The ingenious four-hour spectacular at the Maracana Stadium took 78,000 spectators and athletes on a dizzying journey spanning the dawn of creation to the birth of modern-day Brazil.
Advertisement
A torchbearer runs along the Copa Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, yesterday evening.
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”.
It’s been a bumpy ride for Rio with worries about the country’s ability to afford it, the preparations and sport’s credibility in the face of a divisive doping crisis, security and infrastructure concerns and the Zika virus, but South America’s first ever Olympics is now ready to entertain.
Brazilian supermodel Giselle Bundchen’s sashay across the stadium to the sound of The Girl From Ipanema will no doubt feature in newspapers around the globe, as will a clever section that featured a biplane appearing to fly out of the stadium and circle the city’s signature Christ the Redeemer statue.
The celebratory atmosphere followed fresh protests earlier when about 3,000 people with placards saying “No to the Olympics!” gathered outside a luxury hotel where many athletes are staying.
Phelps will compete in the 200m butterfly, the 200m individual medley and the 100m butterfly in his fifth career Olympics.
President of the Rio Olympic Organizing Committee Carlos Nuzman and International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach both spoke with pride and stressed the importance of Olympic values and multiculturalism.
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.
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. Azerbaijani team came to the stadium after the Austrian national team.
Samba drums and dancing ushered in the games, with Brazil in a mood to throw a great party in the next 17 days, overlooking months of negative news and troubles which at times threatened to derail the biggest games show on the Earth.
Instead, that honor went to Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, a Brazilian former marathoner who won a bronze medal in the 2004 Olympics in Athens.
And with that the athletes started to file out and head for their beds, while the bulk of the crowd recorded the fireworks on their smartphone cameras.
Advertisement
However, the deployment of troops and police – double the number used at the 2012 London Games – also includes the cities of Brasilia, Belo Horizonte, Manaus, Salvador and Sao Paulo, where football matches are being played.
