Ceremony Marks First Year After Rio Olympics

(ATR) A ceremony utilizing venues in the Barra Olympic Park highlights Rio de Janeiro one year after the Olympics.

All three levels of Brazilian government will organize the event, with coordination from Rio 2016. The daylong event on Aug. 5 will make use of the existing venues in the Barra Park through public demonstrations. Rio 2016 medalists, volunteers and political officials are invited to the event, according to Rio 2016 spokesperson Mario Andrada.

Andrada told Around the Rings that Rio 2016 could not organize the event due to still sorting out outstanding payments.

"[The event will] show the population how the legacy is shaping up and being used," Andrada said. "It is a daylong event so we will have attractions in different venues and a small ceremony to mark the day."

Andrada could not confirm if Rio de Janeiro Mayor Marcelo Crivella will attend the event, although he was invited. Organizers had been working with Rio de Janeiro undersecretary for sports and leisure Patricia Amorim on the municipal level.

An audit is underway to determine the current outstanding debts that Rio 2016 owes. It is understood that the current deficit is less than the reported $37.6 million from May. Negotiations remain ongoing with the municipal government regarding outstanding balances owed to both parties.

"We are going to produce a new audit at the end of this month; we already began the audit process so we can see what’s the final number [owed currently]," Andrada said. "We have been talking to a lot of people. We are moving ahead and putting together a plan to begin the process of closing the committee and to close the committee and we obviously need to pay everybody, we are getting on crunch time on getting resources and finalizing negotiations."

Andrada says the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee – now down to only around 20 staff members – expects to be dissolved by the end of this year. Rio 2016 will also make one last presentation to the 2017 IOC Session in Lima. After the committee shutdown, Rio 2016 will remain as a legal entity until the year 2023 when contracts expire.

Written by Aaron Bauer

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