Source: www.insidethegames.biz
By Tom Degun in Barcelona
Carlos Nuzman, the President of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, has expressed his desire to show the world and future bidders how the Olympic Games can transform a city for the better.
The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympics will mark the first time that South America has hosted the event and Nuzman is confident that the Games in Brazil's second largest city will mark a new and exciting chapter for the Olympic Movement.
"I think we won the bid for a multitude of reasons," said the President of Rio 2016 today at the Global Sports Forum here.
"We wanted to lead the bid process without lobbyists, with a small team of six.
"Having the support of all politicians was also crucial for us, they all supported us from day one and they did not want to interfere.
"Our bid was seen as an outside one, nobody foresaw us winning, so we took each step as if it was the last one, telling ourselves that we could only do better.
"Now, my dream is to make Rio an example of a city or country which can change thanks to the Olympics."
Rio faces some huge logistical challenges in organising such a massive sporting event for the first time, not least regarding transport, but Nuzman is confident in the plans that have been set down by the Organising Committee.
"We wanted to avoid all the sites being too close together, so we decided to pick four," he explained.
"Our biggest challenge has been transport.
"The state of Rio will build two subway lines to cross the mountains and the City Council will take care of setting up four bus routes with a high level of service.
"Finally, we have to improve all of our airports."
Security is also a concern but Nuzman feels that the peacemaker unit put in place in 2009 will be able to counter any major threats in the lead up to and during the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games
"Our other main challenge is our commitment to safety.
"In order to succeed, the State Secretary for Security in Rio de Janeiro has already created a peacemaker unit, which since 2009 has been working in the favelas to ensure security during the Olympics.
"I hope that this event will give the world the desire to discover our city and our country."
The British Olympic Association (BOA) is taking its dispute with the organisers of the London 2012 Games to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
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