Rio Media Center Opens Accreditation -- Rio Roundup

(ATR) Journalists without IOC accreditation can register to cover the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Accreditation for the Rio Media Center opened on Jan. 6 and will serve as an auxiliary press center for journalists looking to cover the games without Olympic accreditation.

The city of Rio will run the center and expects to serve around 8,000 journalists during the Games. Credentials for the center will not serve as entry visas into Brazil for the Olympics.

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes says the center will serve as a liaison for journalists to "understand more about the city, its inhabitants, the lifestyle and the changes that have been going through since Rio was chosen as the Olympic City."

"There they can participate in press conferences and interview sports champions and public authorities," Paes said in a statement provided to Around the Rings.

"Apart from that, a wide range of activities such as press tours will be scheduled by the RMC team, as well as the use of the Press Areas, spaces around the city with the exclusive access of journalists accredited at the Rio Media Center."

The Media Center will be located near the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee headquarters and will be located in proximity to two metro stops in the Cidade Nova neighborhood of Rio. Venues for archery and the marathon will be within walking distance of the media center at the Sambodrome.

In addition to a press center, there will be radio and television broadcast booths available to rent during the Games.

Journalists looking to apply for accreditation can do so hereand will have until Apr. 29 to complete the registration.

Brazilian Flagbearer Poll Results

Residents of Rio de Janeiro want Cesar Cielo to carry the Brazilian flag during the 2016 Olympics opening ceremony.

A poll conducted by UniCarioca showed that 19 percent of respondents want the gold medalist in swimming from the 2008 Games to be the flagbearer. Arthur Zanetti, a gold medalist in gymnastics at the 2012 Games, earned 14 percent of the vote, and retired volleyball gold medalist Giba received 11 percent of the vote.

If selected Cielo will be the first swimmer from Brazil to serve as a flagbearer for the Olympic Games.

Cosport Ticketing Resumes

U.S. residents can resume ticket purchases for Rio 2016 tickets from Cosport.

The authorized ticket reseller of the United States Olympic Committee suspended Olympic ticket sales from Nov. 30 until Jan. 7 to assess inventory. Tourists can buy individual Olympic tickets as well as hospitality packages to compliment tickets.

Those registered with Cosport can purchase up to 48 tickets, although any account with more than 20 tickets will have to be approved by the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee. Those looking to purchase tickets can do so here.

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

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