCI, tells The Associated Press that it consulted with the IOC before reallocating Russia's vacated team pursuit spot to Italy.
Italian riders Filippo Ganna, Liam Bertazzo, Simone Consonni and Francesco Lamon will fly to Brazil this weekend to join teammate Elia Viviani, who is already in Rio to contest the omnium.
The qualifying round of the men's team pursuit is Thursday.
1:30 am
The Russian Sailing Federation says one of its sailors has been cleared to compete at the Olympics despite having been implicated in a report on alleged doping cover-ups.
Pavel Sozykin had initially been ruled out last month by World Sailing after his name featured in World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren's report into Russia's alleged scheme to hide hundreds of failed drug tests.
However, World Sailing dropped its opposition to Sozykin on Wednesday, saying it was not clear whether he would have been eligible for a ban even if there had been a cover-up.
The Russian Sailing Federation said in a statement Friday that the International Olympic Committee has given final approval to Sozykin, meaning Russia's full team of seven sailors can compete in Rio.
1:10 am
A small group of protesters have been stopped by heavily armed security that appeared to fire tear gas to keep them from reaching the site of the opening ceremony for the Rio Olympics.
The protesters got within about 2 kilometers (1.5 miles) of the Maracana stadium on Friday. As they tried to get closer, security pushed them back, setting off clashes.
Television footage showed two protesters setting fire to a yellow shirt carrying the logo "Rio 2016" and worn by staff working at the Olympics.
It was not clear how many protesters were detained, though footage showed at least one young man being placed into the back of a police van.
There have been consistent small protests in Brazil in the run-up to the Olympics, much of it aimed as the torch relay as it circled the country of 200 million.
Brazil is in the midst of its deepest recession since the 1930s, employment is above 10 percent, and the local currency has tumbled in value against the dollar in the last year.
11 p.m.
A bad virus couldn't keep Alice Ingley of Australia from shooting arrows.
Ingley spent part of Thursday morning in a clinic with the virus. On Friday, she finished 58th in archery's qualifying round at the Rio Olympics.
Not bad for eating only some crackers and nibbling on a piece of toast.
Ingley said she knew she would make it to qualifying, but just didn't know how many arrows she would be able to shoot. Ingley ended up shooting all 72 arrows in the qualifying round.
But she will stay away from teammates for one more night just so they don't catch anything from her.
A member of the Australian women's water polo team was in isolation a few days ago after being stricken with a gastrointestinal virus.
10:45 p.m.
The CEO of the Russian Cycling Federation says three of the country's cyclists have been cleared to race at the Olympics after appealing their exclusion over doping.
The three had been barred from competing under International Olympic Committee rules on Russia because they previously had been banned for doping. But that IOC rule was declared "unenforceable" by a sports arbitration panel Thursday.
Even though the three Russian cyclists have been allowed to race, only two-time road racing medalist Olga Zabelinskaya appears likely to compete.
Tour de France stage winner Ilnur Zakarin cannot race due to "a confluence of circumstances," federation CEO Yuri Kucheryavy tells The Associated Press in text messages.
Another rider, track cyclist Sergei Shilov, could be out because three of his teammates in the pursuit are facing exclusion on different doping-related allegations.
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10:30 p.m.
The competing was the easy part for three Russian archers in comparison to waiting to see if they would even be allowed at the Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee recently approved the entry of 271 Russian athletes amid several anti-doping groups calling for a complete ban.
Overall, more than 100 Russians have been excluded, including 67 in track and field, over allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russia ahead of the Rio Games.
"Of course, there were some worries," Russian archer Ksenia Perova said through a translator Friday after the women's qualifying round at the Sambadrome. "But they (decision makers) believe in common sense."
Tuiana Dashidorzhieva led the way for the Russians in qualifying by finishing fifth. Inna Stepanova was 16th and Perova wound up 17th.
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10:05 p.m.
Hours before the opening ceremony, the Greek Olympic committee has announced the first positive doping test of the Rio Games.
The committee says an unnamed member of the Olympic team failed a doping test in July in Athens. The Greeks say the athlete has left the Olympic Village.
Dozens of athletes have failed doping tests at the last two Olympics, most caught in recent retests of stored samples. The IOC stores doping samples for 10 years so they can be retested when new methods become available, meaning drug cheats who escaped detection at the time can be caught years later.
8:20 p.m.
Suspended Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff says she's sad to be missing out on the Olympics festivities as Rio gears up to Friday night's opening ceremony.
Rousseff will be watching from the presidential palace in Brasilia, where she's been holed up since being suspended in May on impeachment charges. She says on Twitter that she'll still be rooting for Brazil even if she can't attend in person.
Her predecessor and mentor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who led the Brazilian efforts to bring the first Olympics to South America, said he's not even planning to watch it. His spokesman Jose Chrispiniano said the former president will instead be at a rally of his Workers' Party in his hometown in the greater Sao Paulo area.
The honor of kicking off the games will instead go to interim President Michel Temer, who said he expects to be loudly booed at Maracana stadium.
In 2009, before the largely unknown Rousseff ran her first campaign, she was one of the 50,000 people celebrating on Copacabana beach after Rio beat Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago to host the event.
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7:45 p.m.
Chris Brooks' remarkable resurgence will reach its peak on Saturday when the captain of the U.S. men's gymnastics team competes in the all-around.
The 29-year-old Brooks, a first-time Olympian, will do all six events for the Americans as they try to earn a spot in Monday's eight-team final. Four-time national champion Sam Mikulak will also do the all-around for the U.S. as it hopes to return to the podium after fading during the finals in 2012.
Alex Naddour will do floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings and vault. Jake Dalton will do floor exercise, still rings, vault, parallel bars and high bar while 2012 all-around bronze medalist Danell Leyva will compete on pommel horse, parallel bars and high bar.
Each country will put four men in each event during qualifying, with the lowest score being dropped. The format changes up to three-up, three-count for the final on Monday.
7:20 p.m.
Leaders of countries who are in Brazil to promote bids for the 2024 Games discussed terrorism threats Friday ahead of Rio's opening ceremony.
French President Francois Hollande says Paris and other cities bidding to host future Olympics need to be able to protect themselves, and Hollande says France has experience in organizing and protecting major events. More than 200 people have died in France in the last 18 months in terror attacks, but Hollande said these were not attacks on major organized events like the European Championship soccer tournament, which was held around France in June and July.
Italian Premier Matteo Renzi says holding the Olympics in Rome would be an answer to terrorists trying to cower people into a "life of fear."
Speaking in an interview with two international news agencies, including The Associated Press, Renzi said that if the terrorists "hate music, we will invest more money in music. If they hate soccer or other sports, we believe this is our identity."
Paris and Rome are bid rivals for the 2024 Games along with Los Angeles.
6:25 p.m.
Pele says his poor health will prevent him from participating in the opening ceremony of the Rio Olympics.
In a statement on Friday, Pele says "I'm not physically able to attend the opening of the Olympics."
Friday's opening ceremony will need to fill a void without Brazil's most famous athlete. He had hip surgery several years ago and often walks with the help of a cane.
Pele says in his statement that "only God is more important than my health. In my life, I've had fractures, surgeries, pain, hospital stays, victories and defeats. And I've always respected those who admire me."
He says it was "my own decision."
Pele apologized for disappointing Brazilians and says "as a Brazilian, I ask God to bless all who participate in this event."
He signed the statement Edson Arantes do Nascimento — Pele.
4pm
Brazilian police say they have jailed a Moroccan Olympic boxer on allegations he sexually assaulted two Brazilian women.
In a statement, police say they arrested boxer Hassan Saada Friday for possible assaults on two Brazilian women who worked as waitresses in the Olympic Village.
According to the statement, the attacks happened on Wednesday. No other details were given.
Police say Saada will be jailed for a period of 15 days while they conduct a rape investigation. Under Brazilian law, suspects can be held for a long period of time while a case is examined.
He was due to compete Saturday. A light heavyweight boxer, he was set to fight Mehmet Nadir of Turkey in the preliminary rounds Saturday at 12:30 p.m. He was not predicted to be a medal contender.
1.20pm
The Olympic flame has hit Rio's most famous landmark, the Christ the Redeemer statue.
Brazil Olympian Isabel Barroso Salgado was emotional as she stood beneath the 125-foot statue (38 meters, 30 centimeters), holding the torch straight above her head with both arms outstretched.
The volleyball medalist from Brazil then received a blessing as cameras snapped all around.
The iconic wonder is one of many stops for the flame as it travels around Rio de Janeiro at the end of a long relay that began in Greece. Torch runners carried the flame through Copacabana early Friday.
The flame will be used to light the Olympic cauldron Friday night at the opening ceremony at Maracana Stadium.
11am
There's going to be no shortage of samba, culture or diversity in the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics as Brazil proudly showcases its traditions and environmental wonders.
Millions of television viewers from around the world are expected to watch the three-hour ceremony in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night, which comes as the country is reeling from political and economic turmoil.
Organizers are making sure that global warming and the environment, especially the country's magnificent Amazon rainforest, are important parts of the ceremony.
In all, 4,800 performers and volunteers will be involved in the show at Rio's Maracana stadium. NBC will broadcast the opening ceremony on a one-hour tape delay because it wants the extravaganza to be shown completely in U.S. prime time.
Samba and pop music singers are expected to perform, including Grammy award winners Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Supermodel Gisele Bundchen will also be on hand to promote her native Brazil.