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South Africa’s poster boy Wayde van Niekerk described being South Africa’s flag bearer at the opening ceremony at the Rio Olympics as the highest honour in his sporting career.
As Brazil pulled out all the stops to mark the 2016 Olympic Games opening ceremony in style at the iconic Maracana Stadium yesterday morning (South Africa time), Van Niekerk was living his Olympic dream.
The event, which attracted more than 80 000 spectators to the oldest stadium in Brazil, was declared an overwhelming success by the locals. Van Niekerk, who is a strong medal contender for Team SA, hoisted the flag with pride. South Africa was third in the list of countries that made the grand entrance to the stadium. Brazil displayed their diversity with colourful scenes, but most of the ceremony relied heavily on their technology, showing the iconic beaches such as the Copacabana and a creative piece of technology on the pitch, keeping the cheering crowd spellbound.
More than 5 000 performers took part in the festivities.
Firecrackers marked the end of a memorable evening for those who were in attendance . Football icon Pelé, the Fifa World footballer of the century, was supposed to light the Olympic flame, but was unavailable due to ill health.
However, the ceremony was still a big success. Brazil was allocated a small budget by the government, but still managed to pull off an impressive opening ceremony.
The country is currently going through political problems and this was highlighted by the strong police and military presence. There were also fears that protests would stop the opening ceremony.
Van Niekerk, who will start his track and field gold competition on Friday, said: “It’s a privilege to have led the team. It’s a moment I will never forget in my life.”
With the formalities out of the way, the Games will now start in earnest.
However, South Africans will have to wait another week for golden girl Caster Semenya – as she will only run her first race on August 17. However, she has withdrawn from the 400m sprint event to concentrate on the 800m.
There were concerns that the local organising committee would not finish the facilities on time, with the beach soccer stadium only completed this week. The rugby sevens’ stadium was also completed earlier this week. Some of the events South Africans can look forward to are:
- 800m Olympian Jacob Rozani, who will get the ball rolling in the men’s 800m heats on Friday;
- World 400m champion Van Niekerk in the 400m heats on Friday;
- Ruswahl Samaai, Stefan Brits and Luvo Manyonga in the long-jump events on the same day;
- Sprinter Akani Simbine in the men’s 100m on Saturday;
- African 10 000m champion Stephen Mokoka will also be in action on Saturday and will hopefully make the final. If he does well, he could deliver the first track and field medal this week;
- 2012 bronze medallist Bridgitte Hartley will take part in the canoeing heats on Wednesday;
- Cyclists Daryl Impey and Louis Meintjes will be hoping to fly the South African flag high in the road cycling final at Fort Copacabana today;
- So will SA Women’s leading cyclist Ashleigh Moolman Pasio when she participates in the final, also today.
Swimming officially started yesterday, meaning the beginning of the journey to possible victory for Chad le Clos and Cameron van der Burgh.
The South African 4x200m freestyle relay team will be in action on Tuesday.
Fresh from holding the hosts to a goalless draw, the South African Under-23 team will take on Denmark at the Mané Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia tomorrow, while Banyana will face Brazil on Wednesday.
The Blitzbokke will begin their quest for an Olympic gold medal at the Deodora Stadium on Tuesday. The rugby takes place for three days, with the medal matches scheduled for Thursday and Friday.
The Blitzbokke are in Group B with France, Spain and Australia
