Rio’s effort was a celebration of Brazilian diversity set amid a musical accompaniment of samba, bossa nova and funk, combining Carnival traditions with a serious message.
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“These first-ever Olympic Games in South America will go from Brazil to the entire world”, International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach told the crowd.
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.
Former tennis star Gustavo Kuerten brought the flame into the stadium and passed it on to ex-basketballer Hortencia Marcari, then De Lima took center stage.
Swimming legend Michael Phelps said the honor of being the USA flag bearer was something that he could not pass up.
Right till the end, when the green Olympic rings were revealed by mirror-hugging volunteers, the green theme carried on.
One of the warmest welcomes of the evening was given to a team consisting of refugee athletes – the penultimate team to enter the stadium.
The numbers were far lower than the last Olympic Games, even considering Rio provided more convenient time zones compared to London four years ago or Beijing in 2008.
After the formal declaration of the Games, Brazilian 2004 Athens Olympics marathon bronze victor Vanderlei de Lima lit the Olympic cauldron after former tennis world number one and three-time French Open victor Gustavo Kuerten brought the torch into the arena to the thunderous applause of spectators.
There followed the first ever awarding of an “Olympic laurel” to Kenyan running great Kip Keino, before the traditional unfurling of the Olympic Flag, rendition of the Olympic Anthem and recitation of Olympic oaths leaving the traditional cauldron lighting to conclude the dramatic event.
On behalf of all 11,288 competitors (6,182 men; 5,106 women), Brazilian two-time Olympic champion sailor Robert Scheidt pledged that they won’t take banned drugs _ an oath likely to ring false to fans after the scandal of government-orchestrated cheating in Russian Federation.
The spotlight of the night was on the Russian team, which has been whittled down to 271 athletes from an initial 389 following doping allegations.
Many people pointed out Brazil was able to acknowledge slavery, while the United States has yet to do so at an Olympic ceremony.
Armenia team participating with 32 athletes was lead by flag bearer swimmer Vahan Mkhitaryan. 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. She was paralyzed in a vehicle accident as a teenager.
“It is pretty tacky to be overspending, ” he said.
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Most of the athletes from India came for the ceremony except for a handful who had a game the next day, dressed in Blue with a touch of yellow.
