IOC Co-Comm Gets First Look at Buenos Aires

(ATR) The IOC Coordination Commission got a bird’s-eye view on its first visit to Buenos Aires ahead of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

Buenos Aires 2018 chief Leandro Larrosa said he wanted to give members of the delegation who had not yet visited the Argentinian capital a big picture look at the plan for the Games. To do so, he escorted the commission to the top of a 200-meter tower in an amusement park near the main YOG site.

"From there, they had the possibility to understand the project," Larrosa told Around the Rings.

The weekend visit also included presentations on construction and existing infrastructure as well as a walkthrough of venues and the project’s largest undertaking, the new Youth Olympic Village.

The co-comm told Larrosa that Buenos Aires is ahead of schedule in some respects.

"So that’s good news for us," said Larrosa.

The work going forward is "more plaster-oriented," according to Larrosa, emphasizing the building of the Youth Olympic Village. Buenos Aires 2018 hopes the project will revitalize the southern part of the city. Construction will begin early next year.

More than half of the venues are located within walking distance of the village, allowing 63% of athletes to walk to their competitions.As Larrosa told Around the Rings in August, the YOG will be using existing venues almost exclusively.

The secretary of transport remains closely involved in the project, Larrosa said, calling an efficient transport plan "one of the most important services we have to provide."

A November meeting on infrastructure will include experts from the IOC, but the coordination commission will not return until August 2015.

Written by Nick Devlin

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