Fans dance in stands at cut-price extravaganza
NZN New Zealand’s co-captaincy approach confounded the commentators but may become a metaphor for the Rio Olympic Games which opened in spectacular Samba style in Rio.
Peter Burling proudly toted the New Zealand flag with co-captain and sailing crewmate Blair Tuke at his side as they led 60 of New Zealand’s 200 Olympic athletes into the Maracana Stadium.
Clad in kakahu cloaks, Burling and Tuke cast imperious figures in an arena brimming with colour and light as New Zealand Governor General Jerry Mateparae rose to his feet to salute the Kiwi contingent from the VIP seats in the stand.
The co-captain move caught international television analysts by surprise, but it seemed to resonate with the recurrent theme of this most inclusive
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach showered praise on the refugee team, competing for the first time, and acknowledged the volunteers who had transformed Rio into a modern metropolis.
Athletes from 206 nations mixed and mingled in the middle of the arena in a manner normally only seen at the Olympic finale.
Flag-bearers included tennis legends Rafael Nadal and Andy Murray and American swimming ace Michael Phelps, to Etimoni Timuani, the only athlete from tiny Tuvalu.
Sixty-thousand fans danced in the stands to a string of catchy tunes, including The Girl from Ipanema, the soundtrack to a long, last catwalk sashay by Brazilian super model Gisele Bundchen. of opening ceremonies.
The Rio curtainraiser cost just 10 per cent of the $50 million lavished on London 2012’s extravaganza, but hit the spot without the sensory overload of its flashy predecessors.
There were nods to Brazil’s indigenous and colonial pasts and an environmental message, highlighting the threat of climate change and the need to preserve Brazil’s fragile rain forest ecosystem.
Eleven thousand seedlings – one for each Olympian – are to be planted in an athlete’s forest which will flourish long after the last gold medal is awarded.
The environmental message was received with a degree of irony after Rio fell 30 per cent short of its target to treat 80 per cent of sewage in Guanabara Bay by the start of the Games.
Kiwi golf star Lydia Ko and her rivals will also tee off on a course built on environmentally protected land once home to a whole range of animals.
Bach paid a heartfelt tribute to the refugee athletes representing ‘‘many millions of refugees’’ displaced throughout the world.
He said: ‘‘We are living a world of crises, mistrust and uncertainty. Here is our Olympic answer: The 10,000 best athletes in the world, competing with each other, at the same time living peacefully together in one Olympic village, sharing their meals and emotions’’.
There was another touching moment when Kip Keino, a dual Olympic champion from Kenya, received the inaugural Olympic Laurel award for his tireless work supporting young people in his homeland.
Keino, a gold medallist in 1968 and 1972, preceded and succeeded two great New Zealand 1500m champions, Peter Snell (1964) and John Walker (1976).
The 76-year-old, who jogged the length of the stadium, implored a new generation of Olympians to: ‘‘Join me and support all the youth of this world to get the basics of humanity: food, shelter and education.’’