The Olympics in London may have just finished, but Brazil is already gearing up for its turn to host the games in four years’ time. Rio de Janeiro will be hosting the next Summer Olympics in 2016, and after landing in Brazil in mid-August, the flag was taken on a tour of Rio’s favelas and put on display at the government palace. It also made the trip up Corcovado Mountain and through Tijuca Forest to receive a blessing from seven different religions in front of the very symbol of Rio – the Christ the Redeemer statue.
During the ceremony, the Olympic flag was surrounded by the flags of all countries that participated in the most recent games in London. Carlos Arthur Nuzman, president of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, and Rio’s Mayor Eduardo Paes were in attendance, and will presumably be present in November when the flag reaches its new home at an Olympic monument currently under construction in downtown Rio.
