RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — How's this for last-minute notice?
After Pele relinquished his starring role in the opening ceremony in slightly mysterious circumstances, marathon runner Vanderlei de Lima only had an hour's notice that he would carry the flame to light the Olympic cauldron on Friday.
The 46-year-old de Lima told the story to a group of Brazilian sports journalists who accidentally ran into him buying beer at a gas station after the show ended in Rio de Janeiro. He was still wearing his Rio 2016 outfit.
"I never thought that I could be that person to light the cauldron," he said.