Will Rio be ready for the 2016 Olympics?
Official LOGO for 2016 Rio De Janeiro Olympic Games |
The first Olympics in South America,
which will open in Rio de Janeiro two years from today, pose an even greater
challenge.
Nearly 11,000 athletes (14 times as
many as the World Cup) from more than 200 countries compete in 28 sports
crammed into 16 days of medal competition (half the length of the World Cup).
That scale and complexity also carries an estimated $20 billion price tag,
several billion more than spent on the World Cup.
The weight falls on not the entire
country, but mostly on a city nicknamed Cidade Maravilhosa.
Will the Marvelous City be ready? International Olympic Committee
officials gained reassurance from the World Cup.
“We are very happy that many of the
concerns which were mentioned before this World Cup did not turn into reality,”
IOC president Thomas Bach said before his nation, Germany, won the World
Cup final at Rio’s Maracanã Stadium, which will hold the Opening and Closing
Ceremonies and soccer finals in 2016.
“We can really see that there is a great
dynamism in their preparations.” Bach also stressed that organizers
must stay vigilant and dedicated.
That encouraging/mindful dichotomy
runs through officials’ comments since the spring, when the IOC organized a
special task force following problems such as construction delays, a workers’
strike and communication issues between Brazilian government and organizers.
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