The final stop for the torch will be at the likewise emblematic Maracana Stadium, the venue for the first-ever Summer Olympics opening ceremony in South America.
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Rio 2016 has had a hard upbringing with worries about the country’s ability to afford it, Rio’s preparations and sport’s credibility in the face of a divisive doping crisis, but South America’s first ever Olympics is now ready to entertain the world and perhaps revive a nation.
“We had a very bad rehearsal two days ago, our last rehearsal was a disaster – this might be a good thing, everyone is now very aware”, Meirelles, who also directed the 2002 film City of God, said before Friday’s ceremony.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach said the refugee team were sending “a message of hope to the millions of refugees around the globe”.
Once the Brazilian delegation entered Maracana Stadium to end the parade of nations at the opening, rings carrying seeds and soil were moved into the Olympic five-ring shape – and displayed in green in a reference to transplanting depleted forests, not the traditional colors of the games.
After the grandeur of Beijing’s opening ceremony in 2008 and the high-tech, cheeky inventiveness of London’s in 2012, Rio’s was earthier and less swish but more sobering with its gloomy environmental look at the future and deliberate penny-pinching.
But as the clock ticked down to the start of the first South American Olympics in history, demonstrators took to the streets to vent their fury at Brazil’s rulers and the multi-billion-dollar cost of the Games.
The cannonball-shaped cauldron was lit by Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima. She is beyond excited to be competing in Rio and has been anticipating marching in the Opening Ceremonies since she was a little girl.
An unnamed Greek athlete was expelled from the Games after failing a drugs test.
And the secret of the Rio flame returned ahead of the ceremony when Brazilian football great Pele, 75, said he could not carry the torch because of poor health.
The William sisters at the opening ceremony.
The honour of officially declaring the games open fell to Michel Temer, Brazil’s unpopular interim president, who was loudly jeered.
“I’m honored to be chosen, proud to represent the US, and humbled by the significance of carrying the flag and all it stands for”, said Phelps, who is the most decorated Olympian of all time with 22 medals. When they sprout, they will be planted in a Rio park.
And the roar the crowd gave the likes of Spain’s Rafael Nadal and the United States team, led by Michael Phelps, would support the view that has been growing here that Rio is ready to forget its concerns about the broken political system, struggling economy and alarming Zika virus to enjoy its moment as the centre of the world’s attention. As a outcome, Russia’s team was whittled down from a hoped-for 389 athletes to around 270.
Brazilian officials wanted this cauldron smaller than most, a reminder to reduce global warming caused by fossil fuels and greenhouse gases.
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Team India at the Olympics opening ceremony. When 40% of the homes in Brazil have no sanitation, you can’t really be spending a billion reals for a show.
