Watch: Vanderlei de Lima lights Olympic cauldron

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In the end, it was Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima - the Brazilian long-distance runner attacked by a protester while leading the Olympic marathon in Athens 2004 - who lit the Olympic cauldron to ignite Rio 2016.

Former World No. 1 tennis star Gustavo Keurten ran the torch into Maracana Stadium before handing it off to basketball legend Hortencia Maracari, who then brought it up to the cauldron for De Lima.

De Lima was seven kilometers away from delivering Brazil its first gold medal in marathon competition, but settled for bronze when two runners passed him shortly after the infamous disruption.

The IOC recognized De Lima with the Pierre de Coubertin medal to commend his handling of the situation, an award that must pale in comparison to lighting the cauldron in the first Olympics in South America.