Rio 2016 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony Ends at Maracana Stadium

Bach said the presence of the IOC’s Olympic refugee team – comprising 10 athletes who have fled war or poverty to compete in Rio – was a riposte to a world “where selfishness is gaining ground, where certain people claim to be superior to others”.

NBC began its telecasting of the festivities an hour after they begin in Rio on Friday night.

Let us all do more to uphold the ideals of equality and mutual respect.

It was a golden class of flag bearers with arguably the greatest swimmer of all time Michael Phelps taking on the duties for the preppy clothed United States, and 14-time major victor Rafael Nadal and current Wimbledon champion Andy Murray did the same for Spain and Great Britain respectively.

In that spirit, we proclaim the Olympic Truce ” he said, adding: We call on all warring parties to lay down their weapons and put aside their differences during the Games.

Phelps was just the second swimmer to carry the USA flag, joining four-time Olympic medalist Gary Hall, who was given the honor at the Montreal Games in 1976.

Brazil’s acting president Michel Temer declared open the games at a colourful ceremony at the iconic Maracana Stadium, before retired marathon runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima lit the Olympic cauldron.

Fireworks. Song. Dance. Even, in a nod to that most Brazilian of exports, the super-model: Gisele Bündchen.

Brazil has had to keep in check spending on its Olympics, with the booming country from 2009 – when it was awarded the Games – slumping into its worst recession since the 1930s.

Zika. Sewage in the water. Brazil police originally said a Russian diplomat fought off a would-be robber, whose gun went off. And more. Way more.

“According to the ministers, the integration of defense, intelligence, and public security areas, with the forces of Rio state government and City Hall government is essential to continue achieving positive results”, reads the note released to the press by the government. The colossal Christ the Redeemer statue was bathed in Brazilian yellow and green.

The rainforest was heavily represented – from the dress of the Brazilian team to the logo of the Olympics – as were the “favelas”, in a nod to the vast majority of the low-income population that make up the country. “In this Olympic world, we are all equal”.

“The Olympic dream is now a reality”.

With all that – and still more, way more – you say what Bach said at a news conference here Thursday, “There were huge challenges”.

The ceremony kicked off with 1000 performers rearranging tiles to create stunning patterns from above, as a tree resembling a peace symbol formed on the Maracana floor.

The honorary International Olympic Committee member Carlos Nuzman of Brazil said Friday night to the roar of 60,00 people, “Those who do not know us have doubted”, adding, “We never give up”. Those are sustainability, particularly re-forestation; finding joy in life and in being Brazilian; and the idea of “gambiarra”, the quirky Brazilian art of improvising repairs using whatever parts are available.

The U.S.is one of the 51 countries supplying intelligence to the Brazilian counterterrorism effort. In Portuguese, a festa.

Let’s get it started.