(ATR) Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes tells Around the Rings that the canoe slalom venue will become a free leisure park in Deodoro. But details are unclear.
Paes handed over the venue to Rio 2016 right before competition began for the sport’s test event in Deodoro. Paes, organizing committee president Carlos Nuzman, state governor Luiz Fernando Pezao and French IOC member Tony Estanguet attended the handover ceremony.
After the canoe slalom test event, running from Nov. 26-29,the venue will open as a water park for the residents of Deodoro on Dec. 23. Brazilian president Dilma Rousseff is expected to attend the opening of the park.
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"We are still decided what the total capacity will be, but it is going to be completely free and more luxurious than the five-star hotels in Ipanema Beach," Paes toldATR.
The park will be one of the few open in the Deodoro neighborhood. The north zone of Rio de Janeiro is considered to be one of the poorest areas of the metropolis and lacks major urban infrastructure.
"The residents have been here many times, they always come to visit," Paes said. "They started invading the swimming pool when we first put in water, jumping in. That was the inspiration to open it early. It will be a great achievement, and the beauty of it is we are going to open before the Olympics."
Estanguet, a three-time gold medalist in canoe slalom, supported the mayor’s legacy plan for the venue, saying it was "very important" for young people to be exposed to the sport even if it is tangentially.
"Our sport is not one of the biggest ones and it is great to have the support from the mayor to have this leisure park and activities," Estanguet toldATR.
"I think it’s a great idea and we are very proud to have the will of the mayor to open this venue to the people."
Paes and Estanguet took a river raft down the course to inaugurate the venue, after which the IOC member called the course "top level". Estanguet said he had heard great feedback from athletes, and mentioned how impressive it was for Rio de Janeiro to complete construction on the venue in less than two years.
London 2012 women’s gold medalist Emilie Fer said she rated the course as difficult technically, but the feel of the venue was nowhere near that of Olympic quality yet.
She said the size of the course dwarfs that of London 2012's "but really there is lot of movement everywhere", which will make it a challenge to competitors in 2016.
"I think there are a lot of things not finished. We have an impression we are in a regional race. It doesn’t feel like a test event really," Fer toldATR. "I hope the organizing committee can change more than just one or two things.
Written by Aaron Bauer in Rio de Janeiro
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