RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes is back.
The face of the Rio Olympics, Paes has shied away from the cameras since the opening ceremony. But he was back in view on Friday, bowing to Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, who arrived wearing a white kimono for a meeting with her Rio counterpart.
Paes will hand over the Olympic flag to Kioke at Sunday's closing ceremony, the moment eyes turn from South America to Asia, where the next three Winter and Summer Olympics will be held.
Paes repeated his spirited defense of holding the Rio Games, saying the Olympics had been a catalyst for building a new subway-line extension, an express-bus system and a renovated port area.