The 2016 Olympic Games officially began in Rio de Janeiro on Friday night with a colourful opening ceremony.
Under the gaze of Rio’s Christ the Redeemer statue, 80,000 people packed into the Maracana to watch the four-hour party to kick off South America’s first Olympics. See all the colourful photos from the event plus photos of the athletes' outfits below.
There was a protest though. As the clock ticked down to the start of the ceremony, thousands of
Brazilian demonstrators took to the streets to vent their fury at Brazil’s rulers and the multi-billion-pound cost of the Games.
Brazil is battling a crippling recession, double-digit unemployment and rising crime.
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| Great Britain led by Andy Murray |
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| Dashing in dashikis - the Cameroon team |
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| Australia |
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| Check out the Hungary team |
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| Indonesia |
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| Malaysia |
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| the Mozambique team's clothing to the "interior of a 1970 Datsun car" |
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| Norway |
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| The Pakistan athletes |
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| Portugal went casual and turned up in jeans |
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| The Sudan team |
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| Sweden looked like they had come straight to the opening ceremony from football training |
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| Thailand |
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| Brazil emerged as the last team, with the women dressed in the colours of the Brazil flag |
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| Immigration was celebrated during the ceremony |
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