Rio throws final party to say goodbye to 2016 Olympics

[webfact]

Rio throws final party to say goodbye to 2016 Olympics 
PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press
MAURICIO SAVARESE, Associated Press

 

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Brazil and the world bid farewell Sunday to the first Olympic Games in South America, a 16-day spectacle that combined numerous highlight reel moments with ugly and even bizarre episodes that sometimes overshadowed the competitions.

 

Thousands of fans braved strong winds and sporadic rains to watch the closing ceremony in iconic Maracana Stadium, a finale meant to be both one last bash and to take care of some business — namely signal the transition to the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan.

 

The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, accepted the flag from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes, signaling the end of the 2016 games and the transition.

 

There's widespread expectation that the games in Tokyo, one of the world's richest, most recognizable, cosmopolitan cities, will run more smoothly than they have in Rio. But there's also worry in Japan over whether the Olympics will eventually further drag down an economy that has been struggling for decades.

 

Whatever the future holds, Sunday's party was all about Brazil, a final party designed to be more low-key than the opening, which focused heavily on Rio. The ceremony opened with original footage of Alberto Santos Dumont, the man that Brazilians recognize as the inventor of the airplane. Brazilians also believe he is the first to ever wear a wristwatch, an invention made by a friend so he could see the time in flight.

 

The theme of the show was "Brazilians can do with their bare hands," a nod to the emerging economy of the world's fifth most populous nation.

 

Dressed in colorful feathers, dozens of dancers formed in the shape of the arches of Lapa, a popular area of Rio akin to Roman ruins, then morphed to make the shape of iconic Sugarloaf before quickly changing again, this time to the official 2016 symbol.

 

Samba legend Martinho da Vila, whose tunes make their way into many popular telenovelas, sang "Carinhoso," or "Affectionate."

 

Then the athletes poured in under light rain, waving their flags while many shook their bodies to samba-infused pop that made the stadium feel like a Carnival parade. Britain's athletes wore shoes with soles that lit up in changing colors of red, white and blue, while Tongan taekwondo athlete Pita Taufatofua danced onstage in a grass skirt as a DJ performed, reprising a moment that captured attention when he carried the flag for his country during the opening ceremony.

 

The show widened its lens beyond the postcard city of Rio to greater Brazil, a massive country with a land mass slightly larger than the continental United States. There was a tribute to cave paintings of some of the first inhabitants of the Americas, in Serra da Capivara, in Northeastern Brazil, today the nation's poorest region.

 

Spectators got to see performers shake it to frevo, a frenetic dance that — if it's even possible — makes high-octane samba seem like a staid ballroom affair. Holding a small umbrella, the dancers jumped up and down, seeming to march and incorporate acrobatics at the same time.

 

They shook it to "Vassourinhas," which means "small brooms," a popular song that was also the name of a famous club in the northeastern city of Recife.

 

The show also built performances around "saudade," which means anything from longing for someone to sadness to remembering good times. It is one of the most important words in Brazilian Portuguese. Lights flashed translations for the word in many languages, and a group of women sang "Mulher Rendeira," or "Lace-making Woman," a nod to the country's African heritage. Brazil was the last country in the Americas to outlaw slavery, in 1888.

 

The games had many memorable moments, both for Brazilian competitors at home and athletes from around the world.

 

Soccer-crazed Brazil got partial payback against Germany, winning gold two years after a 7-1 World Cup final shellacking that left many in Latin America's largest nation fuming. American gymnast Simone Biles asserted her dominance with four golds, swimmer Michael Phelps added five more to up his staggering total to 23 and the world's fastest man, Usain Bolt, put on his usual show with three golds just days before turning 30 years old.

 

But there were also ugly episodes, like American swimmer Ryan Lochte's fabricated story about a harrowing robbery that was actually an intoxicated-fueled vandalism of a gas station bathroom, and bizarre issues like Olympic diving pools going from crystal blue to gunky, algae green — at a time when Rio's water quality in open waters is one of the biggest local environmental issues.

 

Many people, from Brazilians to International Olympic Committee members, will spend time analyzing how things went for the Rio Games in the months ahead. But on Sunday, one strong sentiment was relief — that despite some problems, overall the games went well.

 

That wasn't a given going in. The Zika virus scared away some competitors and tourists, rampant street crime in Rio and recent extremist attacks around the world raised fears about safety and Brazil's political crisis, and the economic angst behind it, threatened to cast a pall over the competitions.

___

AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org

 

-- © Associated Press 2016-08-22

[Lammbock]

Finally it's over. Jezz!

[thai3]

Looked like the worst games ever from what I noticed in the media, pointless and boring. It will be far better in Japan though.

[Usernames]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

The ceremony opened with original footage of Alberto Santos Dumont, the man that Brazilians recognize as the inventor of the airplane.

 

A mere three years after the Wright Brothers.  Typical Third Worlder bravado.

[NongKhaiKid]

I haven't bothered with these game in the least and the updates on the news was more than enough.

In that vein I won't miss the BBC World TV team in Brazil in the least as their wetting themselves with excitement presentation was more than a little OTT.

[mesterm]

Good riddance more like.

[JetsetBkk]

A lot of miserable b*ggers in this topic .

 

I thought it was great, what bits I could find on the Thai channels. The closing ceremony was pretty good, although I thought Carlos Nuzman was pretty brave making his speech - he was either incredibly cold and shivering or has Parkinson's disease. A good speech, either way.

 

The fireworks were incredible. Roll on Tokio.

 

Edit: glad it's over though - get back to normal sleep pattern 

Edited August 22, 2016 by JetsetBkk

[balo]

The worst Summer Games in the history for my country . Only 4 medals.

But the Winter games will save us as always. 

 

 

[tails]

2 hours ago, JetsetBkk said:

A lot of miserable b*ggers in this topic .

 

I thought it was great, what bits I could find on the Thai channels. The closing ceremony was pretty good, although I thought Carlos Nuzman was pretty brave making his speech - he was either incredibly cold and shivering or has Parkinson's disease. A good speech, either way.

 

The fireworks were incredible. Roll on Tokio.

 

Edit: glad it's over though - get back to normal sleep pattern 

 

TITVF

Lots of miserable b*ggers on every topic

[JHolmesJr]

17 hours ago, thai3 said:

Looked like the worst games ever from what I noticed in the media, pointless and boring. It will be far better in Japan though.

 

not really….the facilities looked a bit 3rd worldly on the inside but they managed to pull it off without any major crime, zika outbreak (so far, let's wait till the athletes and supporters get back home).

 

Enjoyed all the track and field, football final, handball, volleyball….couldnt care about the rest.

[Thechook]

Didn't realise it had started

[daveAustin]

Didn't see much but it could have been a lot worse. Sports wise, it was good. Despite Bolt getting progressively slower (he's right to make it his last), many records were broken and tiny Britain outdoing the sore-losing Chinese was kind of a highlight. [emoji6]

[Usernames]

The EU claims that it won the Games. 

 

[copa8]

13 hours ago, daveAustin said:

Didn't see much but it could have been a lot worse. Sports wise, it was good. Despite Bolt getting progressively slower (he's right to make it his last), many records were broken and tiny Britain outdoing the sore-losing Chinese was kind of a highlight.

 

Yup..."tiny" Britain with 372 athletes vs China with 400. LOL!

You did outdo another big country in India, though, which had only 2 medals (a silver and bronze).

[diddygq]

Man, are these people really that down in real life? 

 

I watched these games more than any other and they were spectacular.  A VPN for 100 baht a month to stream the outside world does wonders.  

[JetsetBkk]

On Tuesday, August 23, 2016 at 10:09 AM, Usernames said:

The EU claims that it won the Games. 

 

 

Typical EU politicians.  No wonder we Brexited when we could.