Rio de Janeiro: The most iconic symbol of the Olympics is decorating the host city of the 2016 Games. Rio’s City Hall has installed the giant Olympic rings in Madureira Park here.
The symbol, which represents the union of the five continents, was donated by Britain. During the London Olympics, the rings decorated the Tyne Bridge in Newcastle, one of the football host cities in 2012.
They were transported by ship with the help of the Brazilian Navy. The trip took 20 days between January and February.
The rings were installed in Madureira Park in northern Rio, far from the heart of the Olympics in the western suburb of Barra da Tijuca.
The choice of Madureira Park as the “home” of the Olympic rings complies with the concept of integrating the whole city with the Olympics.
“The Olympics are for the people of Rio de Janeiro and it is important that residents feel they are a fundamental part of this movement which is transforming the city. Madureira is in the heart of the suburbs, where our identity was created, and is in one of the poorest regions of the city where the Games have had a great affect,” Rio mayor Eduardo Paes said on Wednesday.
The inauguration ceremony was also joined by the president of the Coordination Commission for the Rio 2016 Games from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Nawal el Moutawakel and the president of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman. The Rio Olympics will open on August 5, 2016.
Meanwhile, a venue scheduled to host water polo at the Rio Olympics has been dropped from the Games programme.
Located next to the Maracana Stadium here, the Julio Delamare aquatic park had been earmarked for first-phase matches of Olympics. But the government on Wednesday said it could not justify spending $20 million (Dh73.46 million) needed to bring the venue up to Olympic standard.
“It would be very costly. A refurbishment to serve the local community, which has always been its purpose, should cost half that amount,” state government chief of staff Leonardo Espindola said.
The government is yet to decide on a replacement venue. Under consideration are the Olympic Park, which will also host diving and swimming, and the Deodoro centre.
Meanwhile, the government moved to allay concerns about pollution at Guanabara Bay, the venue for sailing events. An International Sailing Federation official last month warned the bay could be taken off the Games schedule if action wasn’t taken to clean its waters.
—IANS
