Sevens on Track for Rio Olympic Debut

(ATR) World Rugby says the sport will enjoy a world-class pitch with world-class players at Deodoro, even with construction hiccups.

World Rugby head of competitions Mark Egan told Around the Rings that seeing the rugby pitch in use for the sport’s test event pleased the federation. Eight South American teams are competing at the rugby test event on Mar. 5-6.

"We’ve had some challenges over the last 12 months with deadlines and getting the field of play installed but we have been making regular visits and having regular meetings with the organizing committee," Egan said.

"We’re very pleased to be here today with great opportunity to test our operation systems, and athletes flow. I think the whole rugby family is excited about this. It will be a huge legacy for the game and a huge legacy for rugby here in Brazil."

Egan said that the missed deadlines required grass to be imported into Deodoro from other areas of Rio to ensure the pitch would be ready. Now, work will begin on the 15,000 temporary seats that will surround the venue, the largest temporary stand for the 2016 Games.

World Rugby is not concerned about the ambition of the temporary arena, even as ticket sales lag. Egan says that the finals for both men’s and women’s sevens are "70 to 80 percent sold."

"Our ticket sales at the moment are fairly positive based on what we’ve seen and the data we’ve been given," Egan added. "Obviously events like this are important to raise the profile of the sport. I think the organizing committee see rugby sevens as a major anchor event for the park and the more exposure we get there will be more people wanting to come and get tickets."

Rio 2016 venue management director Gustavo Nascimento said to ATR that construction on the stands will begin in April wrapping up in May.

"For this type of work, it’s the type of work that can be done in weeks, so we are not concerned about the timeline here," Nascimento said. "We don’t foresee any major issues to deliver this venue with the standards we want and that are required by the international federation and the IOC."

Along with the venue construction, Nascimentio is not worried about the lengthy travel times that athletes and officials are facing getting to Deodoro. Mayra Genghini, a player from Argentina, told ATR that the team practiced one day without their captain because she could not return quick enough from a promotional picture taken with organizers.

"Deodoro is very privileged as far as public transport is concerned," Nascimento said. "We have the train, we’re going to have the Bus Rapid Transit, we’ll have a new express road to take athletes and media from the IBC, NBC, and Olympic village in Barra da Tijuca, so I’m sure we’re going to have a very pleasant ride towards Deodoro during Games time."

In the current state, car rides from Copacabana can take up to two hours to reach Deodoro as construction for BRT lanes continues. Travel time is expected to be reduced significantly when the Transolimpica highway, which connects Barra to Deodoro, is completed.

Until then, Athletes, officials, and spectators must plan ahead.

"There is like an hour of travelling so we had to wake up early to come here," Genghini said. "I think that this test is good for the organization to see. I think that when the Olympic Games are running problems won’t happen."

Egan added that "traffic is a problem," for the test event, but Olympic infrastructure works associated with it remain incomplete.

"We’re hoping that a majority of those road works will be completed and we’ll have the Olympic lane, so people just need to plan and get themselves out here," Egan added. "This is what we’ll be doing, so I don’t see it as a major issue."

Genghini’s teammate Valeria Montero downplayed any potential problems saying the overall organization and the beauty of the pitch makes up for the problems organizers are facing and addressing.

"The truth is that everything is really beautiful," Montero said. "The facilities are beautiful and comfortable. They’ve organised the teams really well in this way that they’ve done it."

Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro

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