BRAZIL: LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 - Rio starts countdown for 2016 Olympics

Record ID: 330995

  • Title: BRAZIL: LONDON OLYMPICS 2012 - Rio starts countdown for 2016 Olympics
  • Date: 3rd August 2012
  • Summary: RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (FILE) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OLYMPIC STADIUM JOAO HAVELANGE VARIOUS OF ATHLETES RACING INSIDE STADIUM VARIOUS OF CONSTRUCTION OF RIO'S NEW METRO LINE GENERAL VIEW OF RIO'S LAGOON PEOPLE JOGGING ON IPANEMA BEACH GENERAL VIEW OF IPANEMA BEACH CHILDREN PLAYING BEACH SOCCER
  • Embargoed: 18th August 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Brazil
  • Country: Brazil
  • Topics: Sports
  • Reuters ID: LVA2WMSZ5EQHH7CDUF9WE9NG8CZR
  • Story Text: Rio de Janeiro's officials announced on Friday (August 03) the start of the 2016 Olympics countdown as London prepares to pass on the baton to the Brazilian city.
    Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes held a joint news conference with the city's Olympic officials in London and said Brazil was prepared for the Olympics in four years.
    Paes said Rio would face similar challenges as London, although it has a larger infrastructure gap to fill.
    "The challenge for both cities is enormous. Obviously, Rio has a wider range of infrastructure interventions to be made. In relation to sports apparatus, we do have many things ready, but the city's infrastructure gap is bigger. What I want to underline is that the construction of all the projects we have committed to have been initiated," he said.
    Rio has come under criticism for failing to meet deadlines ahead of the 2014 World Cup which also includes infrastructure projects planned for the Olympics.
    Nonetheless, a recent International Olympic Committee (IOC) progress commission report praised Rio organisers for making "great strides", but also warned them that the clock was ticking.
    Human rights groups have also accused the city's officials of using new highways as an excuse to evict poor communities without paying them proper compensation or offering alternative housing nearby.
    Brazil's officials have repeatedly expressed their confidence that once the baton is handed to Brazil on August 12, the country would prove itself equal to the task of staging the Olympics two years after hosting the World Cup.
    But political scandals, which led to the resignation of former Sports Minister Orlando Silva last year, and worries about the pace of constructing the Rio project had caused the IOC concern.
  • Copyright Holder: FILE REUTERS (CAN SELL)
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2012. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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