In a country of great economic inequality, the opening ceremony celebrated the culture of the favelas, the slums that hang vertiginously above the renowned beaches of Rio and ring the site of Friday’s spectacle, the famed Maracana stadium.
Advertisement
Under cloudless blue skies, former Brazilian women’s volleyball player, Isabel Salgado, lifted the flame beneath the giant statue of Christ that overlooks downturn Rio and the waters of Guanabara Bay. A big green peace symbol dangled over the centre of the arena, before a dazzling projection depicted the birth of the Amazon rainforest.
A total of 205 nations have sent Olympic teams to Rio 2016 – more than at any previous Olympic Games, following the inclusion of teams from Kosovo and South Sudan for the very first time. Interim president Michel Temer will take Rousseff’s place, but could face a hostile reception from the crowd. He will be replacing his ally-turned-enemy, suspended President Dilma Rousseff.
And the booing didn’t last long – when the show started, the crowd roared in delight.
“We are opening the Olympic experience to new regions of the world”.
It’s the country’s national tree, has been on the list of threatened Brazilian plants and it’s illegal to cut the few trees that remain.
Officials had predicted as many as 100 heads of state would attend the first Olympics in South America.
Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, who has retired, will be appearing in the ceremony and was reportedly due to enact a mugging victim, while her younger colleague Lea T will become the first transgender person to have a major role at an Olympic opening ceremony.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau was not present at Maracana Stadium.
The Portuguese bobbed to shore in boats, the African slaves rolled in on wheels and together they plowed through the forests and planted the seeds of modern Brazil.
Swimming legend Michael Phelps said the honor of being the USA flag bearer was something that he could not pass up.
Despite their concerns, both Furquim and Strobino say they will be watching the Olympics, including the opening ceremony on Friday.
The IOC’s decision not to impose a blanket ban on Russia following revelations of a state-sponsored doping program opened the door to legal turmoil that left the precise make-up of the Russian team in limbo.
Iran picked a woman, archer Zahra Nemati, as flag-bearer for its team made up overwhelmingly of men. She was paralysed in a auto accident as a teenager.
After the grandeur of Beijing’s opening ceremony and the high-tech, cheeky inventiveness of London’s, Rio’s was earthier and less swish but more sobering with its gloomy environmental look at the future and deliberate penny-pinching.
“It is pretty tacky to be overspending”, he said.
“We are living in a world where selfishness is gaining ground, where certain people claim to be superior to others”, he said of the Olympians representing displaced people across the world.
In what organizers have called a low-tech ceremony constrained by the dire economy, Brazil will showcase its natural treasures and the cultural riches created by one of the world’s most diverse nations.
Advertisement
“I am demonstrating for democracy in Brazil”.
