The Indian contingent about to battle out in the Rio Olympics entered the stadium in the opening ceremony in Rio De Janeiro. Individual Olympic gold medalist Abhinav Bindra, bearing the national flag, led the team as the 95th country. Taking part in the march past were 70 Indian athletes and 24 officials, with men in navy blue blazer and women draped in a saree and blue blazer.
Tennis meastro and seven-time Olympic entrant, Leander Peas waved at the crowd while the leading ladies, shuttlers Jwala Gutta, Ashwini Ponappa and gymnast Dipa Karmakar were seen in the spotlight.
Chef-de-mission Rakesh Gupta and his ancilliary Anandeswar Pandey also walked the contingent march past along with other officials.
However, the Indian men’s hockey team skipped the parade because of the match against Ireland which is scheduled for 7:30pm today. Besides the hockey team, the table tennis and archery team also skipped the opening ceremony. With the largest contingent base of 119 players, India hopes to break previous London Olympic records. Watch the video:
Brazil, the first South American country to host Olympics, kicked off the opening ceremony, flaunting its rich culture, art and history in front of 78,000-capacity Maracana Stadium. Top model Gisele Bündchen rampwalk was one of the highlights of the event.
Along with Brazil’s iconic ‘Samba’ dance, the opening ceremony exhibited a powerful message to counter global warming and promote peace and equality.