The celebration of the election of Rio de Janeiro as the host City of the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2016 was one of the highlights the Opening Ceremony of 2009 School Olympiads., for athletes from 15 to 17 years of age. The event was held on Thursday, November 5, at the Moringão Gymnasium in Londrina.

During the event, representatives from the 26 Brazilian states enrolled in the championships displayed a flag with Rio 2016 logo. Olympic medalists Gustavo Borges, swimming (100m free style silver medal in Barcelona 92; 200m free style silver medal and 100m free style bronze medal in Atlanta 96; and 2 x 100m free style relay in Sydney 2000), and taekwondo star Natália Falavigna (bronze medal in Beijing 2008), attended the celebration. “These kids deserve our full support. These are youths who could be representing our country at Rio 2016 Games”, Natália said.

The School Olympiads brings together 4, 100 youths to compete for medals in nine sport disciplines: athletics, futsal, judo, volleyball, chess, swimming, basketball, handball and table tennis. Besides the sport championships, the School Olympiads offer a comprehensive educational and cultural program, which includes presentations of videos, theater performances, uniform exhibits, distribution of brochures about Olympic sport and actions to promote environmental preservation.