Indian contingent, led by ace shooter Abhinav Bindra, marched their way out in the middle as the Rio Olympics kicked off in a spectacular fashion with a colourful opening ceremony here at the Macarana Stadium on Saturday.
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Even as the opening ceremony got under way bomb disposal teams were deployed to examine two suspicious bags near the beach volleyball arena on the Copacabana.
“The world needs to know – I am here watching this spectacle from a slum right next to where they are opening the Olympics, and my life has not improved at all”, said Jose Carmo, a 23-year-old construction worker who lives in Mangueira.
After a wave of terrorist attacks around the world, a massive security presence is in place in Rio, with a vast deployment of police and military personnel deployed around Olympic sites. The clash of cultures, as the ceremony showed, is what makes Brazil the complex mosaic that it is.
One of the most eagerly-awaited teams, certainly among the press corps, was Russia’s, if only to see if a team from a nation that had tried to fix the last Olympics – in Sochi, two years ago – really would be allowed to compete again, and hear if they would be booed.
As well as a showcase for Brazil’s history, culture, diversity and hopes, the gala also represents a triumph, because there were times after the International Olympic Committee selected Rio ahead of Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid in 2009 when it seemed that the city of 6.5 million people might not get its act together for the world’s greatest sporting mega-event.
Hundreds of people turned out to challenge the torch’s arrival in Rio out of anger over the cost of hosting the event that began against a backdrop of civil and political unrest in the country.
Fewer heads of state are expected than usual Friday night because of Brazil’s current political crisis.
As Brazilian officials took their seats in the stadium, there were shouts of “out with Temer” from sections of the crowd.
The acclaimed athlete was chosen for the honor by a vote from Team USA!
“They motivate us – especially our young people – to be more active in sport, whether it is in our own backyards, in local parks, or in sport venues from coast to coast to coast”.
The athletes were being given tree seeds, plus cartridge of soil. It is the first South American country to host the competition. As a effect, Russia’s team was whittled down from a hoped-for 389 athletes to around 270. Creative director Fernando Meirelles said their budget was slashed by half as Brazil’s economic recession bit ever harder.
Brazilian marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, a bronze medallist in Athens in 2004, lit the Olympic cauldron, a small and low-emission model befitting the environmental theme of these Games.
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“It is pretty tacky to be overspending”, he said.
