Apart from the joyful celebration in Maracana Stadium, the Rio Olympics opening ceremony on Friday shed light on Brazil’s biodiversity as well as call-to-actions regarding climate change.
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It was a visually stunning representation of a foundational element of Brazil’s identity and, while it may not be the moment in the ceremony that people will be talking about most as the Olympics play out, it provided an image that will stick with viewers. The peace symbol, tweaked into the shape of a tree, was projected onto the floor of the Maracana Stadium that filed with thousands of athletes from the 207 teams.
Who will light the cauldron remains a closely guarded secret after Brazilian football great Pele, 75, said he turned down the honour because of poor health.
Home to the Amazon, the Rio 2016 opening ceremony also exhorted the people to take care of the planet.
New International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach declared the Rio Games open during last night’s Opening Ceremony. Their flag-bearer, Rose Nathike Lokonyen, fled war in South Sudan and ran her first race in a refugee camp in northern Kenya.
With Indian players performing strongly in the past two editions of the games, hopes will be high from them in 2016 edition of the mega sports event. In one of the world’s most unequal societies, the spectacle celebrated the culture of the favelas, the slums that hang vertiginously above the renowned beaches of Rio and ring the Maracana.
As well as economic problems, Brazil is also in the grip of a political crisis which led to the impeachment of President Dilma Rousseff.
This meant the evening’s first boos went to the team from Brazil’s traditional rival Argentina, but it did little to quash the party atmosphere with a succession of dancers, musicians and volunteers racing through routines showcasing Brazil’s diversity and history, even finding time for a lecture on environmental issues.
Police used stun grenades against a few hundred anti-Olympic protesters near the stadium, armored tanks lined the streets, and the 50,000 attendees faced two-hour-long lines as Brazil staged its most intense security operation ever.
At his fifth and last Olympics, it was the first time the record holder of 22 medals had marched in an opening ceremony, having skipped previous ones to save energy for competition.
The opening ceremony welcomes some 10,500 athletes from countries around the world.
It started with the beginning of life itself in Brazil, and the population that formed in the vast forests and built their communal huts, the ocas.
“They’re talking about slavery?”
The cauldron in central Rio is expected to be lit by a runner after the opening ceremony is finished, Howe said. “They have to talk about that”.
The ceremony launches 17 days of sporting drama led by a cast of elite athletes including sprint king Usain Bolt and swimming superstar Phelps which wraps up on August 21.
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The Russian team, here despite demands for a blanket ban for state-sponsored doping were greeted by polite applause, in contrast to the refugee team, appearing for the first time.
