While the energy was high during Friday night’s colorful Olympics opening ceremony, the television ratings took a disappointing 28% plunge from the last summer Games in London. The man has not yet been identified but local news outlets reported the Brazilian had committed robberies in the area and was killed when one of his victims reacted.
Advertisement
Security challenges in the sprawling beachside city are at the forefront of many people’s minds, not only because of Rio’s reputation for violent crime but also due to a spate of deadly attacks in Europe and the United States.
The Parade of Nations is always the Games’ first big test of stamina, and with new countries such as Kosovo and South Sudan taking their place in the pageant for the first time, as well as a team of refugee athletes, Rio’s race through the atlas was even more gruelling than usual.
According to the official website of Rio 2016, creative director Fernando Meirelles (“City of God”) designed the opening ceremony to urge audiences at the event, and even at their houses, to take action.
The reasons for this were referenced in the main speeches of the night by the chairman of the Rio 2016 organising committee Carlos Nuzman and IOC president Bach.
Hosts Brazil got the biggest cheer along with the Refugee Olympic Team, while Russian Federation were received with mixed reactions in connection with a doping scandal which could have seen them barred from the Games.
The lighting of the Olympic flame itself – by marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima whose gold medal hopes at Athens were dashed by an intruding spectator – was a compact but brilliant and classy affair.
Before the show, in a video broadcast inside the 78,000-seat Maracana Stadium, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the games “celebrate the best of humanity” and appealed for an Olympic truce, calling on “all warring parties to lay down their weapons” during the two weeks of sporting achievement.
The athletes were given tree seeds, plus cartridges of soil.
Using many visual projections and light effects, Rio 2016 Olympics opening ceremony was a technology show drawing loud applause from the crowd. Right till the end, when the green Olympic rings were revealed by mirror-hugging volunteers, the green theme carried on.
Supermodel Gisele Bundchen, the biggest name in the ceremony to USA spectators, helped depict the famous song, “The Girl from Ipanema”.
That is a fate that befell athletes from Brazil’s traditional rival Argentina, although those boos were of the pantomime variety and the selfie-snapping Argentinians did not appear to be remotely fazed.
Winds up to 25 kilometers an hour forced a 90 minute postponement of Sunday’s matches, as winds pounded the Barra complex in Rio de Janeiro.
Unpopular interim Brazilian President Michel Temer is expected to attend the opening ceremony.
“The Olympic dream is now a reality”. He asked the athletes to “respect yourself, respect each other, respect the Olympic Values which make the Olympic Games unique for you and for the entire world”.
Advertisement
The celebratory atmosphere followed fresh protests, when about 3,000 people waving signs saying “No to the Olympics!” gathered outside a luxury hotel where many athletes are staying.
