The night Rio welcomed the world
Global audience of a billion sees Games explode into life ... but Pele cries off
TO the intoxicating rhythm of the samba, South America’s first Olympic Games were launched in Rio last night.
Questions over the Brazilian city’s ability to host the sporting showpiece were forgotten as a spectacular extravaganza lit up the world-famous Maracana Stadium.
There was a moment of gloom as Pele was forced to withdraw from lighting the Olympic flame, raising fears about the legendary footballer’s health.
But it did little to mar the start of the world’s greatest sporting event, which kicked off with all the spirit and heart of Rio’s famous Carnival and watched by an estimated global TV audience of one billion.
The lead-up to the Games had been highlighted by months of chaos, violence, fears over the Zika virus, political turmoil, doping scandals and allegations of corruption. However, last night’s four-hour opening ceremony was deemed to be the ‘sexiest’ ever as hundreds of dancers and musicians filled the floor of the arena in a display of colour, rhythm and joy.
One of the main elements of the spectacle was the importance of looking after the planet.
Waiting on their seat for each of the 78,050 spectators was a tree seed to plant. The 10,500 athletes from 207 nations received a tube of soil and a seedling, which will be planted in Brazil after the Games. Wimbledon champion Andy Murray, Team GB’s Olympic flagbearer, led in 55 of Britain’s competitors. Many chose not to take part in the ceremony because they are still in training camps or are due to compete in the next 48-hours.
A highlight of the parade was Syrian refugee Yusra Mardini, 18, who spent more than three hours in the Mediterranean after her overceremony.
‘We know how to enjoy life’
crowded migrant boat began to take on water as it tried to reach Greece. She is a swimmer with a ten-strong team of refugee athletes taking part under the Olympic flag. Pele had been scheduled to light the Olympic flame at the climax of the opening ceremony at the Maracana - the home of Brazilian football.
But just seven hours before the ceremony, the 75-year-old pulled out because of poor health. Brazil’s greatest sportsman - a three times World Cup winner - said: ‘I’m not physically able to attend the opening of the Olympics.’
Pele had surgery for prostate and urinary problems two years ago and often walks with a stick following hip procedures. A spokesman said there had been problems with the muscles in his leg.
In a nod to Brazil’s economic troubles, relatively cheap film projections were used rather than hi-tech special effects during the opening ‘Gambiarra’, the quirky Brazilian art of improvising repairs using whatever parts are available, also featured prominently.
At one point, Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen strutted across a specially constructed beach as the classic Girl from Ipanema was played by Paolo Jobim, whose late father Antonio composed the worldwide hit in 1962. However, a segment featuring the 35-year-old being mugged was dropped after a backlash from Brazilians over the use of crime in the ceremony.
There was also a cameo role for Dame Judi Dench, 81, who joined 86-year-old Brazilian actress Fernanda Montenegro to highlight the problem of pollution in the city by reading Andrade’s classic poem Flower and Nausea. Some of Brazil’s most famous musicians featured, including Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil. Both men had once been forced to leave the country over their political activities.
There was blanket security yesterday amid fears protestors would try to block the Olympic torch reaching the stadium. Troops and police earlier marshalled a 15,000-strong demonstration over the estimated £9billion cost of the Games in the recession-hit country.
More than 85,000 soldiers and tens of thousands of police are on duty during the 17 days of the Olympics and last night heavily armed troops and snipers could be seen around
the stadium. The ceremony cost a fraction of the £27million spent by Oscar-winning director Danny Boyle in London four years ago.
Rio’s artistic director Fernando Meirelles, 60, admitted: ‘It is not a good message for the world to spend large sums when 40 per cent of the homes in Brazil have no sanitation.’
He said he hoped the opening ceremony had been a ‘drug for the depression in Brazil’, adding: ‘Brazilians can look at it and say we are a cool people, we are different ethnic groups, we live together, we never went to war, we are peaceful, we know how to enjoy life and we tend to be happy.’