IOC Puts Positive Spin on Rio 2016 Problems

(ATR) Rio Games called "true success story" as IOC Executive Board meeting begins in Lausanne.

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(ATR) After a turbulent run-in and trouble-hit Olympics, the IOC today again sought to promote the Rio Games as a "true success story".

The Games felt the effects of a political and economic crisis, which put the squeeze on funding and nearly derailed the Paralympics. The arrest of Pat Hickey in a ticketing scandal, the escalating Russian doping crisis, concerns around the Zika virus, empty seats and shootings at venues left the IOC and Rio 2016 scrambling to deliver a world-class Games.

Yet on Tuesday, the first day of this week’s IOC Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, IOC executives attempted to gloss over Rio 2016’s troubles. At a press conference, they rolled out a raft of statistics to highlight only the positives – much the same fare was offered by the IOC last week at the Rio 2016 debriefing in Tokyo.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Rio 2016 "were the most universal, the most consumed ever".

"Were they perfect games? No. Someone described them as the most perfect imperfect games, which I think is actually quite a good characterization," Adams added, saying it was "fantastic" the way problems were overcome.

Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi was in similarly upbeat mood, describing the Games as an "extraordinary" achievement amid the political and financial upheaval that gripped Brazil.

"Were they absolutely perfect? No, there were glitches," he said in a huge understatement.

"What we have to continue to do is continue to engage, consult and ask what we can do better every two years."

Looking ahead to the 2020 Olympics, he said: "For Tokyo the advice is: maximize each and every opportunity, seize the opportunity of the Games to reach out because it is only positive."

Dubi pointed to the 88 percent of tickets sold and the two-thirds of sessions being more than 90 percent full.

Despite receiving negative press for problems at some venues, including chemical mismanagement that led to the water turning green at the diving pool, Dubi said the Olympics were "very well delivered" from an operational standpoint.

"What they have delivered with the efforts of everybody [government and stakeholders], when you look back on the evaluation of services levels, they said it was very appropriate and that the Games exceeded expectations," he said.

Dubi denied that Rio 2016 had not delivered value for money but hinted at a larger than forecast Rio 2016 budget, which is due to be finalized in the coming weeks.

"We are right on the bank including when you consider money spent on the operations of these Games," he said.

"They remain extremely close to the candidature budget, around $2.9 billion."

Among the highlights of the Games trumpeted by the IOC:

• Half the world’s population watched coverage of the Games;

• Over 7 billion video views of official content on social media platforms

• The first-ever Refugee Olympic Team participated

• More than 45 percent of all athletes were women, the highest number ever for a Games

• Two NOCs--Kosovo and South Sudan--participated in the Olympic Games for the first time

• More television coverage and more digital coverage than ever before: over 350,000 hours total for Rio 2016 compared to almost 200,000 hours for London 2012.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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