The Rio Olympics have been blighted by empty stadiums during the opening phase of the 2016 Games.

Empty seats continue to embarrass the Rio Olympics with not even the beach volleyball on the famous Copacabana Beach attracting locals.

The second day of the Games in the Brazil city saw around two thirds of the 12,000-seat arena empty on a sun-drenched day at the beach volleyball where Brazil's Olympic medallist Larissa Franca made her first appearance.

Franca won bronze at London four years ago and has teamed with Talita Antunes in Rio.

'We did see the empty seats but I think that it is still early in the tournament. It may be that people are waiting until later in the competition," Antunes said,.

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Elsewhere the equestrian and hockey grandstands also had plenty of empty seats as did the gymnastics which is usually one of the hottest tickets at the Olympics.

The inability of even the United States Dream Team men's basketballers to attract sellouts has left organisers bemused.

The American NBA stars were stunned to find a largely empty stadium when they entered to play China, although seating later filled in.

The Rio Olympics got off to a bad start in this department with the opening ceremony featuring plenty of empty seats.

And in a football-mad country, attendances at stadiums for both the men's and women's Olympics matches have been disappointing.

The Zika virus, high prices, anti government protests and security issues are thought to have kept large numbers of Brazilians away and have also affected the international audience.