Brazil didn't mess up Games, nor did it make most of them

Members of Britain's Olympic swimming team wait for their flight home at the international airport in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, August 22, 2016. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - As the Olympic hoardings are taken down in Rio de Janeiro and the Carnival atmosphere subsides, there is relief that cash-strapped Brazil avoided making a mess of the Games but also a nagging suspicion it did not make the most of them either.

Brazil overcame fears over the Zika virus, a painful recession that left government coffers bare, and the suspension of its president just three months before the opening ceremony of the first Games in South America.