When Brazilian football legend Pelé declined to light the Olympic cauldron at Friday’s opening ceremony in Rio, citing ill health after muscle pains and hip surgery earlier in the year, Brazilian officials found themselves in a tight spot. The lighting of the cauldron is a defining moment for any Olympics, with the task previously falling to such icons as Cathy Freeman and Muhammad Ali.
Though the country has enjoyed more than its share of success in the worlds of ultimate fighting and motorsport, neither is an Olympic discipline. Sailing, judo, and volleyball lack prestige. Football remains very much Brazil’s national pastime, and with Pelé out of the ceremony Olympic organisers had a crucial role to fill.
But no other footballer enjoys the same level of adoration. Sócrates is off studying in heaven, Zico the ‘White Pelé’ has been tainted by an irregular managerial career, and besides, neither man ever won the World Cup. As a goalscorer Romário was unsurpassed, but as a politician he has ruffled more than a few feathers, and once denounced the venerable Pelé for talking nothing but ‘shit’. Ronaldinho played third wheel during Brazil’s success in 2002, and in 2006 was portrayed as the nightclubbing villain. Ronaldo seemed like the best bet, but despite triumphing in 2002 he remains forever associated with the final of France 98, when he almost swallowed his tongue.
With Pelé out the idea was to spice up the ceremony by means of some convoluted climax. But how do you make a showcase out of a swallowed tongue? There are ways to do it, but they hardly seemed appropriate.
So organisers turned to Bebeto. He was already thirty years old at the time of the World Cup in the United States in 1994, and had endured the abject failure of 1990 and the close call of a silver medal at the 1988 Olympics. But in 1994 he became one of the stars of the tournament. He scored three goals, helping Brazil to an unprecedented fourth World Cup. And it was during the quarter-final match against the Netherlands that he provided sport with one of its indelible images, as he celebrated a goal by rocking an imaginary baby, a sweet ode to his wife who had just delivered the couple’s third child.
When it came time to light the Olympic cauldron, a beaming Bebeto appeared, and suddenly the flame was being cradled in his arms, swaying gently back and forth as the crowd roared in approval and Bebeto began building up the momentum. A few more sways, and then whoosh, he swung the ‘baby’ up and into the cauldron and the Olympic Games were finally here.
As the samba dancers and fireworks commenced their colourful displays, a few naysayers took to social media to bemoan the Bebeto decision, questioning the morality of throwing a supposed baby into a fire, drawing strained analogies with fears around Zika. Most observers perceived no issue, but with quarrels – around corruption and recession, dirty water and drugs – already besetting these Olympics, perhaps it would have been better to stick with safer choices, like lovable tennis star Gustavo Kuerten or female football hero Marta.
