On Monday, 5 August, the countdown to Rio 2016™ reaches another great mark, exactly three years to the start of the greatest sporting event on the planet. In a press conference, the Organising Committee for the Rio 2016™ Olympic and Paralympic Games reiterated that it is working according to schedule and reminded that Rio de Janeiro will go through a great transformation with a balanced budget.

“We have a long way and comfortable deadlines ahead of us. Thanks to the experienced and dedicated Rio 2016™ team, we are keeping up with commitments and working rationally to deliver excellent Games. The partnership with the three levels of government has also been fundamental for us to take further steps in this great challenge of organising the Olympic Games”, said the President of the Organising Committee for the Rio 2016™ Olympic and Paralympic Games, Carlos Arthur Nuzman.

President Nuzman and Chief Operations Officer, Leonardo Gryner, participated in the press conference that was held in the afternoon of Friday, the 2nd, at the Committee’s new headquarters in Estácio neighbourhood. The Mayor of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes and the President of the Municipal Olympic Company (EOM in Portuguese), Maria Silvia Bastos attended the conference as well.

Paes and Bastos started the press conference with a presentation on current projects and highlighted that most of the City Hall’s expenditure with the Olympic Games will be covered by private resources and public-private partnerships. They also reminded that the event will be fundamental to the city.

Gryner presented some facts about the Organising Committee, which today has 514 employees. The headcount will increase to 8 thousand at the start of the competition. He also complemented President Nuzman’s words on working according to schedule when he reminded that, for the first time in history, there will be test events for every sport, both Olympic and Paralympic. He also talked about further details, including another new feature the Rio 2016™ Games bring to the event’s organisation: “We’ll have separate Olympic and Paralympic pictograms for the first time”.

From Switzerland, the seat of the International Olympic Committee, IOC President Jacques Rogge sent a message commemorating the three years up to the Rio 2016™ Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

“In Copenhagen in 2009, the Rio 2016 bid team promised to deliver Games of celebration and transformation. Four years on and using the Games as a catalyst, that transformation is taking shape, with new sporting and transport infrastructure already in use, new hotels under construction, the port area being renovated, and social projects helping to improve security and life for local communities through sport. As we reach the three-years-to-go mark, Rio 2016 is working hard to deliver on its vision and its commitments to the athletes of the world and to the people of Brazil. I am confident that Rio’s transformation will continue apace and that athletes, fans, and citizens will celebrate great Olympic Games together in Rio in 2016”, Jacques Rogge said.