In the face of various dire in-advance-expressed concerns, Rio de Janeiro and Brazil have hosted for the world what virtually all parties see to have been a successful and entertaining two weeks of Olympic games.
The United States has virtually every reason to be licking its chops, having taken home some 121 medals, among them 46 gold.
Pushing a Sisyphean rock up a hill was not one of the events at the Olympics, but Brazil had to achieve a comparable feat in bringing off the long, complicated event with nearly everyone happy. To lead off the list of its problems, Brazil is in the process of impeaching its president. Then there was the question of Rio's sometime reputation for crime and general lack of security. In the event, it turned out that the most noteworthy crime during the two weeks was committed by an American swimming team, which allegedly vandalized a service station restroom and then lied about it, claiming they were robbed by men in police uniforms.
There was concern that the Rio facilities either wouldn't be completed on time, or that the water used in some events would be dirty enough to make competitors sick. It didn't happen. Then there was the fear of the mosquito-borne Zika virus, with American and other media laden in advance of the games with copious coverage of babies with birth defects.
The Olympic torch, clearly an enormous responsibility, has now been passed to Tokyo, which will host the summer games in 2020.
In the meantime, rich, raucous applause is due Rio and the Brazilians.
Editorial on 08/25/2016