If you’re planning to head for Rio de Janeiro to watch the Summer Olympic Games from 5 to 21 August, Baroque Travel will arrange everything for you
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games will kick off on August 5 with the Opening Ceremony at the Rio’s world-renowned Maracanã Stadium. This is the start of 16 exciting days of competitions featuring swimming, athletics, gymnastics, ball sports, various martial arts, weightlifting and wrestling. To make sure that as many people can attend the games as possible, Brazil has a number of public holidays during the games. This year’s Summer Olympics has a motto, Live your passion.
The Olympic Games are a famous global multi-sporting event that are divided into summer and winter games to coincide with the different sports played in each season. In previous years, both the summer and winter games were held in the same year, with four years between each Olympic Games. But in 1992, this schedule changed. Now the winter and summer games are held on alternate years, every two years. The last Summer Olympic Games were held in London in 2012, and the last winter Olympic Games were held in Sochi in Russia in 2014. So this year, 2016, the summer games are being held in Rio, and in February 2018, the winter games will be held in Pyeongchang in South Korea.
The Olympic Games have been in existence since 1894 when they were initiated by Pierre de Coubertin at the University of Sorbonne in Paris, who founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The first-ever modern Olympic Games were held in Athens two years later.
This year’s Summer Olympic Games in Rio offers athletes world-class facilities, including a superb village. Competition venues will be clustered in four different zones, Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro and Maracanã, which will be connected by an excellent transport system to enable athletes and spectators to get to each location with ease.
There are 34 competition venues in total, hosting 306 events in 28 different sports. This year’s Games in Rio offers the perfect opportunity to explore this stunning city, including famous Corcovado with its arms stretched outwards. Spectators will be able to visit the state-of-the-art Visitor’s Center, which will offer a ticket office for those who wish to visit the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer and find out about the Tijuca National Park in which it is located. There is also an observation deck offering panoramic views over the forest and the city. Other exciting tours can be taken from the Visitor’s Center, including various Olympic hikes.
The Center itself is located in what used to be the Paineiras Hotel, and the historic building, which was deserted for 30 years, has been transformed into a state-of-the-art center for Olympic visitors where they can visit Corcovoda, find out about the city and have a bite to eat.