Rio 2016 will help transform the future of the Olympic movement, Carlos Nuzman, president of the Games organising committee, said in an interview with a Brazilian website on Wednesday (29 June).

"Rio is delivering an enormous benefit to the future of the Olympic Games," Nuzman said.

The Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which begin on 5 August, are on a smaller scale than previous Games, such as Beijing 2008 and London 2012.

Nuzman said smaller Games were more in keeping with current global conditions. One of the main aims of Agenda 2020, the strategic roadmap of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), is to make the Olympic Games more manageable for potential host countries.

The IOC approved Agenda 2020 in 2014, five years after Rio de Janeiro was selected to host the Games. "Rio began to get ready and to reduce the size of the Games before Agenda 2020," Nuzman said. "We understood that we shouldn't repeat the giant scale of previous Games. We realised that the Games had to return to a previous time, when it was possible for cities and countries in other regions of the world to become candidates."

Nuzman recognised that conditions in Brazil had changed since the day in October 2009 when Rio de Janeiro was chosen to host the first Olympic Games in South America. 

"What has happened in Brazil was a surprise for everybody, but everyone is behind us. The integration and unity between the organising committee and the federal, state and city governments has been a great help to the Games."