It's been a long, emotional summer in Rio.
The confident, booming country that was
awarded the right to host the Games back in
2009 is very different to the troubled,
economically challenged Brazil that we see
today.
For weeks Brazil and the host city of Rio de
Janeiro have been engaged in an epic struggle
to convince the world that it was the right
choice to hold a first ever Games in South
America in a country that, arguably, had more
important priorities.
At times the so-called "marvellous city" has
absolutely felt up to the challenge. New
sporting venues have, by and large, staged
great events and many of the things we
thought might be problematic issues before
the first opening ceremony on 5 August - like
the Zika virus and security for visitors - the
organisers took in their stride.
At other times, Rio has fallen short. Behind
the scenes, Olympic officials talk about too
much having been made ready at the last
minute, a feeling of "crisis management" and
of broken promises.
If the constant stench of untreated sewage in
the lagoon that surrounds the Olympic Park
wasn't enough to embarrass city and state
officials over their hollow environmental
pledges, then perhaps nothing can.
Rio de Janeiro's controversial and sometimes
outspoken mayor is Eduardo Paes. In many
ways he is the political "face" of Rio 2016 and
he certainly feels vindicated when challenged
about the rights and wrongs of putting on
these mega-events in what is a still
developing, socially unequal country.
"It's arrogant to say these events don't belong
in the developing world," Mr Paes said when
we met this week at a new transport
interchange in Rio - one of the many Olympic
legacies the mayor insists would not have
happened, had it not been for the impetus of
holding the Games.
"We showed in Brazil that these Games have
been for everyone with lots of legacies for the
city," he said. "We still have a lot of problems
here but people's lives are much better
because of the Games so let's not be
prejudiced about where we hold these events
in future."
Aspiring Paralympian
The Paralympic Games, which finished this
weekend, certainly felt more inclusive than
their Olympic counterpart.
The prospect of swathes of empty venues
forced organisers to slash Paralympic ticket
prices, allowing thousands of Brazilians who'd
been priced out of the Olympics to witness
and be inspired by some top quality
international sport.
If the Olympic and Paralympic Games are all
about inspiration and encouragement, then in
Davi Texeira they could have a future
champion.
The 11 year old, from Rio, is sports mad. He
is already an accomplished surfer. We met him
at a city centre skate park, where he's working
on his dream to become a future Paralympian.
"Sport is my life because without sport I'm not
Davi.
I wouldn't be who I am today," he said,
brimming with confidence.
Davi was born without fully developed limbs
but he's not been discouraged, despite the
haphazard nature of facilities for children like
him in Brazil.
"Davi doesn't see any barriers - he does what
he wants and has overcome a lot in his life
already," said his mother Denise. "He loves the
Olympics and knows it's a unique moment in
his life."
But, she added, "as a mother it's a constant
struggle to get improvements. Transport
facilities here are pretty bad and getting
around isn't easy, but things have improved in
the run up to the Games".
Davi lives in a country where 40% of disabled
children don't go to school, where there's a
huge gap in equality of opportunity depending
on race or social background. That has to
change, say campaigners, if Brazil is to build
on Rio 2016.
The cost of staging the Games has left the
city and state of Rio virtually broke. Providing
80,000 extra security personnel, for example,
doesn't come cheap.
And while the tourists may leave happy, what
happens in the rest of this notoriously violent
city when budgets for policing programmes in
Rio's favelas are cut?
In the past few weeks, Brazilians have found
new Olympic and Paralympic heroes - Rafaela
Silva, Daniel Diaz and Thiago Braz.
But, facing a difficult economic climate,
there
are tough funding decisions to come which
could make or break the sporting ambitions of
youngsters,
like Davi Texeira, who've been
inspired by what they've been part of this
summer in their own city.
Bbc
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