WITH the 31st summer Olympiad upon us, Brazil is mired in political unrest coupled with concern over the Zika virus.

Despite this, the globe's premier pomp and pageantry event will convene on August 5 with the masses being swept along on a tidal wave of hysteria celebrating minority events as if they were sporting juggernauts.

I give initial protestations every four years, then rapidly become absorbed in the Olympic movement despite the accreditability of some events.

For a sport to be considered for inclusion, it must be "widely practised by men on four continents in at least 75 countries". Qualifiers now include Handball, modern pentathlon and softball.

The Olympics have moved with the times, especially regarding sexual equality.

In 1896, no women competed as it was felt that their participation would be "impractical, uninteresting, anaesthetic, and incorrect", much the same as my wife would claim about my current domestic prowess.

In 2016 women will compete on an equal footing in the arena, with carnal gratification encouraged in the village. During the games, each athlete will receive 42 free condoms.

In 1988, only 8,500 were distributed, with 150,000 in 2012. With the count now at 450,000 athletes will be burning rubber both inside and outside of the track confines.

To me, the true Olympic ethos is encapsulated by the tales of overcoming adversity.

You only have to watch the recent Eddie the Eagle flick, where, with minimal funding or sporting talent, he embraced the embodiment of the five rings spirit to fulfil his dreams of competing, prior to it all going Pete Tong as he declared himself bankrupt and his wife left him.

He now competes on the plasterer’s circuit in Stroud under his real name of Mike Edwards.

I find it therapeutic to watch the Eagles of this world as I lie on the sofa on a hazy Saturday afternoon in my undergarb watching a Bulgarian discus thrower called Olga give her all for the motherland from whence she came.

As spectators, it is the appreciation that, although not fervent fans of the javelin, synchronised swimming or the 5,000 metres, Olga, and those of similar ilk, have woken at 3am every morning to jog to the local state sponsored doping facility/ training camp in order to grasp their chance to wave their flags manically come the opening ceremony.

The Olympics are still a huge draw. In 17 days of action, 206 countries will participate with 10,500 athletes and 315 horses competing for 4,294 medals, with 90,000 employees accompanied by 50,000 Brazilian games maker volunteers will ensure things run smoothly.

There will be removal of 32 tons of dead fish from the rowing lagoon in order to give a perfect environmental post slum razing Rio PR soundbite to the watching world.

The month long festival of sport has provided cultural game changers from Jesse Owens taking on the Nazi might to Carlos and Smith bringing civil rights movement awareness to the masses. There have been boycotts, terrorism, cheats and humbling tales.

We engage with the back story; from Eric Moussambani competing for Equatorial Guinea only months after taking up swimming to Derek Redmond’s dad vaulting the barrier to help his son in the final stretch, the Olympics is about personal achievement against the odds.

Even Bobby Davro gets a look in as his father was a world record holder who competed at two Olympics, an obscure fact which may well swing that local pub quiz in your favour down the Dog and Duck in the not too distant future.

Come the August 5, I will be sofa bound in a strictly vertical pose, with a tinge of jealousy as I laud Dmitri and Olga as they milk their moment in the spotlight.

I wouldn’t recognise them walking down the High Street a week later but wish them well in what is their defining life moment before anonymity comes a calling and they re-skill as a tradesperson in rural Gloucestershire.