Hockey Venue Saga Drags On
International Hockey Federation leaders are postponing their trip to Rio de Janeiro to hammer out a deal on the sport’s venue plan to allow more time for 2016 Olympic chiefs to refine proposals.
FIH chief executive Kelly Fairweather and a colleague were due to visit Rio this week in an effort to lock down a venue plan amid concerns over a possible change to the bid book pledge.
The federation is still to receive an explanation for the relocation proposal that was presented as a fait accompli during the IOC Session in London 10 weeks ago, which had surprised and angered the FIH.
That proposal calls for the Olympic Hockey Center to be moved from the Olympic Park to the outskirts of Rio, a journey of up to 40 minutes from the Olympic Village.
Around the Rings understands that Rio 2016 officials are working up proposals to present to the FIH. Hockey leaders fear that any relocation from the hub of the Games will marginalize their sport.
FIH bosses will meet with Rio 2016 officials in Lausanne on Oct. 17 on the sidelines of the two-day Association of Summer Olympic International Federations debrief on London 2012.
"I am hopeful that there will be a proposal we can see on the table," Fairweather tells ATR.
Fairweather says he will travel out to Brazil at the end of November in a bid to finalize the hockey venue for Rio 2016.
Golf Clubhouse Gets Architect
The grandson of an Olympic medalist will design the clubhouse for Rio 2016’s golf course.
Peter Évora was announced Monday as the project winner, beating out 82 teams of architects and landscapers from across Brazil.
His grandfather, Affonso Neto of Évora, won basketball bronze at the 1948 Olympics in London.
Now his grandson, 34, will build the headquarters for the first golf competition at the Games in 112 years. The course itself, designed by U.S. architect Gil Hanse, is bound for Municipal Ecological Park Marapendi and will be open to the public in legacy mode.
"We had the desire to open the doors for Brazilian culture and to give the opportunity to young architects of our country," Rio 2016 President Carlos Arthur Nuzman said Monday in a ceremony at the Institute of Architects of Brazil.
"I'm delighted with the result."
Évora added about his design: "It's an open space, contact with nature, integrated with the landscape of Barra da Tijuca. Who plays and who attends is something that could only be experienced here."
This Day in History
Tuesday is three years to the day since Rio de Janeiro won hosting rights to the 2016 Olympics.
The vote, held Oct. 2, headlined the 121st IOC Session staged in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Rio won on the third round of voting after Chicago was eliminated in the first round, Tokyo in the second round and Madrid in the final round.
Reported by Mark Bisson and Matthew Grayson
20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
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