According to a Rio 2016 press release, 26 international sports federations have approved the sports venues proposed in Rio de Janeiro’s bid for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.
Representatives of the federations praised various aspects of Rio’s plans, particularly their compactness, the functionality of the venues, the legacy of the Rio 2007 Pan American Games and the “beauty of the locations chosen for open air competitions”, said the press release.
Among those approved were plans for the venues built for the Rio 2007 Pan American Games – the Joao Havelange Stadium, the Barra Velodrome, Maria Lenk Aquatic Park and the Rio Arena.
Carlos Arthur Nuzman, President of Rio 2016 said, “this confirms that Rio de Janeiro has Olympic standard sports facilities and that the Rio 2016 plan is well conceived and meets the expectations of the international federations. The facilities will excite athletes, officials and spectators”.
Rio 2016 says it will build two new venues to complement existing infrastructure. In Barra da Tijuca, the Olympic Training Center will also serve in legacy-mode as a centre of excellence for the training and development of Brazilian, South American and African athletes, and the X Park, an extreme sports centre to be built in Deodoro, a “superb” new facility to encourage more young people to participate in sport.
