Competition at the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Brazil, set to begin Saturday, will be covered and available to watch in the United States like none other have in world history.
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With a limited budget, the effect of a biting recession that roiled preparations for South America’s first Olympics, Brazil laced its high-energy opening party for the games of the 31st Olympiad with a sobering message of the dangers of global warming.
“At this moment I am not physically able to attend the opening of the Olympics”.
The Olympic women’s basketball teams from Turkey and France want to shift the conversation away from attacks and back to national pride.
New Zealand flag bearers Blair Tuke and Peter Burling take a selfie during the opening ceremony at Maracana Stadium. It was simple, classy and effective.
The mega-cities of Brazil formed in a dizzying video display as acrobats jumped from roof to roof of emerging buildings and then on to the steep favela that served as the front stage for the ceremony.
Including Brazil’s history of slavery in the opening ceremony brought cheers from many on Twitter.
The ceremony focused on environmental issues, particularly global warming.
The opening ceremonies of the XXXI Olympiad in Rio Friday was an explosion of color and music that had everything but the girl from Ipanema – although supermodel Gisele Bundchen was an excellent stand-in.
An emphasis on the impacts of climate change was addressed, with a projection of what will happen to the world’s major cities if the ice caps continue to melt. Rio is one hour later than Eastern time. Actresses Judi Dench and Fernanda Montenegro lent their voices for a classic poem about hope for the future.
At one point during the show, dancers jumped over colorful shacks – meant to represent the city’s slums – and Araujo shouted: “It’s favela time!” They were being joined by a first-ever Refugee Olympic Team of 10 athletes, displaced from Syria, South Sudan, Congo and Ethiopia.
Tranlated as “That Hug”, the upbeat song has already been adopted as the unofficial anthem of Rio 2016. Rousseff supporters were among the protesters. The Olympic Torch had to take a different route to avoid the demonstrations.
Following Temer, IOC President Bach tried to smooth things over with his speech.
“We are living in a world where selfishness is gaining ground”, said the German, a former Olympic champion fencer.
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.
The Olympic fire is lit.
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“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.
