Performers decked in silvery suits folded and unfolded glittering silver sheets that transformed into giant cushions they then beat like drums.
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The colourful event that was at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro was a vibrant celebration of rich history and culture.
But even the joys of the elite sports competition to come and the opening ceremony extravaganza failed to dispel gloom over Brazil’s parlous political and economic situation, with boos and jeers breaking out as interim president Michel Temer declared South America’s first Olympic Games open. It was awesome. Brazil is completely in good moment for the Olympic Games. She refused to attend the ceremony, leaving Temer in her place with a hostile reception from the crowd predicted.
Speeches from Rio 2016 committee head Carlos Nuzman and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach followed, with the latter giving a nod to the refugee team present. Their flag-bearer, Rose Nathike Lokonyen, fled war in South Sudan and ran her first race in a refugee camp in northern Kenya.
A sweet start to the Olympics prompted the return of a familiar chant from the 2014 World Cup that had been pushed into the darkness by years of bad news.
Students hope the world will look beyond the negatives.
Brazil’s flag being hoisted during the ceremony.
But there were big cheers for nations with large immigrant communities in Brazil, such as Italy and Japan, and roars for the more recognisable flag bearers such as Rafa Nadal and Michael Phelps. “I want to show what I am capable of doing, when it comes to both carrying the flag and competing in my event”.
On behalf of all 11,288 competitors (6,182 men; 5,106 women), a Brazilian athlete will pledge an oath that they won’t take banned drugs – a promise likely to ring false to many fans after the scandal of government-orchestrated cheating in Russian Federation.
As a outcome, Russia’s team was whittled down from a hoped-for 389 athletes to around 270.
It was a golden class of flag bearers with arguably the greatest swimmer of all time Michael Phelps taking on the duties for the preppy clothed United States, and 14-time major victor Rafael Nadal and current Wimbledon champion Andy Murray did the same for Spain and Great Britain respectively.
Unlike the opening ceremonies in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012, a financially constrained Brazil had little choice but to put on a more “analogue” show, with minimal high-tech and a heavy dependence on the vast talent of Brazil and its Carnival party traditions.
Fireworks. Song. Dance. Even, in a nod to that most Brazilian of exports, the super-model: Gisele Bündchen. But it was with media members and volunteers from throughout the world, all of us cheering our home countries.
It was a heck of a statement, coming after a lengthy segment on global warming. Surely, amid the bloated ceremonials, a space could be found for, you know, some actual sport.
The cauldron was designed by American sculptor Anthony Howe, who told The Associated Press he was inspired by life in the tropics.
Later, a robber was gunned down by police near the Rio Games’ main venue, the Maracana stadium.
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If ever there was a Games that cried out for the glow of a lit cauldron, these are those Games.
