News Participants in the Olympic torch relay arrived in Rio de Janeiro under sail on Wednesday (3 August), like the earliest Portuguese explorers before them, as the 'new world' of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games comes ever closer After being received by the mayor of the city, the torch relay embarked on a brief tour of the historic centre of Rio de Janeiro, where it was carried by waiters, samba dancers and even celebrity street cleaners It then headed off to the outskirts of the city and the down-to-earth suburbs of Duque de Caxias, São João de Meriti, Nilópolis and Belford Roxo Olympic heritage The relay started the day in Niterói, the commuter town that lies on the other side of Guanabara Bay The Olympic flame was carried on the classic six-metre yacht Aileen, which at the Stockholm 1912 Olympic Games a Danish crew steered to a silver medal Final countdown: Olympic torch to arrive in Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday as Games fever takes hold The yacht is now owned by Torben Grael, five times an Olympic medal winner With his brother Lars, Grael formed part of a crew of seven medal-winning sailors from Brazil who sailed the Olympic torch to Rio on another, more modern yacht, the Lady Lu Brazil has a strong tradition in Olympic sailing; the country has won six gold medals in the sport, more than in any other, and 17 medals in total This year, all eyes will be on local sailing legend Robert Scheidt, who will be competing in his sixth Olympic Games and aiming to overtake Torben Grael by winning a sixth gold Sailors welcome announcement of courses and schedule for Rio 2016 Olympic regatta Torben Grael began his participation in the Olympic torch relay onboard the classic yacht Aileen (Photo: Rio 2016/Leonardo Rui) On arrival on terra firma in Rio de Janeiro, the Grael brothers passed the Olympic torch to city mayor Eduardo Paes Dancers and drummers from Mangueira, Brazil's most famous and traditional samba school, were on hand to greet the torch From the waterfront, it was off to some of the city's oldest and most traditional neighbourhoods, including the portside district where samba was born some 100 years ago In the hands of young badminton player Rebeca Santos, the torch took a ride in the brand-new VLT, the high-tech tram system that has transformed public transport in central Rio de Janeiro One of the first torchbearers in Rio was Renato Sorriso, a dustman and road sweeper who became famous for his good humour and smile while cleaning up after Carnival in 1997 This was not his first taste of the magic of the Olympic Games; at London 2012, he made a memorable participation in the closing ceremony "I am happy to be here and to represent the working class in the relay," he said Samba legend Nelson Sargento, the honorary president of the Mangueira school, also helped carry the torch Sargento has written about 400 songs in his 92 years Later in the relay it was the turn of another star of samba, the flamboyant dancer Selminha Sorriso from the Beija-Flor school "Both sport and samba change people's lives," she said "I think the Olympic Games are in the right city " Barbecue king lights ‘bohemian Olympic flame’ in Copacabana At the Samba City area in the port district, Carnival leader Milton Cunha carried the torch with pride and compared the Olympic Games to the Carnival festivities "The Olympic torch represents tolerance, harmony and respect for differences These are also the foundations for samba schools I think everyone can learn a lot from the Olympic torch and from Carnival," he said The first day of the torch relay in Rio was dominated by ordinary cariocas, as the inhabitants of the city are called Among them was Orlando Duque, who has been a waiter at the historic Confeitaria Colombo café in central Rio since 1952 "It's as if I had been training for this moment for 65 years, carrying my tray," he said After a brief tour of central Rio, the torch relay then head off to some of the most underprivileged neighbourhoods in the region: the towns of Duque de Caxias and São João de Meriti just to the north of the Olympic city There was a Carnival mood as the torch relay arrived, with kids dressing up in traditional costume to mark the historic day This young resident of Duque de Caxias was in patriotic mood on Wednesday afternoon (Photo: Rio 2016/Saulo Pereira Guimarães) In Duque de Caxias, young participants in the Miratus project, which teaches badminton to residents of the nearby Chacrinha favela, were out in force to support teacher Sebastião de Oliveira when he ran with the torch There is no question as to who is the star pupil of the project: de Oliveira's own son Ygor, who will be participating in the Rio 2016 badminton competition   "Ygor's qualification for the Games has shown that there are good examples in favela communities for children to follow and not to fall into a life of crime," de Oliveira said Crowds gathered to cheer on the torch in Duque de Caxias (Photo: Rio 2016/Marcos de Paula) Both father and son ran in the relay on Wednesday afternoon On Thursday, the relay will be returning to the city of Rio itself, where it will visit various neighbourhoods and landmarks on route to its final destination: the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in the Maracanã on Friday evening Sebastião de Oliveira was supported by some students from his badminton school when he ran with the torch (Photo: Rio 2016/Marcos de Paula)