Fireworks illuminate the Maracana Stadium during the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Carried by samba stars, a supermodel and Prince Albert of Monaco, the Olympic torch made its final journey on Friday from Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue to the Games’ opening ceremony amid anti-government protests.
The arrival of the Olympic torch in Rio on Wednesday was marred by mass demonstrations over the cost of the Games and Rio has 88,000 security personnel – military and police – deployed during the Games to ensure a safe environment.
“Right now I am not in physical condition to take part in the opening of the Olympics”.
Among the notable absences are leaders from some of Brazil’s closest allies: Russia, India, China and South Africa – the so-called BRICS group of emerging market powerhouses that drew close to Brazil during during an aggressive, 15-year diplomatic push under Rousseff and her predecessor, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
He won three World Cups with Brazil but never competed at the Olympics.
The country has spent more than $10 billion on new infrastructure and preparing for the Games at a time of economic crisis. We bought tickets for nearly every day.
Rio will seek to put that behind it on Friday when fireworks light up the night sky above the Maracana. He is expected to swim in five events here.
The athletes village in Rio was closed to media access because of the Opening Ceremony, but that hasn’t stopped athletes from coming outside to visit with their home country’s media.
The four-times world champion was handed a lifeline on Thursday when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld her appeal against her ban from the Games, whose preparations have been overshadowed by revelations of widespread state-sponsored doping in Russian Federation.
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.
One of the most anticipated moments will be seeing which famous Brazilian will light the Olympic cauldron. “I have always sought not to disappoint my family or the Brazilian people”.
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The main target of the demonstration was Brazil’s interim leader Michel Temer, branded illegitimate by many Brazilians who say he mounted a “coup” against suspended president Dilma Rousseff.
