RIO de JANEIRO — If ever there was a Games that cried out for the glow of a lit cauldron, these are those Games.
If ever there was a Games that presented to so many the deep fear of the unknown, these are those Games: the first-ever Olympics in South America, Rio and Brazil depicted far and wide as danger writ large.
Finally, the familiar symbols of the Olympic movement took hold Friday night and with them, perhaps, a reprieve. If tradition holds, the next 17 days promise more — way more — of a focus on the inspirational ideal that the best in each of us makes all of us better.
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