Rio Olympics: Indian flag hoisted at Olympic Village

Rio de Janeiro: Amid the strains of Jana Gana Mana, the Indian tricolour was hoisted at the formal Welcome Ceremony in the Games Village for the 31st Olympic Games. The brief but impressive traditional Olympic Ceremony combined with a short display of Brazilian culture greeted the Indian contingent in the village. It is also one of the first and prominent ceremonies of the Games and it saw more than half of the Indian contingent gather for it. The Indian contingent was elegantly dressed in white tracksuits with India written on them and looked upbeat on the eve of the Games. Indian Olympic Association (IOA) President, Narayanswamy Ramachandran and Chef de Mission of the Contingent, Rakesh Gupta, presented the Mayor of the Olympic Village, former basketball player and two-time Olympic medallist Janeth Arcain, with two gifts. One of them was a pair of silver elephants and another was gold-plated peacock with the IOA logo embossed at the bottom of the frame.     The show comprising Brazilian rhythms greeted the Indian delegation, alongside those from Bahamas, Burkina Faso, Gambia and Norway. The Ceremony, which lasted for about 45 minutes, started with a tribal dance spectacle before moving on to an assortment of Brazilian rhythms, including forró, samba and bossa nova. Music by late Brazilian legends Raul Seixas and Tim Maia was also played alongside some latest hits. After the music and dance, Mayor Arcain gave a speech about the importance of the Games for humanity and welcomed the teams to Rio. However, the majority of the Indian contingent has already arrived and has been residing at the Village. Some of those not present this afternoon were away at training venues. Those present included shooters Jitu Rai, Prakash Nanjappa, Gurpreet Singh and Chain Singh, athletes Khushbir Kaur and Manpreet Kaur, women’s hockey team, swimmers Sajan Prakash and Shivani Katariya, and some of their coaches and officials. Also present were officials from the Indian Embassy in Brazil and officials from India. The Indians will be fielding its largest continent of around 120 athletes in 15 disciplines. Last time in London, India won six medals – two silver and four bronze. The Olympic Village was officially opened more than a week ago on July 24. The Village has 31 buildings (India is housed in Building No. 31) and has 3,604 apartments. The village will host more than 17,000 athletes and officials during its peak times. It is built in the neighbourhood of Recreio dos Bandeirantes in the west of Rio and is close to Barra Olympic Park, the main venue cluster. The village was opened last week by Rio mayor Eduardo Paes, Rio 2016 president Carlos Arthur Nuzman and Janeth Arcain, the two-time Olympic medallist. The complex also features leisure areas, cycle-paths, a huge gym and giant dinning hall with an area of 27,000 square metres and the capacity to cater for 5,000 at the same time, serving up to 60,000 meals per day. The guests will be offered a wide range of local Brazilian and international cuisine, including Indian and Asian food.