The Best and Worst Moments of the 2016 Olympic Opening Ceremony

Still, the beauty of the ceremony was moving from the taste of Brazil’s multicultural history to the unusual move of creating a legacy that honors the athletes and benefits the city of Rio de Janeiro.

Kerry, meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister José Serra in Rio before the opening of the Games later on Friday, told reporters he was sure Brazil will deliver “not just a great venue but a great Olympics”. (And, y’know, every nation in the world.) But all the depressing images of sea levels overtaking the Netherlands and Florida were at least leavened a little by the nice grace note at the end, informing us that each Olympian will be given a seed to plant, the idea being that someday, many years from now, those seeds will grow into a kind of Olympic forest.

These are hard times for a country that was enjoying rapid economic growth when Rio won the right to host the Games but is now in recession.

Pele was reportedly in line to light the Olympic cauldron, following in the footsteps of the likes of Muhammad Ali and Cathy Freeman.

Alas, the highest-wattage Brazilian sports figure was unable to light the cauldron. Bolt announced his decision earlier in the day.

The cannonball-shaped cauldron was lit by Brazilian marathoner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima.

The opening ceremony kicked off the 2016 Rio Olympics on August 5, 2016.

As unexpected as it may have been to see slavery in the opening ceremony, it was also surprising to see climate change featured so prominently. Unfortunately, we can’t actually show you any of it. Urbanization and current issues in the impoverished favela neighborhoods were also addressed, all to the beat of pulsating music.

The first segment of the show celebrated the “gambiarra”, the Brazilian talent for making something great out of nearly nothing. On the field, 1,000 performers manipulated 250 sheets of metallic paper and transformed the peace symbol into a tree symbol.

Brazilian supermodel Giselle Bundchen’s sashay across the stadium to the sound of “The Girl from Ipanema” will no doubt feature in newspapers around the globe, as will a clever section that featured a biplane appearing to fly out of the stadium and circle the city’s signature “Christ the Redeemer” statue.

Legendary samba artist Elza Soares, and hip-hop artists Karol Conka and MC Soffia represented the black community in Brazil.

“The heat is melting the icecap”, a voice intoned.

Then the public address announcer intoned, “The great moment has arrived. Please welcome the athletes of the world”. In Portuguese, “United States”, is “Estados Unidos”, which puts them earlier in the program.

With “USA” emblazoned on the back of his jacket, Michael Phelps carried the flag for the US team, the largest with 549 competitors.

The crowd, including Secretary of State John Kerry, gave a rousing cheer. Canada’s team, one of the biggest at the Games with 314 athletes, received warm cheers marching behind trampolinist Rosie MacLennan, the country’s only gold medalist four years ago in London. And the crowd screamed, danced and sang for the home team who entered the stadium to the strains of the Samba classic, Brazil. The Refugee Olympic Team ovation was loud, but no match for the deafening roar as Brazil emerged from the tunnel.

This was not the case for the opening ceremony orchestrated by “City of God” director Fernando Meirelles, who chose to depict the colonization of Brazil, as well as the importation of African slaves and the importance of indigenous populations, since each played a vital role in the building of the country as it stands today.

While the Rio 2016 organizing committee has not said how much the ceremony cost, it is believed to be about half of the $42 million spent by London in 2012.

During the next 16 days, it will be up to the athletes to redeem South America’s first Olympics from the protests, shadows and worries. “In this Olympic world, we do not just tolerate diversity”. He is an educator and philanthropist in his country. It was officially party time. Promises to clean up Rio’s filthy waters remained unfulfilled.

Several people on Twitter commented that they were impressed with the honest depiction of Brazil’s past.