A project intended to extend the experience of the largest multisport event in the world to other Brazilian cities was launched on Thursday, February 17, by the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Pre-Games venues registering and selection process will identify sport venues throughout the country that meet the technical requirements and recommendations of the International Sport Federations to enable the International Olympic and Paralympic Committees to bring their athletes to Games host country before the Games, in order to bring them together and improve training and adjustment to local conditions.

All city, state and federal sport organizations, public and private teaching institutions, military institutions, private sport clubs and enterprises engaged in sport-related businesses and owners of other venues that meet the established technical requirements will be welcomed to take part in the process. Enrollment is open to the interested parties from Thursday up to April 5th, sufficing to complete the online form available at Rio 2016 website: www.rio2016.com/treinamentoprejogos.

Broken down into several phases (see “Understanding the Process”) the process of enrollment and selection will reach its most important phase in January of the next year, when the Statement of Commitment will be signed by the sport venues that have met the requirements set in the regulations. Subsequently, a Guide of Rio 2016 Pre-Games Training Venues will be published during London 2012 Olympic Games.
 

“Receiving Olympic or Paralympic Delegations is a great opportunity to further the social and economic life of cities. These cities could start to act as sport development centers in their states or regions and develop sport segments. It is also an opportunity for national and international promotion and advertisement of the sport and touristic potential of the involved cities. This project is a critical part of the dissemination of the benefits and of the experience provided by the Olympic Games to the whole country”, Carlos Arthur Nuzman said.
 

Nuzman tells that the Delegations of the countries taking part in the Games usually promote improvements in venues and cities or offer exchange programs as a counterpart to venue selection: “Besides the transfer of knowledge that athletes and technical officials from other countries could offer to local sport professionals, there are also opportunities for cultural exchanges between the host city and the visiting countries and actions aiming the integration of communities, students, teachers around sport and the reception of foreign countries and their athletes.”
 

Agberto Guimarães remarked that the sport potential of any venue may actually be much larger than the venue owners could imagine: “A gymnasium may host court sports like Basketball, Handball and Sitting Volleyball, Goalball, but also Olympic and Paralympic Judo, Taekwondo, Weightlifting, Fencing and other disciplines, since the required sport equipment is provided. Likewise, a coastal city may offer training venues for Beach Volleyball, Olympic and Paralympic Sailing, Olympic and Paralympic Triathlon and Aquatic Marathon”.
 

A multidisciplinary Evaluation Commission, composed by up to 15 members of Rio 2016, BOC, BPC and the Ministry of Sport will analyze the adjustment of each venue to the rules. Preparing a Guide with a list of Pre-Games Training Venues is one of the commitments Rio 2016 has undertaken before the International Olympic Committee, and a service provided to the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees, which will then be able to contact listed sites to negotiate agreements for the use of the competition venues for training programs.
 

UNDERSTANDING THE PROCESS OF REGISTERING AND SELECTION OF PRE-GAMES TRAINING VENUES
 

Who is allowed to participate
 

Municipal, state and federal organizations, public and private teaching institutions, military institutions, private sport clubs, enterprises engaged in sport-related businesses, and owners of other venues that meet the established technical requirements set for participation.
 

Mandatory requirements
 

To take part in this process the interested parties will be required to meet the requirements described in the regulations available on www.rio2016.com/treinamentoprejogos:
 

A. Transportation/Location

The venue (Pre-Games Training Venue) should be located at a maximum distance of 150km, by paved road, from a regional airport handling regular flights of the airlines established in the country.
 

B. Accommodation

Venues must be at a maximum distance of 30 km, by paved road, from accommodations qualified to provide services to the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees. The city must offer accommodations rated 3, 4 or 5 stars, according to the Brazilian System of Accommodation Classification of the Ministry of Tourism.
 

C. Health and emergency service infrastructure

C1. Venues are required to have a mobile ICU service with a team of paramedics available at the training venue prepared to meet the needs of the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees throughout the Pre-Games period of venue use.
 

C2. Travel time from the venue up to the hospitals offering the departments and services listed in the regulations issued for the enrollment and selection process must not exceed 30 minutes. The set of hospitals, laboratories, clinics, etc that added together meet the pre-requirement will be considered, provided the travel time from each one of these facilities to the venue does not exceed 30 minutes.
 

Process phases
 

February 17th to April 5th, 2011 – The interested parties will be able to enroll by completing the Enrollment Form available on Rio 2016 official website: www.rio2016.com/treinamentoprejogos.
 

February 17th to April 5th, 2011 – Pre-Selection. The interested parties will complete the Pre-Selection Form online, evidencing compliance with the requirements set for participation and submit the full documentation required by the regulations electronically.
 

April 15th to 22nd, 2011 – On April 15th the participants that were qualified to move on to the following phase will be invited to attend the Orientation Seminar, to be held on May 5th, 2011, in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Qualified participants will have up to April 22th to confirm attendance and inform the name of their representatives.
 

May 5th, 2011 – The main purpose of the Orientation Seminar is to provide guidance to the parties answering for potential Pre-Games Training Venues about the coming stages of the process, rights and obligations, opportunities, etc. Attendance by the representative of pre-qualified venues is a pre-requirement for participation in the subsequent phases of the process.
 

May 5th to 13th, 2011 – Participants of the Orientation Seminar will be required to submit a Statement of Acceptance, whereby the people answering for the training venues accept and agree with the requirements set out in the regulations, and confirm their intent to continue taking part in the process. Attached to the Statement of Acceptance, a Statement of Cooperation will be submitted, signed by the venue legal representative and by the competent municipal authority, since the project depends also on a set of municipal services and infrastructure.
 

May 5th to July 1st, 2011 – Candidates will fill-in the Description Form. This form will include a questionnaire pertaining to competition venue and city infrastructure, and will be used as input to any possible technical visits that could be required.
 

July 18th to October 21st, 2011 – Technical visits to the candidates aspiring to become a Pre-Games Training Venue. The Evaluation Commission will decide if a technical visit will be required and schedule the date of each visit.
 

July 25th to November 4th, 2011 – The Inspection Report containing suggested interventions will be prepared and sent to the candidates.
 

December 16th, 2011 – Deadline set for submission by candidates of an initial budget and schedule for the intervention works required to adjust the venue to the requirements of the International Federations of the sports to which the Pre-Games Training Venue will be offered, as well as all the requirements stated in the regulations.
 

January 13th, 2012 – Publication of the list of Pre-Games Venues that have complied with the requirements set in the Regulations.
 

January 16th to 27th, 2012 – Term for submission of the Statement of Commitment signed by the parties answering for the venues.
 

July, 2012 – Launching of the Guide of Rio 2016 Pre-Games Training Venues during London 2012 Olympic Games and distribution to the National Olympic and Paralympic Committees.
 

April, 2013 to July 2016 – Follow-up of constructions and renovation of the venues that needed adjustments or had to be built.