With the conclusion of the Paralympic athletics competition on Saturday (21 May), the Rio 2016 test event programme came to an end. A total of 44 events were staged, starting in August 2014 with the first of two sailing regattas. Thirty-four were Olympic events, six Paralympic and four were both. About 2,000 members of staff and 8,000 volunteers were put through their paces as operations were tested at 26 venues.

“We are heading to the Games with confidence,” said Agberto Guimarães, Rio 2016's executive director of sport. “Like athletes, we only get better results if we train more, until our actions become automatic.”

Test events exist for Games organisers to find out what can be done better and to fine tune their preparations, and Guimarães confirmed that Rio 2016 had learned a great deal. “We had some problems, yes, but they ended up helping us,”  he said. “Take the BMX event for example. The operational team reacted quickly and within 12 hours we delivered the track with the right conditions for the athletes. Our objective is to deliver services to the levels of excellence required for the Olympic and Paralympic Games.”