Test events ramping up ahead of 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games

by Rio 2016 on 3 Aug 2015 2016 Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games - Rio de Janeiro will get a taste of the excitement that will take over the city during next year’s Olympic and Paralympic Games when nine days of intense activity gets underway on Saturday (one August). The menu includes three sports test events, a glitzy celebration of the one-year-until-the-Games milestone and a concert featuring three of the biggest names in Brazilian music. It will be rounded off by a ‘Cultural Marathon’, organised by the Rio city government.

The action starts in Copacabana at the weekend with the triathlon test event – the third in a series of 45 competitions being staged to help prepare the city for the Games. Saturday will see about 60 paratriathletes in action, before about 150 triathletes compete for six places at next year’s Olympic Games on Sunday.

On Wednesday (five August), Thomas Bach, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), will be guest of honour at an event to mark the one year until the opening ceremony milestone. Held at the Cidade das Artes (City of Arts) venue in the Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood, which will be home to main Olympic Park, the event will also be attended by Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff, Rio State Governor Luiz Fernando Pezão, Rio Mayor Eduardo Paes and Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman – as well as representatives of future Games organising committees and a host of Olympic medallists.

The event will be brought to an end by a concert organised by Celebrate, the Rio 2016 cultural programme. The set-list will feature nine songs that tell the story of Rio, performed by Diogo Nogueira, Roberta Sá and Zeca Pagodinho.

Wednesday will also see the start of the 2015 World Rowing Junior Championships at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, a competition that will also serve as the Rio 2016 test event for the sport. The following day the equestrian test event – the Aquece Rio International Horse Trials – will begin at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Deodoro.

The one-year-to-go celebrations will be concluded with the ‘Olympic City Cultural Marathon’ on the weekend of eight - nine August. Organised by the Rio city government, in partnership with the state and federal governments, it will feature free or affordable concerts, exhibitions and cultural activities taking place simultaneously in theatres, parks, squares, museums, cultural centres and libraries across the city.