The City of Rio de Janeiro began construction work on the Olympic Park for the 2016 Games on Friday (July 6) in the area previously occupied by the Jacarepaguá Autodrome. This was also the location for the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park, the Barra Velodrome and Multipurpose Arena for the 2007 Pan-American Games. The national secretary of high performance sports at the  Ministry of Sports, Ricardo Leyser, represented the Ministry at the foundation stone ceremony, along with the Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes, President of the Rio 2016 Committee, Carlos Arthur Nuzman and the President of the Olympic Public Authority, Márcio Fortes, together with Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

"We are pleased that the Ministry of Sports can witness the start of work within schedule, which demonstrates the capacity of the City of Rio, our principal partner in organizing the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Brazil", said Secretary Leyser . The Olympic Park will occupy an area of 1.18 million square meters and will host competitions in 14 Olympic disciplines and nine Paralympic disciplines. The main facilities are for judo, basketball, taekwondo, wrestling, handball, weightlifting, tennis, basketball and wheelchair rugby, judo and Paralympic boccia, goalball and sitting volleyball. There will be a water sports park that will house some of the temporary facilities.

The infrastructure works and maintenance of the area for a term of 15 years are the responsibility of the consortium Rio Mais, winner of the Public-Private Partnership bids that were undertaken by the Municipality in March. Three gyms, a press center and a hotel are within the scope of the Public-Private Partnership. Most of the sports facilities, such as the handball stadium, athletics track, velodrome, tennis complex and water park, as well as the International Broadcasting Center (IBC) are the responsibility of the Municipality, with funding from the Federal Government. Some are permanent, while others are temporary.

10 July 2012