The flame for South America's first Olympics was lit on Thursday at the birthplace of the ancient games in Greece, starting a 15-week journey culminating in the August 5 opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) leaders and Brazilian organisers attending the ceremony in the ruins of Ancient Olympia voiced confidence Brazil would stage successful Games, despite a political crisis which forced president Dilma Rousseff to stay home.
Rousseff faces possible impeachment over alleged accounting tricks in managing the federal budget. The host country is also beset by corruption scandals, a deep recession and the Zika virus outbreak, while Games-related problems include spending cuts, slow ticket sales and delays in some venues.
Rio organising committee head Carlos Nuzman said the Olympics would help unite Brazilians and pledged the host city "is ready to deliver history".
"We are incredibly proud to have come so far, sailing through some of the most-challenging waters the Olympic movement has seen ... (the flame) brings a message that can and will unite our dear Brazil".
The IOC insists the Rio Games will be successful, maintaining preparations are already at an operational phase.
IOC President Thomas Bach said Rio would provide "a spectacular stage" for the Olympics.
"These Olympic Games will be a message of hope in troubled times - and indeed the flame will carry this message into all corners of Brazil and ... the world. The flame is a timeless reminder that we are all part of the same humanity."
The flame was lit outside Olympia's 7th Century BC Temple of Hera by Greek actress Katerina Lehou, in a long pleated dress impersonating a pagan high priestess. After a mock prayer to the ancient Greek gods, she used a concave mirror to focus the sun's rays on her torch, and the ceremony continued in the ancient stadium.
Greek world gymnastics champion Eleftherios Petrounias took the flame and handed it to Brazilian former volleyball great Giovane Gavio to start the relay.
It will traverse Greece for six days until the April 27 handover to Brazilian officials in Athens.
The Greek leg includes a stop at an Athens camp, home to 1500 refugees and migrants trapped in Greece - one of whom will participate in the relay - while a young Syrian boy from another camp will accompany the torchbearer in a small town just north of Olympia.
In Rio, for the first time, the IOC will allow 5-10 refugee athletes to participate, marching behind the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony.
After a brief stopover in Switzerland, the flame will start in Brazil on May 3 in the capital Brasilia. It will reach most of the country's 200 million population, covering 20,000km by road and 16,000km by air via 12,000 torchbearers.
Rio will have two stadiums: the Maracana for the opening and closing ceremonies and soccer, and the Olympic Stadium, across town, for track and field.
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