The Rio 2016 Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games released its test event calendar on Wednesday (18 March), providing details of the 44 competitions that will allow organisers to finalise preparations for the Games. More than 7,800 athletes will compete in the events, some of which will offer qualification for the Games, between July 2015 and May 2016.

“We have worked closely together with the sport federations to develop a test event calendar that will offer the best opportunity to carry out the vital testing and training required to prepare for the Games,” said Agberto Guimarães, Rio 2016 Executive Director of Sport and Paralympic Integration.

“I have no doubt we will learn many important lessons from the test events, which we will use to ensure we deliver the highest level of service possible at Games time. Just like the athletes, the organising committee is in training, gaining experience and aiming to reach peak performance in August and September 2016.”

Volleyball will be the first sport to have a Rio 2016 test event in 2015, with the FIVB World League Finals taking place from 14-19 July in the Maracanãzinho, followed by six events in August including the triathlon event in Copacabana on 1-2 August, the World Rowing Junior Championship at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas from 5-9 August and the Aquece Rio International Horse Trials at the Olympic Equestrian Centre in Deodoro from 6-9 August.

There will be 34 Olympic test events, six Paralympic test events and four that will include both Olympic and Paralympic sports. About 16,000 volunteers will help stage the competitions, which will take place across 156 days of competition in total.

The events provide an important opportunity to test the competition areas and results systems, as well as integrating all the relevant stakeholders and training the teams of people who will be responsible for running the events during the Games.

“Test events are a crucial part of the preparations for staging Olympic and Paralympic Games, allowing the organising committee and its partners – in particular the International Sports Federations and government partners – to test all aspects of venue operations,” said Delphine Moulin, Rio 2016 Test Events General Manager.

The first cluster – or ‘wave’ – of events will be between July and October 2015, focusing on outdoor events. The second, from November 2015 to February 2016, will be more focused on indoor events, while the last, between March and May 2016, will allow preparations to be finalised.

Some of the events will be organised by the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, under the banner of the Aquece Rio (‘Rio Warms Up’) series, while others will be staged by the respective International Sports Federations, Brazilian Federations or the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, although Rio 2016 will test specific operations during these events.

Events such as gymnastics and triathlon will provide direct Rio 2016 Games qualification opportunities, while others such as badminton, shooting and athletics offer the chance for athletes to gain ranking points or meet minimum qualification criteria in their quest for Olympic qualification.

Some events will be ticketed, while others will not be open to spectators. Ticketing information will be communicated at a later date. There will also be events – such as such as triathlon, sailing, marathon swimming and road cycling – that the public will be able to see without tickets.

In total, 45 test events will have been staged when the programme finishes in May 2016. The Aquece Rio International Sailing Regatta in August 2014 was the first Rio 2016 test event to take place.

See below for the list of test events: