The flag of Rio’s candidature to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games was flown for the first time on Monday, during a ceremony held at Palácio da Cidade, the headquarters of Rio de Janeiro City Hall. The event was part of the Olympic Day celebrations and was attended by Mayor Cesar Maia; International Olympic Committee (IOC) senior member and FIFA honorary president João Havelange accompanied by the president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (BOC) and Rio 2016 Candidature Committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman; Ministry of Sport 2016 Special Secretary  Ricardo Leyser; state administration Tourism, Sport and Leisure Secretary  Márcia Lins; City Hall Special Sport Secretary  Ruy Cezar and Rio 2016 Committee General Secretary Carlos Roberto Osório.

Athletes and former athletes also attended the event and made a point of manifesting their support to Rio’s candidature.  Among them was Oscar (basketball), Hugo Hoyama (table tennis), Luisa Parente (artistic gymnastics), Patrícia Amorim (swimming) and several Olympic medalists like Rogério Sampaio (judo), Marcelo Ferreira (sailing), Jaqueline Silva (beach volleyball) and Fernanda Venturini and Virna (volleyball), besides several Paralympic athletes like Clodoaldo Silva (swimming) and Karla Cardoso (judo).

“The Pan American Games Rio 2007 resulted in several structural improvements to Rio de Janeiro. This growth will be even more significant if Rio is selected to host an edition of the Olympic Games. The event will result in enormous benefits to society, Rio de Janeiro and Brazil as a whole”, Fernanda Venturini commented.
During the event Mayor Cesar Maia signed the transfer of the US$ 500 thousand fee of Rio’s candidature confirmation. The amount will be handed over to the IOC.

”The highest scoring item of this project was the smooth integration between the three government levels. This evidences that for the sake of sport all political differences disappear.  We will provide the assurance of project continuity and this is critical. This Olympic Day should be an opportunity to reflect, to think about what sport can do for all of us”, Mayor Cesar Maia remarked.

The official flag of the candidature could only be hoisted once Rio’s candidature had been confirmed by the IOC, which actually happened on June 4, in Greece. Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the president of BOC and of Rio 2016 Committee referred to the factors that contributed the most to enable Rio to be in the short list of candidate cities together with Chicago (USA), Madrid (ESP) and Tokyo (JAP).

“On this Olympic Day, the most important message is that we have fulfilled our mission and for the first time in history, a Brazilian city is given a chance to compete for the right to use the Olympic rings. I would like to use this opportunity to thank all those who are working hard day in and day out to see our candidature selected by the IOC”   Nuzman declared.