Leaders of the Rio 2016 Bid Committee set out the city’s aim to secure the Olympics by promoting an innovative ‘X Park’ aimed at engaging the youth of Brazil.
The X Park - which would host the BMX, mountain biking and white water canoeing centres – was promoted as a post-games environment that would become the centre for extreme sports and continue to explore the growing call to involve the youth of today in participatory sports.
Members of the Committee highlighted the main points from their candidature file at a London Press conference yesterday.
Carlos Nuzman, president of the Rio 2016 bid and the Brazilian Olympic committees introduced the bid with the slogan "show your passion - live your passion".
Carlos Roberto Osorio, Secretary General of Rio 2016, added that the benefits from Brazil hosting the 2014 World Cup would be significant with infrastructure and stadium improvements to Rio contributing to already well established stadia and facilities from the legacy of the Pan-Am games in 2007.
The financial backing for the bid, with guaranteed support from all three levels of government (federal, state and city), is seen as a particularly strong point for Rio 2016 in the current global economic climate which has not significantly affected the Brazilian economy.
Rio's ticket prices are reportedly the lowest of the candidate cities - $200 to $1,000 for the Opening Ceremony as compared to $520 to $1,645 for Chicago and $30 to $150 for prime events.
