It’s carnival time as Rio prepares for gala opening
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THE Olympic torch was raised before Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Christ the Redeemer statue yesterday on the final leg of its journey to the opening ceremony of the Games, as Brazil excitedly put the final touches to seven years of preparations.
At the evening ceremony in the famed Maracana soccer stadium, Brazil will declare open the 31st summer Olympic Games, the first to be held in South America. They run until August 21.
Organizers hope the start of the Games will turn the page on months of bad publicity for Rio, from polluted water to faulty plumbing at the athletes’ village and worries about the Zika virus. Having won the Olympics in 2009 during an economic boom, Brazil since slipped into its worst recession in decades.
Former Brazilian women’s volleyball player, Isabel Barroso, lifted the flame beneath the outstretched arms of the giant statue of Christ that overlooks Rio’s Guanabara Bay.
“May this be the moment for us to overcome difficult times and to work as a team, to make our country and our world fairer and safer, full of hope and joy,” said Rio’s Archbishop Orani Joao Tempesta.
The torches’ 95-day, 20,000-kilometer journey across Brazil ran into difficulties this week as protests flared in poor towns around Rio against the US$12 billion price tag of the Games, at a time when residents are suffering from high unemployment, rising crime and cutbacks to health and education spending.
Scenes of riot police using stun grenades and tear gas to clear protesters from the torch’s path on Wednesday fuelled complaints that the Games had ignored the city’s poor.
Rio will seek to put that behind it when fireworks light up the night sky. Some 50,000 spectators are expected, with some 3 billion people tuning in around the world as Brazil lifts the curtain on its second major sporting event in two years, after the 2014 soccer World Cup.
In what organizers have called a low-tech ceremony constrained by the dire economy, Brazil will showcase its natural treasures and the cultural riches created by one of the world’s most diverse nations.
Samba, carnival and the famously fun Brazilian spirit are expected to play heavily into the three-hour ceremony.
One of the most anticipated moments will be seeing which famous Brazilian will light the Olympic cauldron. The odds-on favorite is soccer legend Pele.
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