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Looking back at Brazil’s Olympic hopes and fears

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Members of Brazil’s football team celebrate after receiving their Olympic gold medals.  Picture: Andre Penner/AP
Members of Brazil’s football team celebrate after receiving their Olympic gold medals. Picture: Andre Penner/AP

Before the start of the Rio Olympics, Brazilians had one fear and one hope: fear of a fiasco because of flaws in the organisation of the Games, and hope of having an excellent performance, one that would include the country in the top 10 winners of medals.

There were ample reasons for both.

Many of the Olympic facilities were completed just days before the opening ceremony. Some, like the velodrome for the cycling competition, didn’t even have a test event.

The athletes’ village had plumbing and electrical problems. And there was a huge risk of technical difficulties with the new subway line connecting downtown Rio to the region of the Games.

At the same time, Brazil has never before invested so much money and effort in its athletes, nearly doubling the investment compared with what it spent for London 2012. There was new talent in sporting codes in which the country did not have any tradition, such as canoeing, handball and taekwondo.

In the end, the opposite happened.

The Games were nearly flawless, from the opening ceremony (simple, but effective and beautiful) to the transport links, which worked with only minor glitches, and the comfortable and modern sports arenas. There were long lines for accessing the venues and getting food and drinks in the first days, but those issues were quickly solved as the Games progressed. Episodes of violence and social unrest never materialised. The Zika virus was nowhere to be seen. And there was a bit of luck for the organisers too: the most talked about incident of the Games involved an alleged robbery of US swimmers, but this was later proved to be a big lie.

On the other hand, Brazil’s sporting performance was a bit of a disappointment. Yes, it is true that the country gained the most medals in a Games so far (19, with seven golds, a historical record). Also, new heroes emerged in boxing, judo, canoeing and the pole vault. The soccer team finally won its first Olympics, an honour it has pursued for decades.

But the increase compared with London was small, with only two more medals, and the dream of finishing in the top 10 was thwarted (Brazil was 13th in the overall score). For a country that had so much expectation, and that was performing at home, it simply wasn’t enough.

Still, Brazilians, undergoing severe political and economic crises, were left with a sense of pride and a much-needed boost in their collective self-esteem.

The Games, after all, had some remarkable moments: Michael Phelps consolidating his position as the biggest medal winner in history; Usain Bolt winning – for the third time – the 100m and 200m dash; Simone Biles emerging as the greatest gymnast since Nadia Comaneci in 1976; the American Dream Team mesmerising the world again in basketball...

The city’s atmosphere was great, and Rio again demonstrated that it knows how to throw a party. Most of the foreigners who visited said they intended to return.

It is hard to imagine what could have been done differently to make it better, but I have a suggestion.

If one day the Olympics come back to the city, please schedule them in the summer months. Rain, cold and wind don’t match such a marvellous spectacle.

  • Zanini is political editor at Brazil’s Folha de S.Paulo newspaper

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