The Olympic Games officially kicked off on Friday with the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.
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The ceremony deviated from its carefully-constructed script within five minutes of the lavish event starting however, when Brazil’s acting president Michel Temer was not announced to the crowd.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday described the International Olympic Committee (IOC) rule barring Russian athletes with prior doping sanctions from competing in the Games as “unenforceable”, reports Tass.
Rio de Janeiro opened the much-awaited Rio Olympics 2016 with a deeper message regarding the planet.
“I hope the opening ceremony can be a kind of anti-depressant for Brazil”, said one of the show’s creative directors, the acclaimed “City of God” film-maker Fernando Meirelles.
But Brazil also packaged its party with solemnity, lacing the fun and frivolous show with sobering messages about global warming and conservation.
Nuzman’s mention of government support for Rio 2016’s budget was briefly jeered but he was on safer ground when he told the crowd “the whole world is here”.
Despite the resentful undercurrent, and protests against the Games just hours earlier, spirits were high among the thousands of athletes, performers, fans and officials at the 78,000-capacity Maracana.
Mr Temer, a 75-year-old law professor, became acting president after the Senate voted in favour of launching an impeachment trial against Ms Rousseff, suspending her.
Brazilian media reports say that music will be turned up as soon as he finishes speaking to mask any booing from protesters.
Millions of people around the world watched the ceremony.
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.
On Friday, Brazil set the world alight with all the colour and vibrancy you’d expect from a Samba-hosted games, but this dynamic display by the host nation was tinged with sombre undertones, highlighting the dangers associated with global warming. The IOC’s decision not to impose a blanket ban on Russian Federation over revelations of a state-sponsored doping program opened the door to legal turmoil.
All eyes will be on American swimming star Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, when he returns to the swimming pool in the first week.
Track and field will see Jamaica’s Bolt aim to defend his 100m, 200m and 4x100m crowns by clinching all three for the third straight Games.
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But Brazil’s bid for a first ever football gold medal is already off to an inauspicious start.
