The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Coordination Commission for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games started this Tuesday 18th, its first official visit to Rio de Janeiro. The group led by Olympic champion Nawal El Moutawakel, from Morocco, met with representatives from the three levels of government and the Rio 2016 Committee. This Wednesday 19th, there will be a visit to the sports facilities of the Rio 2016 project. At the meeting opening, the Rio 2016 Committee presented its progress report, with the activities accomplished since October 2nd 2009, when Rio de Janeiro was chosen 2016 Olympic Games host city. Actions were detailed, such as the announcement of the initial structure of work and the contracting of Odgers & Berndston, which worked with Vancouver 2010 and London 2012, to select executives for Rio 2016; and other, to help with the process of forming the Committee organizational structure. In February, a Rio 2016 team participated in the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games Observer Program, to get to know the operation of different sectors of the Games. In March, the Rio 2016 Committee formation statute was approved by unanimity by the Brazilian Olympic Confederations that took part in the Constitution Assembly. Rio de Janeiro experiences in the bid process for the Olympic Games were shared with IOC in the debriefing organized by the entity in the beginning of April, in Lausanne, Switzerland. In May, the process of selecting the agency that will create the Rio 2016 Games brand was started. “The last months were of intense work in the structuring of the Rio 2016 Committee, and it was with great satisfaction that we presented the results to the IOC Coordination Commission. We will develop a close partnership with them in the next few years, and this first official visit of the whole group is very important. This year is of planning and organizing, and the meetings were extremely beneficial”, said Rio 2016 Committee president, Carlos Arthur Nuzman. Minister of Sports, Orlando Silva, presented the structure of the Olympic Delivery Authority, an inter-federative consortium that will be responsible for the execution of the Games infrastructure works. The inclusion of the subway line that will connect Barra to the South Zone was the main topic of Governor Sérgio Cabral. Mayor Eduardo Paes, on the other hand, showed the “Wonderful Docks”, that will revitalize the docks area. THE IOC COORDINATION COMMISSION – In all Olympic Games editions the IOC creates a Coordination Commission that pays periodic visits to the hosting city with the aim of helping the Organizing Committee and monitors the development of the project. The group assigned to the Rio 2016 Games was formed in January this year and, the same month, the president and executive director Gilbert Felli (SUI) were in Rio de Janeiro. First woman to lead an IOC Coordination Commission, Nawal was also the first African woman to become an Olympic champion, winning the 400m hurdles at the Los Angeles 84 Games. The Coordination Commission has members of the five continents, all with previous experiences in Evaluation Commission or Olympic Games Coordination or Organizing Committees of the greatest sports event in the planet. The group represents various units of the Olympic Movement, as athletes, National Olympic Committees and International Federations, which guarantees the necessary success of the event. Besides Nawal El Moutawakel and Gilbert Felli, also making part of the group are Alex Gilady (ISR), Alexander Popov (RUS), Beatrice Allen (GAM), Ching-Kuo Wu (TPE), Francesco Ricci Bitti (ITA), Greg Hartung (AUS), Gunilla Lindberg (SUE), John D. Coates (AUS), Julio César Maglione (URU), Nat Indrapana (TAI), Nicole Hoevertsz (ARU), Patrick Joseph Hickey (IRL), Richard L. Carrión (PUR), Sergey Bubka (UKR), Timothy Tsun Ting Fok (HKG) e Willi Kaltschmitt Luján (GUA). After the IOC Coordinating Commission visit, the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) Orientation Seminar will take place, to discuss the challenges and organizing operations for the Rio 2016 Paralympics Games. IPC Executive director, Xavier Gonzalez, and Paralympics Games senior manager, Thanos Kostopoulos will be present.