Press. voanews.com.
The 2016 Olympic
Games in Rio de Janeiro officially kick off Friday night with an opening
ceremony in Brazil’s Maracanã Stadium, marking the first time the games have
ever been held in South America.
Media coverage in
the lead-up to the games has been dominated by negative stories about problems
with polluted water in the host city, violence in the streets and a Russian
doping scandal, among other things, but organizers are hoping to move past
those issues and use the opening ceremony to show a different side of Rio.
"I hope
that the opening ceremony will be a drug for depression in Brazil,” said
Fernando Meirelles, one of the creative directors behind the opening show.
“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.'"
Meirelles is a
native of Brazil and the director of the Oscar-nominated movie "City of
God", which tells the tale of life in Rio’s dangerous favelas. He said he
is working with a budget of about $56 million to produce four ceremonies –
opening and closing ceremonies for the Olympics and Paralympics – which he said
is about 20 times less than the budget for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Even with the
drastically smaller budget, Meirelles promised everything in the ceremony will
be “very big.” "I have never done anything on this scale, and will never
do so again in my life," he said.
The ceremony –
which is expected to draw upwards of three billion viewers worldwide – will
showcase Brazil’s native bossa nova music in a carnival-style celebration with
samba dancers shaking their hips. The Local Organizing Committee for Rio 2016
said the ceremony will feature dancers from 12 samba schools in Rio, Brazilian
pop star Anitta, and musicians Caetano Veloso and Gilberto Gil, who were exiled
from the country by Brazil’s military dictatorship in the late 1960s.
"This is
the moment we were waiting for," said Rio 2016 spokesman Mario Andrada.
"There is an important tradition that a good opening ceremony is a good
sign for the rest of the Olympics. It is beautiful, it is very Brazilian. The
people involved are very proud."
Organizers of
the event have been very tight-lipped about who will transfer the Olympic flame
from the torch to the cauldron, but Brazilian football (soccer) legend Pele has
said he was invited to do the honor. Rio organizers, though, would not confirm
the information.
Notably absent
from the opening celebration will be Brazil’s suspended president Dilma
Rousseff, who was recently replaced by her former vice-president Michel Temer
as she faces an up-coming impeachment trial over corruption charges.
Athletes from
206 countries and regions, and a team made up of refugees will compete in 28
Olympic sports. Some of the more well-known flag-bearers for each country
include Michael Phelps of the U.S., Andy Murray of Britain, Caroline Wozniacki
of Denmark, Yane Marques of Brazil and Rafael Nadal of Spain.
For the first
time ever, the Olympics in Rio will feature a team made of refugees from
several afflicted countries meant to draw attention to the plight of other
refugees. The 10 athletes – six men and four women – will compete in swimming
and judo events, and will march with the Olympic flag during the opening
ceremony.
The team
includes refugees from South Sudan, Syria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and
Ethiopia. One of the athletes, swimmer Yusra Mardini, was on a small boat
headed from Syria to Greece last August when the boat began to capsize. Mardini
and her sister jumped out of the boat and pulled it for more than three hours
before they – along with several people on the boat who couldn’t swim – made it
to safety.
Mardini now
trains in Germany.
Russia is
breathing a collective sigh of relief after the International Olympic Committee
approved 271 of its athletes to compete in the games. A state-approved doping
scandal put Russian participation in this year's games in doubt.
The IOC
announced its decision Thursday night, less than 24 hours before the Olympic
flame is lit, but 118 Russians are still barred from competition, meaning the
Russians will field their smallest Olympic team since 1912. The entire Russian
team was facing a ban after it was revealed many of them had taken performance
enhancing drugs with the approval of the Russian Sports Ministry, along with
evidence that Russian officials tried to cover up the allegations.
There will be no
Russian track and field, rowing or weightlifting teams this year. But the IOC
is continuing to hear Russian cases, and more athletes could be allowed to
compete before the games end. Earlier this week it was revealed Rio’s water is
contaminated with raw sewage that could put athletes who compete in water sports
at serious risk of contracting dangerous viruses.
A study
commissioned by the Associated Press showed infectious adenovirus readings at
nearly 90 percent of test sites. Even the sand showed high levels of viruses.
Samples from beaches at Copacabana and Ipanema showed dangerously high levels
of pollution. The most contaminated points are the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon
where Olympic rowing will take place, and the Gloria Marina, the starting point
for the sailing races. The report said that consuming just three teaspoons of
water in Rio would more than likely lead to illness.
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