The honor of officially declaring the games open fell to Michel Temer, Brazil’s unpopular interim president, who was loudly jeered and faced shouts of “out with Temer”.
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Supermodel Gisele Bundchen made her final appearance on the catwalk, striding out to the tune of Jobim’s “The Girl from Ipanema”.
The low-tech, cut-price opening ceremony, a moment of levity for a nation beset by economic and political woes, featured performers as slaves, gravity-defying climbers hanging from buildings in Brazil’s teeming megacities and – of course – dancers, all hips and wobble, grooving to thumping funk and sultry samba.
More than the entertainment there were several messages to the world.
There was no glossing over history either: from the arrival of the Portuguese and their conquest of the indigenous populations to the use of African slave labor for 400 years.
Near Maracanã Stadium, for which more than Dollars 500 million have been spent over the past two years, some of the poorest people in Brazil reside in dire conditions lacking proper sanitation, health care, education as well as security due to drug violence.
The night of colour, rhythm and samba drew towards a close as Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, who had won the bronze medal at the Athens Olympic Games in 2004, lit the Olympic cauldron.
The most decorated athlete in Olympic history, American Michael Phelps, competes Sunday in the 4×100-meter freestyle relay. In the almost four-hour event, nothing appeared to go awry.
According to a Rio police statement on Saturday, a mugger was intercepted by an officer a day earlier near Maracanã Stadium, where the opening ceremony of the Olympics took place, and was gunned down. Everyone performed for free.
The Olympics began in full with the first gold medal going to an American teenager by the fearsome name of Thrasher.
More than 10,000 athletes from 207 teams took part, with the biggest cheers reserved for the specially formed refugee team and the joyous Brazilian contingent. On Saturday, barring anything unusual, Solo will appear in her 200th game for the USA women’s national team in a group stage match against France at the Rio Olympics.
“It is very hard for transsexuals in Rio”, said Dayana Gusmao, an executive for Rio Without Homophobia, told USA TODAY Sports earlier this year.
Due to Brazil’s most intense security operation ever, some among the 50,000 attendees faced two-hour-long lines as Brazil staged its most intense security operation ever. The overriding theme of the ceremony was nature – Brazil being home to the world’s largest rainforest – and an appeal to the people of the world to save planet earth from further degradation.
“They’re talking about slavery?”
An estimated global audience of three billion watched the ceremony.
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“This is a conquest”.
