The 2016 Summer Olympic Games kickoff this weekend with Friday’s opening ceremony taking place at the famous Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro and Bethlehem Catholic’s Joe Kovacs will be part of Team USA’s entourage during the event.

Kovacs enters the games as a gold medal favorite in the men’s shot put, as he continued his winning form on July 23 with a top throw of 22.04 meters in a final Diamond League competition at the Olympic Stadium in London’s Queen Elizabeth Park.

Kovacs is the top-ranked shot putter in the world, as his road to Olympic glory begins on August 18 when the men’s shot put portion of the track and field events begins with a qualification round in the morning. The medal round will take place later that night.

The 27-year-old Nazareth native and 2007 Becahi graduate will look for his greatest sporting achievement this month in Rio.

He won PIAA titles in the shot put and discus at Bethlehem Catholic and two Big Ten titles in the shot put at Penn State.

Kovacs leads New Zealand’s Tom Walsh by six points (34-to-28) in the Diamond League standings, as Walsh, along with Kurt Roberts (USA), Tomasz Majewski (Poland) and Konrad Bukowiecki (Poland) will all be the top competitors for Olympic medals.