The Olympic torch was carried more than 20,000 kilometers before coming to the Maracana Stadium, packed with 70,000 fans.
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Distinctive from past opening ceremonies, Rio performers mainly conveyed a message of care for the environment, which was underlined by the fact that the Brazilian national flag was hoisted by Rio de Janeiro’s Environment Police Command.
Many people pointed out Brazil was able to acknowledge slavery, while the United States has yet to do so at an Olympic ceremony. Germany will be represented by 423 athletes.
America isn’t the only nation assisting Brazil with security measures. It was simple, classy and effective. The clash of cultures, as the ceremony showed, is what makes Brazil the complex mosaic that it is.
The creative minds behind the opening ceremony were determined to put on a show that would not offend a country in dire economic straits but would showcase the famously upbeat nature of Brazilians.
The introduction of the dance music Brazil is famous for set a party tone for the next segment, which focused on the arrival of the European, African and Middle Eastern settlers.
In a separate incident, a loud explosion was heard near the finishing line of the men’s cycling course, but no report of panic or possible casualties was released and the race continued without interruption.
“The world is very tense and so is Brazil”.
Then the show transitioned from sheer beauty to the grit and resilience and imagination to be found “above Ipanema”: favelas, the slums of Rio that have produced, among others, Brazil’s best badminton player, Ygor Oliveira, who grew up mixing swatting shuttlecocks with samba. Fireworks formed the word “Rio” in the skies. Audience members were invited to join in and the fun, carefree nature of the entire ceremony was underlined. Actresses Judi Dench and Fernanda Montenegro lent their voices for a classic poem about hope for the future.
But it wasn’t all doom and gloom.
It was, in fact, pretty cool, capped by the entrance to a tremendous standing ovation by the Refugee Olympic Team, surpassed only in volume by the reception for the team that came next, the wildly-cheered hosts.
That it was the acting president of Brazil Michal Temer – acting because the actual president, Dilma Rousseff, is facing an impeachment trial over corruption allegations – who declared the Games of the XXXI Olympiad open while being roundly booed was just one more stone in Rio’s shoe.
Hours before the start of the opening show, thousands of Brazilian protesters angry at political upheaval, corruption and the cost of the Olympics had blocked traffic on the streets of Rio. Francis wished each of the 10 athletes success, saying he hoped that “your courage and strength find expression through the Olympic Games and serve as a cry for peace and solidarity”.
International Olympic Committee president Bach talked positively about the Games, despite organisational problems in the build-up.
“We are living in a world of crises, mistrust and uncertainty”, Bach said.
Under the gaze of Rio’s Christ the Redeemer statue, 78,000 people watched the four-hour party with Michael Phelps and other sporting superstars taking centre-stage in South America’s first Olympics. There will be two cauldrons in Rio, one at the Maracana soccer stadium that is hosting the opening ceremony and another open to the public in downtown Rio.
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Football great Pele was believed to have been pencilled in to light the environmentally friendly Olympic cauldron before being a late scratching because of poor health, leaving 2004 men’s marathon bronze medallist Vanderlei de Lima to do the honours.
