The traditional Teatro Amazonas, one of the most important cultural patrimonies of the North of Brazil, was the scenario of the celebration of 2,000 days for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. A ceremony, held on Sunday, February 13th, in Manaus, took the spirit of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games to the North region of Brazil.

The event was attended by the President of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games and of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC), Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the Mayor of Manaus and former Governor of the state of Amazonas Amazonino Mendes, the Rio 2016 CEO Leonardo Gryner, several BOC and Rio 2016 officials and Presidents of the Brazilian Confederations of Olympic sports associated with the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee. The ceremony was hosted by Roberto Gesta de Melo, President of the Brazilian Athletics Confederation (CBAt), headquartered in Manaus.

Carlos Arthur Nuzman offered plaques specially designed for the occasion to Mayor Amazonino Mendes and to CBAt president. Nuzman underlined that the visit to Manuas has a special significance as it highlights the idea that the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games belong to the whole country.
“We have decided to come to Manaus to start the integration of the Rio 2016 Games to the whole country. Nothing could be more emblematic than celebrating the mark of 2,000 days to the Games in the Amazon region, a symbol of the biodiversity of both Brazil and the world”, said the President of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee.

“The people of the state of Amazonas are honored to mark the beginning of this integration of the 2016 Olympic Games to the whole country through sport. May the gods of Amazon mythology bless the Rio 2016 Games”, declared the Mayor of Manaus.

The ceremony held in Manaus had yet another component of Olympic symbolism. Teatro Amazonas, a scenario of elegance and beauty in the Amazon region, was built in 1896 by the then state governor Eduardo Gonçalves Ribeiro, when the region and the country enjoyed the benefits of the rubber cycle. In that same year, the first edition of the Olympic Games in the Modern Era was staged in Athens by Baron Pierre de Coubertin. A performance by the Amazonas Philharmonic Orchestra was part of the programme of the ceremony, that marked 2,000 days to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Rio 2016 Training Venues

This week the Organizing Committee will launch the process for Registration and Selection of the Rio 2016 Pre-Games Training Venues, an opportunity offered to all sport venues in the city and throughout Brazil to enroll to receive athletes from the countries that will be taking part in the Olympic and Paralympic Games for periods of training and adaptation before the event.

Visiting Brazil by the end of 2010 for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games emblem launch, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, stated he was pleased to evidence that the preparation for the Rio 2016 Games is progressing smoothly, and heard from President Dilma Rousseff the assurance that the guarantees of the delivery of a great event offered by former president Lula during Rio’s bid will be kept.