In numbers | Rio 20167.5mTickets sold

33Venues used

306Competitions taking place

42Sports that make up the Games

10,500Athletes competing

205Countries represented

17 daysDuration of the competition

US$40Cheapest tickets

US$3,000Most expensive tickets

112Years since golf last featured (it returns this year)

92Years since rugby last featured (it also returns this year)

2016 Summer Olympics"Rio 2016" redirects here. For the 2016 Paralympic Games, see 2016 Summer Paralympics.

Games of the XXXI Olympiad

Host city Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Motto A new world(Portuguese: Um mundo novo)

Nations participating 207

Athletes participating

8,255 confirmed (more than 10,500 expected)

Events 306 in 28 sportsOpening ceremony 5 AugustClosing ceremony 21 August

Stadium Maracanã Stadium

The 2016 Summer Olympics (Portuguese: Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016),[a] officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, and commonly known as Rio 2016, is a major international multi-sport event in the tradition of the Olympic Games due to take place in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, from 5 to 21 August 2016. Record numbers of countries are participating in a record number of sports. More than 10,500 athletes from 206 National Olympic Committees (NOCs), including first time entrants Kosovo and South Sudan, are scheduled to take part.[1] With 306 sets of medals, the games will feature 28 Olympic sports — including rugby sevens and golf, which were added by the International Olympic Committee in 2009. These sporting events will take place at 33 venues in the host city and at 5 venues in the cities of São Paulo (Brazil's largest city), Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília (Brazil's capital), and Manaus.

These will be the first Summer Olympic Games under the IOC presidency of Thomas Bach.[1]

The host city of Rio de Janeiro was announced at the 121st IOC Session held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October 2009. Rio will become the first South American city to host the Summer Olympics. These will be the first games to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country, the first to be held entirely during the host country's winter season (the 2000 games began on 15 September – five days before the Southern Hemisphere's vernal equinox), the first since 1968 to be held in Latin America, and the first since 2000 (third overall) to be held in the Southern Hemisphere.

Bidding processMain article: Bids for the 2016 Summer Olympics

A young girl adds her signature in support of Rio de Janeiro's candidacy to host the 2016 Olympic Games (January 2009).

The bidding process for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games was officially launched on 16 May 2007.[3] The first step for each city was to submit an initial application to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by 13 September 2007, confirming their intention to bid. Completed official bid files, containing answers to a 25-question IOC form, were to be submitted by each applicant city by 14 January 2008. Four candidate cities were chosen for the shortlist on 4 June 2008: Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo (which hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics and will host again in 2020). The IOC did not promote Doha to the Candidature phase, despite scoring higher than selected candidate city Rio de Janeiro, due to their intent of hosting the Olympics in October, outside of the IOC's sporting calendar. Prague and Baku also failed to make the cut.[4]

Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco headed the 10-member Evaluation Commission, having also chaired the evaluation commission for the 2012 Summer Olympics bids. The commission made on-site inspections in the second quarter of 2009. They issued a comprehensive technical appraisal for IOC members on 2 September, one month before elections.[5]

Many restrictions are in place designed to prevent bidding cities from communicating with or influencing directly the 115 voting members. Cities may not invite any IOC member to visit nor may they send anything that could be construed as a gift. Nonetheless, bidding cities invest large sums in their PR and media programs in an attempt to indirectly influence the IOC members by garnering domestic support, support from sports media and general international media.

Ultimately, you are communicating with just 115 people and each one has influencers and pressure groups but you are still speaking to no more than about 1,500 people, perhaps 5,000 in the broadest sense. It is not just about getting ads out there but it is about a targeted and very carefully planned campaign.

— Jon Tibbs, a consultant on the Tokyo bid[6]

The final voting was held on 2 October 2009, in Copenhagen with Madrid and Rio de Janeiro perceived as favourites to land the games. Chicago and Tokyo were eliminated after the first and second rounds of voting, respectively, while Rio de Janeiro took a significant lead over Madrid heading into the final round. The lead held and Rio de Janeiro was announced as host of 2016 Summer Olympics. Failed bids from other South American cities include Buenos Aires (1936, 1956, 1968, 2004), Cali (1976, 1988, 2004), and Brasília, which withdrew during the 2000 Summer Olympic bidding process.

2016 Summer Olympics bidding results[7]

City NOC Round 1 Round 2 Round 3

Rio de Janeiro Brazil 26 46 66

Madrid Spain 28 29 32

Tokyo Japan 22 20 —

Chicago United States 18 — —

Development and preparation

Map of Rio de Janeiro showing the competition venues for the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Maracanã Stadium, site of the opening and closing ceremonies, in addition to the finals of football.

Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, site of athletic events and some football matches.

Radical Park of Rio

On 26 June 2011 it was reported on AroundTheRings.com that Roderlei Generali, the COO of the Rio de Janeiro Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, resigned just one year after taking the job at ROOC. This comes just five months after CCO Flávio Pestana quit for personal reasons.[8] Pestana withdrew later during the 2012 Summer Paralympics. Renato Ciuchin was then appointed as COO.[9]

Venues and infrastructureMain article: Venues of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics

In Rio de Janeiro, Barra da Tijuca will host most of the venues of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016. The rest will be located in three other zones of the host city: Copacabana Beach, Maracanã and Deodoro. Barra da Tijuca will also house the Olympic Village.

Rio's historical downtown is undergoing a large-scale urban waterfront revitalization project called Porto Maravilha.[10] It covers 5 km2 (1.9 sq mi) in area. The project aims to redevelop the port area increasing the city center's attractiveness and enhancing Rio's competitiveness position in the global economy. The urban renovation involves: 700 km (430 mi) of public networks for water supply, sanitation, drainage, electricity, gas and telecom; 4 km (2.5 mi) of tunnels; 70 km (43 mi) of roads; 650 km2 (250 sq mi) of sidewalks; 17 km (11 mi) of bike path; 15,000 trees; three sanitation treatment plants. As part of this renovation, a new tram will be built and will run from the Santos Dumont Airport to Rodoviária Novo Rio. It was due to open in April 2016.[11] The Games require more than 200 kilometres of security fencing. To store material, Rio 2016 is using two warehouses. A 15,000 square metre warehouse in Barra da Tijuca in western Rio is being used to assemble and supply the furniture and fittings for the Olympic Village. A second warehouse of 90,000 square metres, located in Duque de Caxias near the roads that provide access to the venues, contains all the equipment needed for the sporting events.[12]

While the whole city is undergoing major infrastructure improvements, there are concerns that some of the projects will never materialise.[13]

Athletes' village

The athletes' village is claimed to become the largest in Olympic history. Fittings will include about 80,000 chairs, 70,000 tables, 29,000 mattresses, 60,000 clothes hangers, 6,000 television sets and 10,000 smartphones.[12]

FootballMain article: Football at the 2016 Summer Olympics

Additionally some football games will take place on 5 venues in the cities of São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília and Manaus.

Arena da AmazôniaManaus

Arena CorinthiansSão Paulo

Arena Fonte NovaSalvador

Estádio NacionalBrasília

MineirãoBelo Horizonte

Technology

The Rio Olympic Games will have brand-new robotic technology created by Mark Roberts Motion Control to broaden the reach of photographers at multiple venues.[14]

Security

Since the award of the 2016 Olympics to Rio de Janeiro, the city's crime problems have received more attention. Rio's mayor has admitted that there are "big issues" facing the city in securing the Games from violence. However, he also said that such concerns and issues were presented to the IOC throughout the bidding process.[15] The governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro also highlighted the fact that London faced security problems, with a terrorist attack occurring on the day following the IOC session that chose the city to host the 2012 Olympic Games.

The IOC, however, has expressed optimism regarding the ability of the city and the nation of Brazil to address these concerns, saying that seven years is enough time for Rio de Janeiro to clean up its crime problem.[16] IOC spokesman Mark Adams told The Associated Press, "we have confidence in their capacity to deliver a safe Games in seven years. Security is of course a very important aspect of any Olympic Games no matter where it is in the world. This is of course entirely under the national, regional and city authorities."[17][18][19] Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, former president of Brazil, noted that the city has hosted other high-profile events without major incidents, for example the 2007 Pan American Games.[20]

Rio de Janeiro is planning to pacify local neighbourhoods, or favelas. Community-based Police Pacification Units (UPPs) will be used to build trust in individual communities through the use of street patrols and civic work.[21] Moreover, The Regional Institute of Public Safety reported that the homicide rate of Rio de Janeiro for the first five months of 2012 was at its lowest in the past 21 years, with 10.9 homicides for every 100,000 habitants.[22][23] Nonetheless, despite the decline in homicides and human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch urged Brazil to investigate extrajudicial killings.[24]

Concerns over completion

Maracanãzinho Gymnasium, site of volleyball.

Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, site of rowing and canoeing.

BRT map to the Olympics.

Bus Rapid Transit in Rio de Janeiro International Airport. The system connects the airport with the Olympic areas.

Rio de Janeiro Metro map, including the connection with the Olympic area in Barra da Tijuca.

Rio de Janeiro Metro.

On 9 May 2014, the London Evening Standard reported IOC vice-president John Coates calling Brazil's preparations "the worst I’ve experienced" and went on to claim that construction and infrastructure projects were severely behind schedule. "The IOC has formed a special task force to try to speed up preparations but the situation is critical on the ground," the paper quoted him as saying, concluding that such an intervention was "unprecedented".[25]

Coates' concerns had previously been reported elsewhere in the media.[26][27]

Despite these initial worries, the Rio Olympics Committee reported on 29 December 2015 that most venues are complete except the Rio Olympic Velodrome (76%) and the Youth Arena (75%).

Financing

Phase I – Applicant CityRevenue Federal Government State Government Total

Public Funds R$3,022,097.88 R$3,279,984.98 R$6,302,082.86

Private Funds – – R$2,804,822.16

General Total – – R$9,106,905.02

Phase II – Candidate City

Public revenues

Revenue Public funds

Federal government R$47,402,531.75

State government R$3,617,556.00

Municipal government R$4,995,620.93

General Total R$56,015,708.68

Private revenues

Revenue Private funds

EBX R$13,000,000.00

Eike Batista R$10,000,000.00

Bradesco R$3,500,000.00

Odebrecht R$3,300,000.00

Embratel R$3,000,000.00

TAM Airlines¹ R$1,233,726.00

General Total R$34,033,726.00

¹TAM Airlines contributed with R$1,233,726.00 in the form of discounts in air tickets.

Note: The residual balance was used to fund the first months of operation of Rio 2016 Organizing Committee.[28]

InvestmentOlympics/City Investment Public Private

Olympic Park R$5.6 billion R$1.46 billion R$4.18 billion

Public Transport R$24 billion R$13.7 billion R$10.3 billion

General Total R$29.6 billion R$15.16 billion R$14.48 billion

Note: The total investment in Olympic park and public transport in Rio to the 2016 Summer Olympics.[29]

Ticketing

The ticket prices were announced on 16 September 2014, and all will be sold in Brazilian Reals (BRL). A total of 7.5 million tickets will be sold; 200,000 tickets less compared to the 2012 Summer Olympics, because the size of many arenas is smaller. Ticket prices range from BRL 40 for many events to BRL 4,600 for the most expensive seats at the opening ceremony. About 3.8 million of these tickets will be available for BRL 70 or less.[30][31] The street events such as road cycling, race walk, and the marathon can be watched along their routes for free.

Torch relayMain article: 2016 Summer Olympics torch relay

The Olympic flame was lit at the temple of Hera in Olympia on 21 April 2016, the traditional start of the Greek phase of the torch relay. On 27 April the flame was handed over to the Brazilian organizers at a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. A brief stop was

made in Switzerland to visit the IOC headquarters and the Olympic Museum in Lausanne as well as the United Nations Office at Geneva.[32]

The torch relay began its Brazilian journey on 3 May at the capital Brasília. The torch relay will visit more than 300 Brazilian cities (including all the 26 states capitals and the Brazilian Federal District), with the last part to be held in the city of Rio de Janeiro,[33] lighting the cauldron during the 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony on 5 August.

For the first time in the history of the Summer Olympics, the main cauldron will not be permanently located at the Games' main stadiums. Similarly to the 2010 Winter Olympics, where the cauldron was located outside the Vancouver Convention Centre, the official cauldron will be located on the Port of Rio de Janeiro.[34]

The GamesOpening ceremony

The opening ceremony will take place in the Maracanã Stadium on 5 August 2016.

During the Parade of Nations within the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes and officials from each participating country will parade in the Maracanã Stadium preceded by their flag and placard bearer. Each flag bearer has been chosen either by the nation's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves. In keeping with Olympic traditions, Greece will enter first, while Brazil, the host nation, will enter last. Other countries will enter in alphabetical order in the language of the host country (Brazilian Portuguese).

India’s Flag Bearer is Abhinav Bindra

Sports

The 2016 Summer Olympic program features 28 sports and a total of 41 disciplines and 306 events.

Aquatics

o Diving (8)

o Swimming (34)

o Synchronized swimming (2)

o Water polo (2)

Archery (4)

Athletics (47)

Badminton (5)

Basketball (2)

Boxing (13)

Canoeing o Slalom (4)o Sprint (12)

Cycling o BMX (2)o Mountain biking (2)o Road (4)o Track (10)

Equestrian o Dressage (2)o Eventing (2)o Jumping (2)

Fencing (10)

Field hockey (2)

Football (2)

Golf (2)

Gymnastics o Artistic (14)o Rhythmic (2)o Trampoline (2)

Handball (2)

Judo (14)

Modern pentathlon (2)

Rowing (14)

Rugby sevens (2)

Sailing (10)

Shooting (15)

Table tennis (4)

Taekwondo (8)

Tennis (5)

Triathlon (2)

Volleyball o Volleyball (2)o Beach volleyball (2)

Weightlifting (15)

Wrestling o Freestyle (12)o Greco-Roman (6)

New sports

There were two open spots for sports and initially seven sports began the bidding for inclusion in the 2016 program. Baseball and softball, which were dropped from the program in 2005, karate, squash, golf, roller sports, and rugby union all applied to be included.

Leaders of the seven sports held presentations in front of the IOC executive board in June 2009.[35]

In August, the executive board initially gave its approval to rugby sevens—a seven-player version of rugby union—by a majority vote, thus removing baseball, roller sports, and squash from contention. Among the remaining three—golf, karate, and softball, the board approved golf as a result of consultation. The final decision regarding the remaining two sports was made on 9 October 2009, the final day of the 121st IOC Session. A new system was in place at this session; a sport now needed only a simple majority from the full IOC committee for approval rather than the two-thirds majority previously required.[36][37] International Golf Federation executive director Antony Scanlon said that the top players, including Tiger Woods and Annika Sörenstam, would show their continued support of golf's Olympic involvement by participating in the events.[38]

The International Sailing Federation announced in May 2012 that windsurfing would be replaced at the 2016 Olympics by kitesurfing,[39] but this decision was reversed in November.[40] The IOC announced in January 2013 that it would review the status of cycling events, following Lance Armstrong's admission of using performance-enhancing drugs and accusations that the cycling's governing body had covered up doping.[41]

In contrast to the exception during the 2012 Olympics, the International Gymnastics Federation announced that these Games will have a gala event for gymnastics.[42]

Participating National Olympic Committees

186 National Olympic Committees have qualified at least one athlete. A team of Refugee Olympic Athletes will also participate.

As host nation, Brazil has received automatic entry for some sports including in all cycling disciplines and six places for weightlifting events.[43][44] The first three nations to qualify athletes for the Games were Germany, Great Britain and the Netherlands who each qualified four athletes for the team dressage by winning medals in the team event at the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games.[45]

South Sudan and Kosovo are expecting to debut in the Olympic Games.

Kuwait was banned in October 2015 for the second time in five years over government interference in the country's Olympic committee.[46]

Russia was provisionally suspended in November 2015 from all international athletic (track and field) competitions, including the 2016 Summer Olympics, by the IAAF following a World Anti-Doping Agency report into doping in athletics.[47]

Due to the European migrant crisis and for other reasons, the IOC will allow athletes to compete as Independent Olympians under the Olympic Flag. In the previous Olympic Games, refugees were ineligible to compete due to their inability to represent their home NOCs.[48] On 2 March 2016, the IOC finalized plans for a specific team of Refugee Olympic Athletes (ROA); out of 43 refugee athletes deemed potentially eligible, 10 will be chosen to form the team.[49]

[hide]Participating National Olympic Committees

Albania (1) Algeria (68) American Samoa (1) Andorra (1) Angola (20) Antigua and Barbuda (3) Argentina (201) Armenia (25) Aruba (5) Australia (379) Austria (53) Azerbaijan (53) Bahamas (24) Bahrain (24) Bangladesh (1) Barbados (11) Belarus (115) Belgium (88) Benin (3) Bermuda (6) Bhutan (1) Bolivia (8) Bosnia and Herzegovina (7) Botswana (5) Brazil (442) (host) British Virgin Islands (2) Brunei (1) Bulgaria (43) Burkina Faso (1) Burundi (6) Cambodia (2) Cameroon (22) Canada (281) Cape Verde (3) Cayman Islands (3) Central African Republic (1) Chile (33) China (343) Colombia (124) Congo (5) DR Congo (1) Cook Islands (5) Costa Rica (5) Croatia (68) Cuba (104) Cyprus (10) Czech Republic (90) Denmark (110)

Djibouti (4) Dominica (1) Dominican Republic (16) Ecuador (32) Egypt (114) El Salvador (6) Eritrea (8) Estonia (37) Ethiopia (34) Fiji (48) Finland (44) France (368) Gabon (4) The Gambia (1) Georgia (35) Germany (378) Ghana (6) Great Britain (296) Greece (82) Grenada (4) Guam (1) Guatemala (19) Guinea-Bissau (3) Guyana (4) Haiti (5) Honduras (22) Hong Kong (29) Hungary (136) Iceland (7) India (99) Indonesia (22) Iran (59) Iraq (21) Ireland (71) Israel (44) Italy (254) Ivory Coast (10) Jamaica (43) Japan (294) Jordan (5) Kazakhstan (85) Kenya (76) Kiribati (1) Kosovo (3) Kuwait (7) Kyrgyzstan (14) Latvia (18) Lebanon (6)

Lesotho (4) Liberia (1) Libya (3) Lithuania (64) Luxembourg (5) Macedonia (1) Madagascar (1) Malaysia (22) Mali (1) Malta (2) Mauritius (8) Mexico (97) Moldova (19) Monaco (1) Mongolia (36) Montenegro (29) Morocco (51) Mozambique (4) Myanmar (1) Namibia (10) Nauru (1) Nepal (1) Netherlands (202) New Zealand (184) Nicaragua (1) Niger (2) Nigeria (63) North Korea (35) Norway (54) Oman (2) Pakistan (2) Palau (2) Palestine (2) Panama (6) Papua New Guinea (3) Paraguay (6) Peru (22) Philippines (7) Poland (210) Portugal (85) Puerto Rico (37) Qatar (30) Refugee Olympic Athletes (10) Romania (100) Russia (330) Rwanda (4) Saint Kitts and Nevis (6) Saint Lucia (3)

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2)

Samoa (6) San Marino (3) São Tomé and Príncipe (1) Saudi Arabia (6) Senegal (18) Serbia (83) Seychelles (5) Singapore (21) Slovakia (43) Slovenia (53) Somalia (1) South Africa (128) South Korea (197) Spain (217) Sri Lanka (6) Sudan (1) Suriname (2) Sweden (125) Switzerland (90) Syria (3) Chinese Taipei (43) Tajikistan (3) Tanzania (4) Thailand (40) Togo (1) Tonga (3) Trinidad and Tobago (25) Tunisia (56) Turkey (92) Turkmenistan (4) Uganda (15) Ukraine (172) United Arab Emirates (9) United States (404) Uruguay (12) Uzbekistan (58) Vanuatu (3) Venezuela (69) Vietnam (20) Virgin Islands (5) Zambia (3) Zimbabwe (29)

Closing ceremony

The closing ceremony will also take place at the Maracanã Stadium on 21 August 2016.

Logo

The official emblem for the 2016 Summer Olympics was designed by the Brazilian agency Tatíl Design and unveiled on 31 December 2010. The logo represents three figures, in the yellow, green, and blue of the Brazilian flag, joined at the arms and in a triple embrace, with the overall shape reflecting that of Sugarloaf Mountain. The logo was based on four concepts: contagious energy, harmonious diversity, exuberant nature, and Olympic spirit. The Rio firm Tatíl designed the winning entry for the logo in a competition involving 139 agencies.[55]

The logo has been noted as evoking Henri Matisse's painting Dance. There were also allegations by the Colorado-based Telluride Foundation that the logo had been plagiarized from its own. While also consisting of several figures linked in motion, the Telluride Foundation logo contains four figures. This is not the first time that the foundation had alleged plagiarism of its logo by a Brazilian event; in 2004, the linked figures element had been copied for the logo of Carnival celebrations in Salvador. Tatíl agency director Fred Gelli defended the design, stating that the concept of figures linked in embrace was not inherently original as it was "an ancient reference" and "in the collective unconscious". Gelli cited Dance as an influence of the logo's concept, and stated that the designers had intentionally aimed to make the interpretation of the concept as dissimilar to others as possible

BroadcastingIn August 2009, the IOC reached a deal to sell domestic broadcast rights to the 2016 Summer Olympics to Grupo Globo. Replacing Rede Record, the deal covers free-to-air coverage on Rede Globo, pay TV, and digital rights to the Games. In turn, Globo sub-licensed partial free-to-air rights to Rede Record, along with Rede Bandeirantes. IOC board member Richard Carrión described the agreement as "unprecedented", touting that "by working with Brazil's leading media organizations, we are confident that this represents a great deal for Olympic fans in the region. There will be a huge increase in the amount of Olympic action broadcast, both during and outside Games time, and Brazilians will have more choice of how, when and where they follow their Olympic Games.