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Your Heart Will Be In Your Throat When You See These Olympics Photos

For more than 10,000 athletes in Rio for this year's Summer Olympics, this is their moment.
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 07: Tuvshinbat Byamba of Mongolia (red) and Alberto Ignacio Palmetta of Argentina compete in the Men's Welter 69kg preliminary bout on Day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Riocentro - Pavilion 6 on August 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)
Dean Mouhtaropoulos via Getty Images
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL - AUGUST 07: Tuvshinbat Byamba of Mongolia (red) and Alberto Ignacio Palmetta of Argentina compete in the Men's Welter 69kg preliminary bout on Day 2 of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at Riocentro - Pavilion 6 on August 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo by Dean Mouhtaropoulos/Getty Images)

For more than 10,000 athletes in Rio for this year's Summer Olympics, this is their moment.

Throughout the games, spectators and judges will gape at every judo foot sweep, swing of an oar row, gymnast flip and poolside plunge: all extraordinary feats that exemplify how people use sports to show their fullest potential.

Now more than ever, new faces will be visible in Brazil, which is the first South American nation to host the games. This year's Olympics will have the most openly LGBT athletes competing and refugees are competing for the first time.

For those whose legacies are in the making, these mesmerizing photos capture moments where their Olympic spirit burned brightest.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.