Gisele, samba as Rio gets Games party started
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Jamaica’s Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce carries their country’s flag as they lead teammates into the stadium during the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 5, 2016. / AFP / JAVIER SORIANO
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 6, 2016 (AFP) – The Rio Games launched with a flamboyant spectacle headlined by supermodel Gisele Bundchen on Friday as a doom-laden Olympic build-up gave way to an energetic party atmosphere at the fabled Maracana stadium. Marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro lit the cauldron after an exuberant show of Brazilian cultural touchstones and breathtaking pyrotechnics — and a compulsory burst of samba. Cordeiro was a left-field but touching choice after he was famously attacked by a spectator while leading the 2004 Athens Olympics marathon late in the race.
But in a reminder of Brazil’s parlous political and economic situation, boos and jeers greeted interim president Michel Temer before he declared South America’s first Olympic Games open. Temer took over when impeachment proceedings started against President Dilma Rousseff, whose supporters accuse him of plotting against the suspended leader. Despite the resentful undercurrent, and protests against the Games just hours earlier, spirits were high among the thousands of athletes, performers, fans and officials at the 78,000-capacity Maracana. “The Olympic dream is now a wonderful reality.
The best place in the world is here and now,” said organising committee chief Carlos Nuzman, to rapturous applause. 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. Brazil’s Gisele Bundchen strutted across the arena to the iconic “Girl From Ipanema” before Greece, home of the ancient Olympics, led out the colourful athletes’ parade. More than 10,000 athletes from 207 teams took part, with the biggest cheers reserved for the specially formed refugee team and the joyous Brazilian contingent.
Brazil’s delegation members take part in the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games at the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro on August 5, 2016. / AFP / FRANCK FIFE
Iran’s flagbearer was wheelchair-bound Zahra Nemati, their first ever female flag-carrier who will compete in archery despite being paralysed in both legs. Each athlete was presented with a seed and a cartridge of soil to enable them to plant a native tree of Brazil, which will ultimately form an “Athletes Forest” made up of 207 different species — one for each delegation.
- ‘No to the Olympics!’ -
“This is the moment of the ‘maravilhosa cidade’ (marvellous city),” said International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach. “This first ever Olympic Games in South America will go from Brazil to the entire world.” Indigenous tribes and dueling dance groups were among the highlights of a show low on technology but high on invention. But the overwhelming theme of the evening was protection of the environment. An early opening sequence depicted the birth of life, culminating in the sprouting of a green entanglement of leaves from the stadium floor depicting the Amazon rainforest.
Indigenous Brazilians then performed native dances before creating huge “Ocas” or native huts in the center of the stage. That gave way to an exuberant, joyous party which encompassed Brazil’s breathtakingly diverse musical and cultural traditions. 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. Brazil has spent more than $10 billion on new infrastructure and preparing for the Games at a time of economic crisis. The billions lavished on the Games has angered many Brazilians as the country grapples with a tanking economy and mass social problems.
Friday’s ceremony lifts the curtain on a more than two-week sporting festival featuring superstars like Michael Phelps and Usain Bolt, as well as thousands more who will compete for 2,102 medals until August 21. The first gold medal will be awarded on Saturday in shooting and all eyes will be on American swimming star Phelps, the most decorated Olympian in history, when he returns to the pool in the first week.
Track and field will see Jamaica’s Bolt aim to defend his 100m, 200m and 4x100m crowns by clinching all three for the third straight Games.
Gymnastics, meanwhile, could unearth a new heroine in America’s teenage star Simone Biles, while rugby and golf return to the Olympic programme after gaps of 92 years and 112 years respectively.
| Who’s saying what at the Olympic Games opening ceremony “Here we stand to deliver history. History to be made by the athletes, the volunteers, the public, the youth. The Olympic dream is now a wonderful reality. The best place in the world is here and now. Rio, Brazil welcomes the world with open arms.” “In the past two months for sure it affected the athletes. It was a difficult situation. We were ready for the worst, the whole Russian team could have been banned, but there were reasonable people that too the right decisions. It is clear that there is a doping problem, but the clean athletes they should not suffer from that.” “I’m very nervous because I get sweaty palms. I have a tendency to be a bit clumsy but I’ll make sure I won’t let this one go.” “Tonight, the first-ever #TeamRefugees will also stand before the world and prove that you can succeed no matter where you’re from.” “Our admiration for you is even greater because you managed this at a very difficult time in Brazilian history. We have always believed in you.” “I got my hair dyed green and yellow for the team. My friend in Miami did it and it took about three hours.” “It was my mum (Sue) who rung me and told me. She’s been sick for a while but the doctors gave her permission to come to Brazil and she is somewhere in Rio with my sister watching on a big screen. That makes it extra special.” “We’ve got some pretty cool cloaks from back home. It’s pretty special to be wearing that with all the past flagbearers that have worn it before. It just brings the mana (respect) of everyone that’s gone in this team before.” “It is a very special moment, especially for the older generation in Kosovo. They have survived wars, they went through such hard times and what is happening today has been a dream for a long time for all people in Kosovo.” “I don’t think anyone’s dropped the flag and I don’t want to be the first.” - Ireland’s Patrick Barnes “I will be proud and not nervous. It is time now to think about the sport.” - Rose Nathike Lokonyen, carrying the flag for the refugee team “Nailed it @andy_murray!” - Chris Hoy, who carried the British flag in 2012, congratulating Murray’s flawless, one-handed flag-carrying technique. “My samba dancing is terrible, horrible — and I won’t be doing it.” - Andy Murray, carrying the flag for Britain “I just hope I don’t fall. That would be a real nightmare.” - Denmark flagbearer Caroline Wozniacki | |
