Yunus carries historic Olympic Torch

Nobel laureate professor Muhammad Yunus on Friday carried the Olympic torch on the final leg of the Olympic torch relay in Rio de Janeiro.

Wearing Olympic athlete uniform, he took the flame from another celebrity torch bearer in a brief ceremony of transferring the flame from his torch, said a press release.

The Bangladesh professor walked 200 metres with the flame to loud applause and cheers of the flood of crowds on the streets.

All along the walk crowds of local children, youths, men and women surrounded him taking videos and pictures to capture this historical event in their neighbourhood, the press statement added.

During the walk with the flame, professor Yunus held up the flame in one hand and held up three fingers of the other hand to symbolize the three zeroes urging the global audience to work for.

The three zeros stand for three social and environmental goals of “Zero Poverty, Zero Unemployment, and Zero Net Carbon Emissions”.

He has been advocating to add a social dimension to all IOC programmes. This was the core message of his address to IOC annual general meeting yesterday.

In the evening he was invited as a guest of honor at dinner by the IOC president Thomas Bach which was attended by 450 leaders of sports world and distinguished guests, including UN secretary general Ban ki Moon, French president Francois Hollande, HRH Princess Anne, HM King of Netherlands, HRH Crown Prince of Denmark and high officials of the IOC.

Earlier in the day he was invited as keynote speaker at conference of the CEOs of Brazilian businesses hosted by the Inter American Development Bank and inaugurated by the Mayor of Rio.

Professor Yunus encouraged businesses to get involved in social businesses to tackle some of the pressing issues of society including unemployment and wealth concentration.

Yunus will attend the Olympic events for the next few days including the grand opening ceremony tomorrow which will be televised globally.