Sky Sports have considered 10 sports at the 2016 Olympics that simply cannot be missed...
Rugby sevens
A new sport at this year's Games - rugby sevens is described as a "faster, shorter adaption" of the 15-player version. Fascinatingly, the favourites for gold are Fiji who have already won the World Sevens Series this year. Should they fend off fellow top contenders New Zealand, Fiji could claim a historic first-ever Olympic medal.
Beach volleyball
Few events will be as quintessentially Brazilian as the beach volleyball, a sport that is played all over Rio de Janeiro's famous beaches and now has its biggest ever stage in the city that made it famous.
Appropriately, the men's and women's events will take place on the Copacabana.
Tennis
The 2012 gold medal in London, achieved after toppling Roger Federer in three sets, was the springboard that allowed Murray to capture Wimbledon a year later.
Almost a century earlier, tennis was the sport that enabled Britain's Charlotte Cooper (a five-time Wimbledon champion) to become the first-ever female Olympic gold medallist in a singles event. Britain's relationship with tennis at the Olympics has now come full circle to the era of Murray.
The world number two will also go for gold in the men's doubles alongside his brother Jamie and could partner either Johanna Konta or Heather Watson in the mixed doubles.
The current Olympic champion from Dunblane has the added responsibility of acting as Team GB's flag-bearer for the opening ceremony so his on-court exploits will be front-and-centre.
100m final
The Olympics' defining event is over in the blink of an eye but the colour, extravagance and prestige lasts much longer. This year, Usain Bolt can use the race to propel him to a history-making achievement.
The unprecedented triple-triple (three gold medals in three events at three Olympics) is up for grabs but it all begins with the 100m. Bolt is the reigning champion and world record holder but can he recreate the theatre of London 2012 four years later?
Women's boxing
It was the long overdue addition to the last Olympics spearheaded by the gleaming grin of Nicola Adams, the home-grown hopeful who eventually became boxing's first female Olympic gold medallist. Now the ring is thousands of miles from home, can she score a repeat?
Four years ago, China's Cancan Ren was upset by Adams in the final. This time around Adams is the World Amateur Championships flyweight winner although her old adversary Ren will also be present. Great Britain and Ireland can also boast Savannah Marshall (middleweight) and Katie Taylor (lightweight).
10,000m final
Mo Farah's lung-busting efforts four years ago displayed the exhausting merits of this race, and crowned another British Olympic champion who will aim to defend his title in Rio. This time around his main opposition will be Kenyan trio Paul Tanui, Bedan Karoki Muchiri and Geoffrey Kipsang Kamworor (who finished less than a second behind Farah in the World Championship final last year).
Cycling road race
Keep an eye out for the stunning scenery of the Copacabana which will provide a picturesque finish to the road race. For the riders, the setting should provide an apt conclusion to what Chris Froome has described as a "savage" course.
Track cycling may provide a more explosive experience for viewers but the road race provided a more thorough test of a riders' mettle. Tour de France champion Froome, realising this is a climbers' course, will have designs on a gold medal.
Women's heptathlon
The all-British duel between Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson is set to be one of the most enthralling of the Olympics. Four years ago Ennis-Hill reigned during 'Super Saturday' while Johnson-Thompson was an 18-year-old, unheralded member of Team GB. This time around she is looking to pinch her team-mate's crown, but Ennis-Hill remains resolute having won a World Championship gold medal a year ago.
Swimming
The presence of Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, is an intriguing sub-plot of the American's fifth Games. Despite 22 medals (18 of them gold) Phelps has come out of retirement to add more. Swimming at the Olympics dates back to the ancient Games and this year there will be 16 events involving freestyle, breaststroke, butterfly and backstroke.
4x100m relay
The men's race will afford Bolt the opportunity to put the finishing touches on his triple-triple so could become a historic moment in Olympic history. Having won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m in Beijing and London, the masterful Bolt's legacy may come down to his third event in Rio alongside his Jamaican team-mates.