Getting into the spirit of the Games, Madureira Park unveils the Olympic rings
During Rio 2016, the area will be one of three live sites for the public to watch competition events on a big screen
Fireworks welcomed the Olympic rings to Rio (Photo: J.P.ENGELBRECHT/Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro)
The defining symbol of the Olympic Games has arrived in Rio de Janeiro. Accompanied by a spectacular firework display, the Olympic Rings were unveiled this Wednesday (20) in Madureira Park, during a ceremony attended by Nawal el Moutawakel, the president of the International Olympic Committee’s Coordination Commission for the 2016 Games; Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro; and the president of the Organising Committee of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Carlos Arthur Nuzman.
“The Olympic Games are for all Cariocas (residents of Rio),” Paes said. “It is important that all of them feel that they are a fundamental part of this movement which is transforming Rio de Janeiro. Madureira is the heart of Rio’s suburbs, where our identity was forged. It is in the poorest regions of the city that the Games will have the most impact.”
Main symbol of the Olympics, the rings measure 25m in width and 12m in height (Photo: J.P.ENGELBRECHT/Prefeitura da Cidade do Rio de Janeiro)
The president of Rio 2016, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, celebrated the arrival of the rings to the city. “The rings are the symbol of the Olympic movement, and they are one of the most famous images in the world,” he said. “They will help to get Rio de Janeiro in the mood for the memorable Games that will take place here in 2016.”
The symbol of the biggest sporting event on the planet, the ring structure is appropriately impressive: made of aluminium, it weighs nearly four tonnes and measures 25m across and 12m high – equivalent to a building four stories tall. During London 2012, the rings adorned the Tyne Bridge, one of the main tourist attractions of the city of Newcastle, which hosted some of the Olympic football matches. In an unprecedented act, Great Britain donated the rings to Rio de Janeiro. The structure came to the city by ship, after a journey lasting 20 days (between January and February this year) with the assistance of the Brazilian navy. Once in Carioca territory, the structure underwent some repairs before it was installed in Madureira Park, where it has been covered until this week.
Tyne bridge in Newcastle, adorned with the same Olympic rings as the ones in Rio (Photo: Stu Foster/Getty Images)
“It’s a gesture of friendship, to connect two people who may never meet, but now have something in common,” Nick Forbes, leader of Newcastle City Council said. “Newcastle and Rio are cities which value sport and the Games embody this power of unity.”
The interlinked rings, and not the colours, as many believe, represent the five continents united by the Olympic Movement. The six colours of the Olympic flag – the blue, black, red, yellow and green of the rings, as well as the white background – were chosen because at least one of those colours can be seen on the flag of every country in the world.
The birthplace of samba, Madureira will host one of the three sites for the public to watch the competitions of the Games for free on the big screen. Madureira Park, the third-largest in Rio, is 93,000 square metres. The other two live sites will be at the seafront in the port area and at the Sports Center Miécimo da Silva, in Campo Grande (West Zone).
The grand symbol of the Olympic Games, at least one of the rings' five colours can be found on the flag of every country in the world (Photo: Alex Ferro/Rio 2016)
Check out the unveiling of the Olympic rings:
