The Brazilian Post

by Ana Toledo

Olympic Park – Rio 2016

London 2012 might be over but now the countdown begins in Brazil. After receiving the Olympic flame, the country races against the clock to prepare Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Olympic Games.

In 2009, when Brazil was told it had won the bid to be the next country to host the Olympics, it was announced that the budget to prepare Rio de Janiero to host an event of this size would be R$ 28.8 billion (almost £87 billion).

According to the Transparency Portal 2016, the investment is dived into five areas. These areas break down into approximately 20 per cent for accommodation, 12 per cent for sports facilities, almost 4 per cent for safety and technology and the vast majoryt – 60 per cent concentrated on improving transport infrastructure (see chart opposite).

However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) initial budget has been reviewed and the bill is expected to increase, as turned out to be the case for London. Recent estimates but the cost of London 2012 at £11 billion ($35.2) this is a staggering £9.3 billion ($29.7 billion) more than was initially announced. Though defenders of the Games say that the extra budget is justified as use of non-permanent buildings and sustainable development will mean that the government will spend less than expected on modifying the Olympic Park and venues after the event.

With regard to Rio de Janeiro the question over spending has already been met with much criticism as with the Olympic baton already firmly in its hand, the government has failed to grasp any concrete data on spending so far, the only certainty at this time is that the final bill will exceed the initial estimation.

In a press conference held in London during the Olympics, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, said “we can not give a total cost because some projects are still being defined.” This declaration yielded comments and concern from the IOC. “We are asking for the budget to be finalised as soon as possible,” IOC President Jacques Rogge, told the world’s press, before the closing ceremony of the Games in London.

To speed up Rio’s preparations, the IOC is working with the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) to establish the budget and, according to a report released before the London Games, to bring “coordination with vigor” to the organisation of the next games.

Olympic Works

The works of the Olympic facilities are concentrated in four blocks: the Barra da Tijuca, the location of the Olympic Village and Olympic Park; Deodoro, which will house and equestrian sports such as hockey; the Maracana, which includes the Sambódramo (the arrival point of the marathon) and Joao Havelange stadium; and Copacabana, where athletics, swimming, sailing and volleyball will be focussed.

Discussions on the velodrome have entered deadlock as it is decided whether the 2007 Pan will be demolished or reused in 2016. The venue received a large investment of R$14 million (almost £42 million) with the promise and justification that if Brazil were to host an Olympics, the track would be used in competitions. Rio’s mayor, Paes believes that the venue should be used in 2016, arguing that adapting and refurbishing the building to meet requirements of hosting events will be cheaper and more sustainable then building a new velodrome.

Another dilemma the COB faces centres on the construction the racetrack within the Olympic Park. The site chosen in Deodoro has been brought into question following revelations that the area may contain buried explosives, having been used as a site for military training. At the moment there is no guarantee that the circuit – a focal point of any games can even be built on the site. Without a new track, the Brazilian Confederation of Automobile (CBA) has promised to halt the closure of Racecourse Jacarepaguá so it can be used for the games.

If construction of the track can go ahead, expected delivery of the work is December 2015 and hopes are that the Olympic Park will be transformed into a training center for top athletes after Rio 2016. The project managers for the site is the British firm Aecom, who were also responsible for developing the Olympic Park in London. But concerns are mounting with development of both sites still on hold. On their last visit to Rio in the first week of June, the head of the IOC coordination commission, Nawal El Moutawakel, expressed concern with the delivery of Olympic venues for 2016 as works have not commenced.

There are also worries over accommodation as despite the IOC and Rio declaring to provide the required 48,000 hotel beds to serve visitors to the Games, with only four years before the start of the competitions, the hotels of the city only have a capacity of 20 thousand people. Brazil’s state government has been providing tax incentives to begin the construction of hotels increasing the number to over 8,000 and some other solutions have been found. One of the more creative ideas is that accommodation for 10,000 will be provided by in six ships that the city intends to have docked in its port during the Olympics, another is to build a village for journalists.

Improvements to airport capacity are also still in progress. Expansion of airports is the responsibility of Infraero and the airport operational plan should be delivered later this year. Difficulty in obtaining environmental permits and dispossession generated dissatisfaction among the local population. Residents associations of southern and western have protested against the new section of underground is line 4, which is part of the project for 2016.

Considering the structural improvements already made in Rio de Janeiro since the city was chosen host the 2016 Olympic Games, its clear to see advancements have been made, but there is still a lot to do. Now we must race against the clock to meet goals and deadlines required by the IOC. The challenge of being next to host the world’s greatest sporting event has meant that the relationship between Rio-London has grown closer, and was celebrated president of the Organizing Committee of the London Olympics, Sebastian Coe, stating that “never have two cities worked so close in achieving the Olympics.” This was also confirmed with caution by Brazil’s Sports Minister Aldo Rabelo, emphasizing that “Brazil has to try to extract all the lessons without the risk of copying because each Olympics has its nature, its own calling.” Learning from London 2012 seems to be the best way to combine the Brazilian spirit with the discipline of the British.

*Comitê Organizador Rio2016

Source: Portal da Transparência

Leia em português: Duplo desafio para Rio 2016: prazos e legado