(ATR) About 150 journalists will travel across Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday to see some of the venues for the 2016 Olympics.
On Wednesday, journalists will have a tour of 11 Rio 2016 venues, or future sites of venues, including the Olympic Park area in Barra de Tijuca. The schedule will not permit journalists to visit Deodoro in Rio’s far west, where eight events will be staged.
It is the first close-up inspection by the media since Rio won the Olympics in 2009. The inspection comes as part of the two-day World Press Briefing, the first of three from Rio 2016.
Attendees were greeted by Rio 2016 chairman Carlos Arthur Nuzman and CEO Sidney Levy, who both acknowledged the importance of the media to the Olympics on Tuesday.
Levy said the organizing committee wants "dialogue" with the people of Brazil and the world.
"We have a very strong feeling within the committee that if we don’t do that, we won’t engage people," he said in his opening speech at Rio 2016 headquarters.
"We really need you," he added.
"Without the press, we won’t be able to do our job. We are here to offer anything you want."
Nuzman told the world’s journalists that Rio 2016 "needs your criticisms."
"You can see how we are working, how we are doing our best," he said. "We want to be part of your success."
IOC member and Press Commission chairman Kevan Gosper said that Rio would deliver an "exceptional Games."
"Every host city brings something special," he said. "I believe that no city will bring something as special as Rio."
One example might be the images from the next Summer Olympics. For all the credit London 2012 received for staging events throughout the city’s iconic landmarks, Rio 2016 official said Rio’s lush, tropical scenery might prove even more jaw-dropping.
Gosper also said the written press would tell the world "whether these Games are successful."
The meeting was conducted under the watchful eye of Rio 2016 press operations director Lucia Montanarella, who organized a tight schedule. At the start, she quipped that the WPB might be the only meeting in Brazil that is starting on time.
During Tuesday’s session, briefings covered a range of areas including photography, customs procedures, the credentialing process.
Rio 2016 sports director Agberto Guimares offered the first public confirmation that canoe slalom would not move from the Deodoro Zone. Discussions took place recently over possibly moving the competition hundreds of miles away due to cost concerns.
Anthony Edgar, the IOC press operations director, said the credential quota for reporters would remain at 5,300 for Rio, the same level for every Games since Atlanta 1996. He also said he expects reporters from 195 countries to cover the 2016 Olympics.
The crowd in Rio consisted primarily of new agencies from the United States, Europe, and Brazil. A few representatives from Japan and China rounded out the crowd.
After hours activities for the October 22-23 meeting included a visit to Corcovado, site of the famous Christ the Redeemer statue, and an outing to the Botafago and Flamengo football derby on Wednesday at Maracana Stadium. A gaggle of the Olympic press corps went for a midnight swim in the Atlantic Ocean as well.
Montanarella said the second World Press Briefing is scheduled for Aug. 6-8 in 2014. The dates were selected so that journalists could get a sense of the weather during Games time, she said. The briefing also opens the day after the two-year mark until the Games.
Written by Ed Hula III
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