IOC CoComm Heads to Rio for Final Visit -- Monday Memo

(ATR) The IOC Coordination Commission for the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics is in Rio de Janeiro today to begin its final visit to the Olympic host before the Games begin this August.

Chaired by Nawal El Moutawakel, the commission will spend three days in Rio visiting recently finalized venues and checking last-minute preparations for the Games.

The commission is made up of 16 members including European Olympic Committee president Pat Hickey, Pan-American Sports Organization president Julio Maglione and federation leaders such as C.K. Wu, Francesco Ricci Bitti and Sergey Bubka.

The visit marks the 10th and final trip to the Brazilian capital by the IOC members prior to the start of the Games. The last Coordination Commission took place in August 2015.

The Rio 2016 Olympics begin Aug. 5 and conclude Aug. 21. The Paralympics run Sept. 7-18.

Rio 2016 Olympic Football Tournament Draw

Football teams from 28 countries will learn their path through the Rio 2016 Olympic Games this Thursday in Rio de Janeiro at the Maracana Stadium.

Organizers will attempt to keep teams from the same confederation from playing against one another in the group stage by using a ranking system that takes into account past Olympic performances and confederation champions. The men's tournament will be separated into four groups of four called 'pots' while the women's tournament will be broken down into four pots of three.

The selection will then take place by choosing a team from pot one followed by a numbered ball in one of the four venue groups. Pot one is completely emptied before pot two teams are given their venue assignments and so on to pot four.

Host country Brazil has been assigned to position A1 in the men's tournament and E1 in the women's.

The football tournament will begin two days prior to the Rio 2016 Opening Ceremony on Aug. 3 and will conclude on Aug. 20.

Mixed Double Curling Championships Underway Saturday

The World Mixed Doubles Curling Championship begins this Saturday in Karlstad, Sweden.

Now in its ninth edition, this event marks the first time it will serve as an Olympic qualifier as the discipline was added to the sports program for the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics.

A record 42 teams will take part in the tournament, each consisting of one male and female as opposed to standard curling that has teams of four. The discipline also only uses six stones as opposed to eight.

The six groups of teams will begin round robin play on April 16. The tournament concludes on Saturday, April 23.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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