Building the Organisation
Following Rio’s successful bid – consisting of two years of planning and including the production of a comprehensive candidature file and a visit by the IOC’s Evaluation Commission – the Rio team wasted no time in setting to work in creating the Organising Committee that would deliver the Games. Since its first meeting with the IOC, on the morning following the election, Rio has, among other things, officially created the Rio 2016 Organising Committee; participated in an IOC run orientation seminar; appointed a new CEO; taken part in the IOC’s observation and debrief of the Vancouver Games; created a sports advisory committee; developed a new brand look that will be launched at the end of the year; been involved in the creation of the Olympic Delivery Authority (APO); and welcomed the first visit of the IOC’s Coordination Commission, which will follow Rio’s progress until the Games begin.
Preparing for the Games
While the progress made by Rio 2016, with the assistance of the IOC, has been impressive, there have also been a number of advances made in more concrete areas thanks to the strong partnership that exists between the Organising Committee and its local partners. Recent initiatives include the confirmation of the venues for the 26 sports on the Olympic programme at the time of Rio’s election; the start of construction on the Rio metro expansion; and work on the new BRT Transoeste line that will link Santa Cruz to the Barra area of the city. All these areas will be essential to Rio’s ability to deliver top-quality Games. As Coordination Commission Chairwoman Nawal El Moutawakel said during the first visit of the IOC’s Coordination Commission: “Rio has made a good start to the project. It has laid a solid foundation, but the scope of the Olympic project is immense, and it is important that no time is wasted.” Having seen what has been accomplished so far by Rio 2016, they are clearly listening to the Chairwoman’s advice!
RIO 2016
Rio de Janeiro was elected on 2 October 2009 as the host city of the Games of the XXXI Olympiad at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, Denmark. Rio was elected in the third round of voting, beating the cities of Chicago (United States), Tokyo (Japan) and Madrid (Spain). Rio defeated Madrid in the third round of voting by 66 votes to 32, with Chicago and Tokyo already having been eliminated in the first and second rounds respectively. Rio 2016 will have 28 sports on its programme and will run from 5 till 21 August 2016.
