RIO DE JANEIRO A model of the city of Rio de Janeiro made with nearly a million pieces of Lego, covering about 20 square meters and one-meter-high, is one of the latest tourist attractions of the Brazilian city during the Olympic Games, which will start on Friday.
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The Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugar Loaf mountain stand as the sun rises in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, Aug. 4, 2016.
Michael Phelps is fired up and ready to go for what promises to be an explosive first weekend of the Rio Olympic swimming programme. Many residents struggling with the dire economy question the wisdom of hosting the Olympics, a bid Brazil won in 2009 while the economy was booming. While a majority of them will compete for the United States, many are participating for other countries.
“We’ve been waiting for a long time for the Olympics and for surfing to be part of the Games”, local surfer Milton Roberto said, a day after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced surfing would be one of five new sports included in the 2020 Olympics. The most eagerly anticipated event of any sporting extravaganza, the opening ceremony is expected to draw a television audience of three billion people worldwide.
“In a way the Olympics is good for Brazil to help us develop, but the country is very sad, full of violence and unemployment”, Carlos Roberto, 56, a dockyard worker told AFP. But we also have archery on August 5. The world is threatened because of global warming. “We are calling for action”, said Fernando Meirelles, one of the directors of the show. From the world of music, Anitta, Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil will be seen at the glittering opening ceremony.
Also, watch out for supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who will perform at the event.
No Brazilian on the Rio team has more big-game experience than Neymar. He said this week he was invited to take part, but business deals were stopping him from doing it.
American sculptor Anthony Howe told The Associated Press that his cauldron design was inspired by life in the tropics.
Heavily armed soldiers guarded the Maracana stadium, host of the 2014 soccer World Cup final, on Wednesday during a test run of the opening ceremonies that lit up the skies with fireworks.
They said the budget cuts forced upon them by the economic situation in the country, which mean the cost of the ceremony will be considerably less than the £27million that was spent on the Danny Boyle-directed opening ceremony at London 2012, has not detracted from the spectacle.
“The budget is irrelevant”, Balich said. “Brazil is not a grand nation”. The Rio Games are a microcosm of the 21st century, with its myriad problems. The stadium does not have typical Olympic dimensions – there is no track.
The pistol shooter, born in Sankhuwasabha district of Nepal and settled in Uttar Pradesh, is the reigning world champion in 50m pistol as he will compete in both the events with an aim to make an unprecedented double in the Olympics. NBC will broadcast the opening ceremony on a one-hour tape delay because it wants the extravaganza to be shown completely in USA prime time.
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As for the show itself, the ceremony will showcase Brazil’s culture such as its famous musical genre, samba, and present a message of inclusion and protection of the Earth through its acts and performers.
