In 2014, Rio de Janeiro took some major steps towards becoming an Olympic and Paralympic city. At the Barra Olympic Park, which will be the heart of the Rio 2016 Games, the venues have taken shape dramatically, with competition and spectator areas becoming visible. Meanwhile, work begun on the Deodoro Olympic Park, the second largest concentration of Games venues, which will host a fascinating mix of traditional and new Olympic and Paralympic sports in 2016.

On Friday (19 December), the Rio Municipal Government, which is responsible for construction, provided an update on progress and said work would “enter the final straight in 2015”, with the delivery of the first new venues and the staging of more than 20 test events.

See below for details on progress made on the venues being built for the Rio 2016 Games:

BARRA OLYMPIC PARK

With an area of 1.18 million square metres, Barra Olympic Park will host 16 Olympic sports and nine Paralympic sports, along with the Main Press Centre and the International Broadcast Centre. There are two existing venues – the Rio Olympic Arena (that will stage the gymnastics and wheelchair basketball competitions) and the Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre (diving and synchronised swimming), plus the following seven new venues:

Carioca Arenas 1, 2 and 3

The mounting of pre-moulded concrete structures and roof installation are in the final stages. The competition areas are completed in Arenas 2 and 3, while this work is ongoing in Arena 1. The roof of Arena 3 is already being installed. During the Olympic Games, these venues will host basketball, judo, Greco-Roman wrestling, freestyle wrestling, fencing and taekwondo. During the Paralympic Games they will stage wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, boccia and judo.

Olympic Tennis Centre

Foundation works have been concluded and the first half of the 10,000-seat Centre Court’s concrete grandstand structures are almost finished and construction of the upper rings has begun. Work the competition areas of Court 1 (5,000) and Court 2 (3,000 seats) is underway, as is construction of the support structure for the temporary grandstands. The venue will host the Olympic tennis tournament, then wheelchair tennis and 5-a-side football during the Paralympic Games, and leave an important sporting legacy afterwards.

The Olympic Tennis Centre will allow Rio to host major international tournaments long after the Games (Photo: EOM)

Rio Olympic Velodrome

Foundation works are in the final stages, the mounting of pre-moulded concrete structures is underway and the first pillars have already been installed. This venue will host the Olympic and Paralympic track cycling events.

Future Arena

The foundations and metal structure – including the main pillars, the roof beams and latticework – have been concluded. The main roofing, metal grandstand structures and concreting of the arena floor are ongoing. The venue will host handball during the Olympic Games and goalball during the Paralympic Games.

The Future Arena will dismounted and its parts reused to construct four public schools after the Games (Photo: EOM)

Olympic Aquatics Stadium

Work on the foundations of this 18,000-seat temporary venue is in the final stages. Concreting of the floor and mounting of the metal grandstand structures of the main pool are ongoing. This venue will host the Olympic and Paralympic swimming events and the Olympic water polo competitions.

OLYMPIC GOLF COURSE

The topography of the 18 holes has been concluded, as has the dredging of the lakes in the course area. The grass planting started in May 2014 and is 95 per cent concluded. The support and maintenance building is almost finished, while the club house is in its foundation phase.

DEODORO OLYMPIC PARK

Work started in July 2014 on the second largest cluster of Rio 2016 venues. The park will host 11 Olympic and four Paralympic sports. As Deodoro hosted the 2007 Pan American Games and the 2011 World Military Games, 60 per cent of the permanent venues have already been built.

After the Games, the canoe slalom and BMX venues will form the X-Park. Covering about 500,000 square metres, it will be the city’s second largest park and will be used by both high-performance athletes and the public.

There are three existing venues – the Olympic Equestrian Centre, Olympic Shooting Centre and Deodoro Aquatics Centre (that will host the swimming section of the modern pentathlon) – that will all be renovated, plus two temporary venues – the Mountain Bike Track and Deodoro Stadium (that will host rugby sevens, modern pentathlon and 7-a-side football) – and the following four new venues:

Whitewater Stadium

Earthworks are underway and the canoe slalom venue is starting to take shape, with the concreting of the lake’s structure also ongoing.

The Whitewater Stadium, one of the most complex venues, is starting to take shape in Deodoro (Photo: EOM)

Youth Arena

Earthworks and foundation construction is underway on this gymnasium that will host the first rounds of women’s basketball and the modern pentathlon fencing section. It will have 2,000 permanent and 3,000 temporary seats.

Olympic BMX Centre

Earthworks are underway on this venue that will have 7,500 temporary seats and then leave an important sporting legacy to Rio’s young people.

Olympic Hockey Centre

Two existing pitches will be renovated and the new venue will include changing rooms, a permanent grandstand with 2,500 seats for the main pitch and an administrative centre. During the Games, temporary seats will increase the capacity of stands around the main pitch to 10,000 and the second pitch to 5,000

To find out more about all the Rio 2016 venues click here.