Rio Crowd Really Doesn't Like Hope Solo

The opening ceremonies air Friday at 8pm ET in the US, but the 2016 Summer Olympics actually started Wednesday with a slate of six women's soccer games. The US women's team—2012 gold medalists gunning for their fourth gold in a row—played New Zealand and won 2-0, but goalkeeper Hope Solo lost ... the affection of Brazilians, that is, who screamed "Zika" at her over and over. Mashable reports the jeers were likely a response to tweets like this one, in which Solo shared a photo of a seriously bug-repellent covered bed with the caption, "If anyone in the village forgets to pack repellent, come and see me... # DeptOfDefense # zikaproof." Other Olympic reads worth your time on the eve of the official kickoff:

• Quartz gears up for Friday night with a list of the 5 best opening ceremonies of all time (though in the case of the list, "all time" dates to 1980). US Games slide in at No. 5.
• The Los Angeles Times takes a look at the mammoth effort NBC is putting into covering the Games, with nearly 7,000 hours of coverage across various networks and platforms planned, facilitated by 3,000 staffers in Rio and a Stamford, Conn., studio. Good viewership would mean beating the 2012 record.
• The New York Times takes a quirky look at one set of people who will be viewing the action: lifeguards there to, yes, rescue Olympic swimmers in the pool if need be.
• Speaking of things potentially going wrong, the National Post looks at some of the wildlife who call the Olympic golf course home: capybaras (the planet's largest rodent species), boa constrictors, and small crocs called caimans.
• Speaking of everything going wrong, Slate tries to "fit all of Brazil's woes in a single article."

(More 2016 Olympics stories.)