Bidding for the Games: New Rio Mayor, Madrid Media Village

Eduardo Paes New Rio de Janeiro Mayor

A strong supporter of the Rio de Janeiro Olympic bid is elected as the new mayor for Rio de Janeiro. Eduardo Paes squeezed out a victory Oct. 25 over congressman Fernando Gabeira. Gabeira is notorious for his role in the four-day kidnapping of the U.S. ambassador to Brazil in 1969, the crime carried out during the rule of a military dictatorship.

Paes is a former administrator in Jacarepagua and Barra da Tijuca, two suburbs which played important roles in the 2007 Pan American Games and are key sites for the Olympic bid. In the year before the Pan Ams, Paes was secretary of sport for Rio de Janeiro state.

“The election of Eduardo Paes as the new Mayor of Rio de Janeiro is good news for the Rio 2016 bid, “ says Carlos Nuzman, president of the bid committee.

“Eduardo Paes has been involved in the candidature since its very beginning and is a politician totally up-to-date with the bid and its needs,” says Nuzman.

Paes, 38, takes office Jan. 1, succeeding Cesar Maia, who retires due to term limits.

Madrid Media Village

Madrid organizers have unveiled the winning design for a media village that will provide housing and office space for journalists and broadcasters.

The design was selected from 19 entries.

Covering 20 hectares of land, the complex includes the Main Press Centre and International Broadcast Centre, as well as apartments with room for 5,000 beds.

The design calls for a pentagon shaped complex Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon unveils the Madrid media village design. (Madrid 2016)which would have the shape of a flower when viewed from above.

For sustainability, the village is design to be used for other purposes after the Games.

Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon says the media village is another example of Madrid’s readiness for 2016.

“It is the more advanced bid. Nearly all the Olympic infrastructures are already built, in construction or ready to be developed. That is why Madrid is the safest choice.”

Chicago Bid Chief Skips Award Ceremony for Bid Duties

Chicago 2016 chairman Patrick Ryan became a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences this month, one of 190 nominees in the 2008 class of fellows, as they are called. Among those named along with Ryan are ex-U.S. secretary of state George Schultz and soprano Dawn Upshaw.

The Academy formed more than 228 years ago and is now known as a policy research center based in Cambridge, Mass.

Ryan’s nomination, due to his work in business and community causes, is said to be one of the most prestigious honors he’s received.

But the duty that led to his nomination kept him from the award ceremony held earlier this month. Ryan was hard at work the night of the ceremony, in Acapulco, campaigning for the 2016 bid at the Pan American Sports Organization assembly.

In other news from Chicago, Bryan Clay, Olympic gold medalist in pentathlon will be appearing Oct. 30 at acity high school to talk about his experience in Beijing and the Chicago bid for the Games.

Tokyo Triathlon

Boosters of the Tokyo bid for 2016 says the thousands of people who turned out Sunday for the triathlon national championships got a taste of what the Olympics would be like in 2016.

The events were held in Odaiba, the neighborhood in east Tokyo where the Olympic Stadium, Olympic Village and other a number of other new venues would be built.

Written by

Ed Hula

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