International Olympic Committee Inspectors Praise Rio Progress
Nawal El Moutawakel, head of the International Olympic Committee's inspection delegation, said she had been satisfied with progress made for the games but said Rio faced an "intense" sprint down the home straight.
- Agence France-Presse
- Updated: February 26, 2015 06:48 PM IST
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An Olympic inspection team praised Rio de Janeiro's preparations for the 2016 Games on Wednesday but warned that the Brazilian city faced a challenging final year as the countdown to next year's extravaganza begins.
Nawal El Moutawakel, head of the International Olympic Committee's inspection delegation, said she had been satisfied with progress made for the games but said Rio faced an "intense" sprint down the home straight.
"I am delighted that we have seen very solid progress during the 8th coordination commission of the IOC," El Moutawakel told reporters as inspectors wrapped up a three-day visit.
Moutawakel said IOC president Thomas Bach, who had also been in Rio this week, was satisfied with the progress of preparations. "He was also pleased with the advances that have been made here in Rio," she said.
The first Olympic Games to take place in South America is being staged from August 5 to 21 next year, but before the lighting of the Olympic flame at the iconic Maracana Stadium, Rio is hosting a series of test events.
Moutawakel said some venues, notably for golf and track cycling, faced a challenging timetable.
"Rio is entering the most intense period of preparation, a period where Rio must reach a new level of detail in its planning while delivering the 21 test events and welcoming some of the world's best athletes here," Moutawakel said.
"An example where this intensity will be most visible is with the venues -- sights like the golf course, velodrome, and equestrian cross country have an aggressive timeline in order to be ready for the test events."
Brazil is spending around $14 billion of public and private money on preparations for the games.
However concerns over preparedness and athlete safety remain, with the venue for sailing competitions -- the polluted Guanabara Bay -- a regular source of concern. Nearly 70 percent of Rio's waste ends up in Guanabara Bay.
Thousands of liters of untreated dirty water is dumped every day in the bay, described by one leading biologist last year as a "toilet."
Detritus including dead animals, television sets, sofas and shoes have all been found in the waters, which authorities are scrambling to clean up in time.
Authorities concede they will only be able to clean up the bay by 80 percent by the time of the Olympics.
However Moutawakel said inspectors had been given assurances that athlete safety would not be compromised.