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Rio organizing committee chief pledges to ‘deliver history’

The President of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee Carlos Nuzman hugs IOC President Thomas Bach during the ceremonial lighting of the Olympic flame in Ancient Olympia, Greece, Thursday, April 21, 2016. The flame will be transported by torch relay to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, which will host the 2016 Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris) The President of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee Carlos Nuzman hugs IOC President Thomas Bach during the ceremonial lighting of the Olympic flame in Ancient Olympia, Greece, Thursday, April 21, 2016. The flame will be transported by torch relay to the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro, which will host the 2016 Olympic Games. (AP Photo/Petros Giannakouris)

By Associated Press April 21, 2016 1 min read

ANCIENT OLYMPIA, Greece (AP) – The chief organizer of the Rio de Janeiro Olympics says the games will help unite the troubled host country, and is promising to “deliver history.'”

Carlos Nuzman says Brazil has so far sailed “through some of the most challenging waters the Olympic movement has seen.”

Brazil is going through an acute political crisis and deep economic recession.

Speaking during Thursday’s flame-lighting ceremony for the Rio Games in Ancient Olympia, southern Greece, Nuzman added that the first Olympics in South America bring a message “that can and will unite” Brazil.

Once the flame is lit, in the ruined birthplace of the ancient games, it will start on its 15-week journey that will culminate at the Aug. 5 opening ceremony in Rio’s Maracana Stadium.