A riot during the Olympic torch relay on Thursday cast a shadow over the Rio Games starting in just over a week, marking a new low in a ritual that was meant to unite Brazil.The torch is nearing the end of a 300-city relay that will end with the lighting of the Olympic flame in the Maracana stadium at the opening ceremony on August 5.But while organisers portray the epic journey as a chance to ignite public enthusiasm, repeated security incidents have turned the torch into a symbol of the organizational glitches and social discontent overshadowing South America’s first Olympics.
‘Torch put out’
In Angra dos Reis, a coastal resort south of Rio, crowds angry over lack of public transport and nearly bankrupt Rio state’s late payment of salaries fought with police at the torch parade late on Wednesday. Video broadcast on Globo television and amateur footage shared on social media showed a dense crowd cheering while someone shouted “the torch has been put out!” The torch bearer, accompanied by police, is seen retreating to a bus, with the relay apparently halted. In other scenes, police fire rubber bullets and tear gas as the crowd runs and gathers again to confront officers.
This came after repeated attempts in other cities to douse the torch with fire extinguishers or buckets of water.Highlight reels of other torch mishaps have gone viral online, including runners falling over, a police motorbike crashing into the parade, a man attempting to seize the torch, and political protests.In June, a rare, captive jaguar — the same animal chosen for Brazil’s Olympic mascot — was shot dead after escaping handlers at a torch ceremony.
Athletes arrive
There was better news for Rio organisers in the arrival overnight of Jamaica’s Olympic sprint superstar Usain Bolt, who hopes to defend his multiple gold medals.A more controversial set of arrivals were expected later in the day, with some 70 Russian athletes due to fly in at around 6:00 pm (2100 GMT), their team slashed by bans in a scandal over state-sponsored doping.Rio organisers were also still racing to complete emergency repairs to the athletes’ Village, where some 19,000 team members will live. — AFP
