Rio 2016 team discusses rugby sevens operations during World Series event
Aim of the visit is to learn about the discipline dynamics and venue design
Rodrigo Garcia, Mike Miller, Gustavo Nascimento and Bernard Lapasset in Wellington, New Zealand. Photo: Martin Seras Lima/IRB
A team of representatives of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games is in New Zealand to observe the dynamics of a Rugby Sevens World Series event as the discipline’s Olympic debut is set for the Rio Games. The visit takes place during the third stage of the Series, this Friday, February 4, and Saturday, 5, in Wellington.
The team from the Rio 2016 Sport Department accepted an invitation from Mark Egan, Head of Development and Performance at the International Rugby Board (IRB), made during meetings held in Rio in October last year. Egan referred to the Westpac Stadium and the New Zealand International Sevens as prime examples of a rugby sevens event operation.
Aspects to be observed during the World Series event include: access and flows of athletes, officials, workforce, spectators and other stakeholders; design of key spaces at the stadium; doping control services and operation, registration and results system; event presentation and interactions with spectators; training sites; competition management organizational chart; interface with service providers, sponsors, partners and venue owners; maintenance; and specific requirements.
Rio 2016 Sport Department Director Agberto Guimarães stresses that rugby sevens events are very unique, with several games being played in sequence and short periods of time between matches. Understanding how this works is critical, he says.
“New Zealand is a country with a long-standing tradition of rugby events and the Wellington stadium was specifically designed for rugby competitions. It is this competition management and event operations expertise that we wish to have as our benchmark for the planning of this discipline at the Rio 2016 Games. This is why the visit of Rio 2016 Sport Department representatives to Wellington is so important, and we would like to thank the IRB for the invitation,” Agberto Guimarães explained.
The Rio 2016 team – of which the members are Sports Integration Specialist, Rodrigo Garcia, and Sports Facilities Architecture Specialist, Gustavo Nascimento – was welcomed in Wellington by IRB President Bernard Lapasset; Chief Executive Mike Miller; and Vice President Bill Beaumont, and will attend meetings with Series Director Beth Coalter.
Lapasset said that this visit represents “another important landmark along the way to rugby sevens’ Olympic Games debut in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 and underscores our strong working relationship with the 2016 Organizing Committee. It is very clear that both parties share the same vision and commitment to making rugby sevens at the 2016 Olympic Games a stand out event.”
Rugby in the Olympic Games
In October 2009, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to include rugby sevens in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games Program. The vote was held during the same IOC Assembly in Copenhagen, Denmark, that awarded the 2016 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games to Rio de Janeiro. Rugby union was an Olympic discipline in the beginning of the past century at the 1900, 1908, 1920 and 1924 Summer Games.
