Saturday morning, Australian time, marked the beginning of a fortnight of sleepless nights, excitement and (hopefully) plenty of chances to celebrate.

Whether they compete at the track, on the field, in the pool or some other arena, it’s a chance for some of Australia’s finest and hard working athletes to go toe-to-toe with rivals of the highest calibre while the world watches.

Some experts have predicted a 17-gold medal haul for Australia at these games, which would equal the nation’s record tally from Athens in 2004.

It’s been an ideal start to the Games in Rio for a couple of athletes from the Lower Hunter.

Maitland’s Simon Orchard was instrumental in the Kookaburra’s 2-1 win against New Zealand on the weekend – with Australia’s national hockey side starting on the front foot.

The Kookaburras face Spain in their next pool match on Monday at 9.30am AEST before the take on Belgium at the same time on Wednesday morning.

Given the Kookaburras were ranked world number one going into the Games, they are rightly red-hot favourites to bring home a medal from Rio.

Meanwhile, Dungog rower Spencer Turrin and his partner Alex Lloyd were strong in tough conditions to win their heat in the coxless pair to book a semi-final berth.

The duo recorded the fastest qualifying time for Tuesday’s semi-final, which will take place at 10.50pm AEST.

Athletes from outside the Maitland-Dungog area also representing the Hunter in the Australian Olympic team include: 

The Mercury wishes each Hunter athlete competing in the Rio Olympic Games the best of luck for the next fortnight – we’ll be watching and cheering you on.