Later, a robber was gunned down by police near the Rio Games’ main venue, the Maracana stadium. 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. “I love seeing that stadium light up, I want to feel pride as a Brazilian, but the Olympics have not brought any great changes for us”.
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Many viewers were upset at waiting to see a global event.
But in a reminder of Brazil’s parlous political and economic situation, boos and jeers greeted interim president Michel Temer before he declared South America’s first Olympic Games open.
Athletes from 205 nations and territories were set to march behind their flags.
“Our admiration is even greater because you managed this at a very hard time in Brazilian history”. Their flag-bearer, Rose Nathike Lokonyen, fled war in South Sudan and ran her first race in a refugee camp in northern Kenya. When they sprout, they will be planted in a Rio park.
Each athlete will be asked to plant seeds that will eventually grow into trees and be planted in the Athletes Forest in Rio in a few years. As a effect, Russia’s team was whittled down from a hoped-for 389 athletes to around 270.
After the grandeur of Beijing’s opening ceremony in 2008 and the high-tech, cheeky inventiveness of London’s in 2012, Rio’s was earthier and less swish but more sobering with its gloomy environmental look at the future and deliberate penny-pinching.
The ceremony, which has famed Brazilian director Fernando Meirelles, known for crime drama “City of God“, Andrucha Washington and Daniela Thomas as creative directors, started with thousands of performers entering the arena with sheets of metallic paper, quickly transformed into a sort of “pillow” and struck hard to create a beat that resounded through the stadium.
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“Rousseff was not at the opening ceremony, the AP said”. The four-time Olympian took to Instagram to share her and teammate April Ross’ decision, writing, “We chose to be inspired from our hotel rooms instead of walking in #openingceremonies It’s a tough thing to miss but we have our bodies, minds & spirits focused on ONE thing”, adding, “Consistently living in our strengths and playing powerfully present beach volleyball”.
