The Olympic Torch arrived by boat in Rio de Janeiro Wednesday as part of its 90-day relay around the country ahead of the Olympic games beginning Friday.
A yacht steered by seven Brazilian Olympic sailors made the one-hour journey from the town of Niteroi to a historic Rio naval base, where sailors Torben and Lars Grael presented the torch to Mayor Eduardo Paes.
The torch will travel through Rio for three days, visiting underprivileged suburbs, beaches, and finally the famous Christ the Redeemer statue on Friday before arriving at Maracana Stadium to begin the 2016 Olympic games.
The flame arrived in the capital, Brasilia, in early May from Greece, where the Olympic Games originated, via Switzerland aboard a TAM jet that was escorted by two Brazilian Air Force fighter planes.
Brazilian Olympic Committee President Carlos Arthur Nuzman carried the flame in a lantern as he walked out of the plane.
Since-impeached President Dilma Rousseff ignited the first torch after it was taken to the Planalto presidential palace to begin its relay through more than 300 cities, carried by 12,000 torchbearers, each running 200 meters.
