Rio games taking cue from cup success

Citing the highly successful World Cup, 2016 Rio Olympics organizers on Monday claimed the Games will take a cue from soccer and make South America's first Olympiad one to remember.

Early preparations for the Aug 5-12, 2016 event had been sluggish, fueling concerns even within the International Olympic Committee about the city's ability to deliver.

But there has been a recent push and 38 percent of venues are now ready, with a target of passing the 50 percent mark by the end of this year.

Local organizing committee executive director of sport Agberto Guimaraes stressed the nature of the Olympics was radically different from the World Cup, as a multi-discipline event in one city rather than a single sport in 12.

But he said some issues could be positively adapted, such as local authorities providing space for parking motorhomes and trailers, which were used by thousands of soccer fans over the past month.

One underlying concern over the venues is the state of Guanabara Bay, which will host sailing events. It is polluted with thousands of liters of untreated sewage on a daily basis.

But Guimaraes and director of communications Mario Andrada said Rio is getting to grips with the problem, gradually cleaning up the Bay ahead of test events scheduled for Aug 2-9.

"We are making good progress. I am sure we'll be able to organize a good event for athletes to perform in August," Guimaraes told reporters.

Ticket prices are due to be set in September this year and the first go on sale in December.

In all, nine million tickets will be available - three times as many as for the World Cup.

Agence France-Presse