The 31st Olympic Games officially opened in Rio de Janeiro in Brazil on Friday 5 August. The opening ceremony took place at the iconic Maracana Stadium, where FIFA World Cup final also took place. The opening ceremony was a colourful samba spectacular which celebrated the diversity and culture of Brazil. The three hour long celebration included carnival style dancing and samba dancers which are synonymous with Rio and the carnival. During the ceremony choreographed dancers recreated Brazil’s tribal art and intricate sculptures, with Brazilian model Gisele Bundchen making an appearance and joining in on the celebrations.
The spectacular event which cost $3 million included a fireworks display outside the stadium whilst samba dancers paraded around the 80 000 seater stadium which was only two-thirds full with many choosing not to attend. The proceedings included a speech on climate change relating to issues about the Amazon, whilst interim President, Michel Temer also gave an address. The Olympic torch, which was meant to be lit by soccer legend Pele, was lit instead by marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, whose claim to fame is an infamous attack by a marathon spectator during the 2004 Games. Pele was not at the opening due to health reasons.
Athletes from the participating nations came out with their respective flag bearers. Swimmer Michael Phelps led out the USA team, with tennis stars Andy Murray (Great Britain), Rafael Nadal (Spain), and Caroline Wozniak (Denmark) also following suit as their countries’ respective flag bearers. Sprinter Wayde van Niekerk was given the honour of leading out team South Africa as their flag bearer while Rose Nathike was the flag bearer for the Refugee team which is made up of ten athletes whom are representing the world’s stateless athletes. The athletes in the team are refugees who have fled nations such as Ethiopia, Syria and South Sudan to name a few. These athletes are competing under the Olympic flag.
While celebrations carried on inside the Maracana, outside protesters and police clashed. The protests were sparked due to anger over the expenditure regarding the Olympics during Brazil’s worst recession and dissatisfaction over the interim President. Many Brazilian’s have called for Temer to resign with protest action spreading as far as Sao Paulo, with police using tear gas to disperse crowds.
This further added to hiccups that event organizers have experienced in making the Games a reality including Zika virus fears which led to several athletes pulling out, security issues and the surprise ruling by the Olympic committee to include Russian athletes to compete in Rio after a doping scandal.
Now the world’s eyes will be fixated on the biggest sporting event of the year with some of the action having already started on Wednesday and Thursday with the first round of men’s and women’s football. Brazil was held to a nil-nil draw by South Africa in the men’s group.
Written by: Sanele Manikivana
