The honour of officially declaring the games open fell to Michel Temer, Brazil’s unpopular interim president, who was loudly jeered and faced shouts of “out with Temer”.
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More than 80,000 police and security staff are being used in Rio – double the amount used for the London Olympics in 2012.
“The Olympics is totally different [than grand slams], because you are really playing for your country”, Serena Williams said this week when asked why one of tennis’ all-time greats is here.
As A-listers and other celebrities swamped the Maracana for the opening ceremony, which celebrated the culture of favelas, slum dwellers looked on less than 1 kilometer (0.6 mile) away at the lights coloring the night sky.
Artists perform during the opening ceremony for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
One of the most eagerly-awaited teams was Russian Federation in the wake of the recent doping suspensions.
They were later followed by De Lima, who was one of the suspected candidates after Brazil football legend Pele revealed earlier in the day that health problems would keep him from attending the opening ceremony at Maracana Stadium.
Athletes from 205 nations and territories were marching behind their flags, joined by a first-ever Refugee Olympic Team of 10 athletes, displaced from Syria, South Sudan, Congo and Ethiopia.
Brazilian singer Paulinho da Viola sang the national anthem to set off the show of laser lights and elaborate dances highlighting Brazil’s history and rise as an emerging power.
Swimming legend Michael Phelps said the honor of being the US flag bearer was something that he could not pass up.
These are hard times for a country that was enjoying rapid economic growth when Rio won the right to host the Games but is now in recession and with a government in tatters.
Not only did the team receive a warm response from those in the stadium, viewers at home, across the world also showered the athletes with praise.
Brazil’s athletes, who entered last, got the loudest applause of all, before the Olympic rings were revealed – green rings made up of trees, rather than the traditional multi-coloured rings.
Bach, however, said the Games were a “catalyst for transforming Rio into a modern metropolis that is even more lovely than before”, while Nuzman said he was the “proudest man alive” that his city had got this far.
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The Opening Ceremony on Friday night showed the best of Rio and Brazil. In all, 4,800 performers and volunteers were involved in the show, which is built on three basic pillars of life in Brazil. Despite years of economic prosperity and hope, a corruption scandal has reached the highest levels of government, encircling president Dilma Rousseff and helping to plunge Brazil into its worst recession in a century.
