The main Olympic hub and village in Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, is starting to take shape.
Category Archives: Olympics 2016
Rio 2016 Coins
The Rio 2016 Games commemorative coins are expected to enter circulation in August this year, to be followed by three further launches, scheduled for February and August 2015, and February 2016. Four new coins for regular circulation as well as four silver and one gold coin will be issued at each launch.
Rio Olympic and Paralympic pictograms for 2016
The organizers of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic games have released the sporting pictograms that will be used during the games.
They are:
Tokyo to follow Rio de Janeiro as Olympic and Paralympic host city
On 7 September 2013, Independence Day in Brazil, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in Buenos Aires that Tokyo had been chosen to follow Rio de Janeiro as the host city for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic games. Tokyo was chosen over Istanbul and Madrid, winning by 60 votes to 36 over Istanbul in the final vote.
It is a choice that is popular in Brazil as there are many historical links between Brazil and Japan with São Paulo having the largest Japanese population of any city outside of Japan. The first Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil in 1908 and today Brazil is home to around 1.5 million people of Japanese descent, compared with just over 100,000 in the UK.
On 9 September it was announced that wrestling had been reinstated as an Olympic sport for the 2020 and 2024 Games after being voted in ahead of baseball/softball and squash.
Tokyo’s new Olympic Stadium will be finished by 2019 in time to host the Rugby World Cup.
Liberdade – São Paulo
Brazil the Guide adds Olympic venue images
Tennis Centre
Brazil the Guide has added images of some of the proposed 2016 Olympic and Paralympic venues.
The page will be continuously updated with the latest images.
You can see the images by CLICKING HERE
Famous Faces at the Rio Botequims in Las Iguanas During London Olympics
The crowds turned out during the London Olympics to enjoy the atmosphere at the Rio Botequims set up by the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau in 27 branches of Las Iguanas across the UK.
Director Julien Temple with RCVB’s Paulo Senise
- Brazilian soccer legend, Cafu.
Judo bronze medalist Felipe Kitadai
- Felix Sanchez, 400m hurdles’ gold medalist
Judo Reception
- Travel Trade reception
- Samba with RCVB
Las Iguanas launch Rio Botequims for the London Olympics
Las Iguanas, already established as the UK’s leading collection of Latin American restaurants and bars, is bringing an extra touch of the tastes and spirit of Rio de Janeiro to Britain to brighten up the summer of 2102.
As of 27 July, and in time for the London Olympics, Rio Botequims have been popping up all over the UK in Las Iguanas restaurants in partnership with the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau, Riotur, TAM Airlines and others.
The choice of Las Iguanas to feature Rio de Janeiro – the world’s most glamorous and exciting tropical city – is no accident as it is Rio that in 2016 will be the next city to host the Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games after London.
And before 2016, Brazil and Rio will also be hosting the Confederations Cup in 2013, along with the Judo World Championship and the Canoe Sprint World Championships. Then in June and July 2014, the eyes of world will be on Brazil and Rio for the 20th FIFA World Cup.
So there has never been a better time in Britain to get in step, find the Carioca rhythm, and learn a little bit more about Rio de Janeiro and Brazil, and the tastes and spirit that help the city and country tick.
So how do you describe what a botequim (“bo-teh-king”) is to the British?
It is far too simple to suggest that a botequim is the Brazilian equivalent of the British pub, but it is a legitimate heir to the old taverns, serving food in healthy portions at accessible prices. Botequims are part of the cultural identity of Rio de Janeiro, and developed from the Spanish bodega and Portuguese botica to emerge as the Brazilian boteco – or botequim – in the second half of the 19th century.
A botequim is essentially a place to eat, drink and be merry. A place for friendly and lively conversation, good company, tasty and interesting food, and drinks that range from coffee to caipirinhas, via a cerveja gelada, or an ice-cold Brahma beer. A botequim is also a state of mind.
In the spirit of the Rio botequims, Las Iguanas is inviting its customers across the UK to come and enjoy the tastes and spirit of Rio this summer, and discover how to be a Carioca, as the residents of Rio are known.
As well as offering customers in all its restaurants the opportunity to try a special menu – Rio Botequim Seleção – Las Iguanas, the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau, and their partners are also staging a number of culinary, cultural and sporting activities over the period of the Olympics, especially in London at the Royal Festival Hall, O2, Spitalfields, and Stratford Westfields restaurants.
Wednesday, 1 August, will see a gathering of the UK travel trade and media for lunch at the “Rio Botequim” in the Las Iguanas Royal Festival Hall, while the same venue will also host a reception for the UK film industry on Thursday, 2 August.
There is also the opportunity in all the Las Iguanas restaurants for customers to win trips to Rio de Janeiro to discover the city, and enjoy its warmth, hospitality and beauty, as well as the city’s many botequims, restaurants, clubs and bars, and the beach.
And just as the success of the Brazilian football team has always been built on teamwork, so will the success of the Rio Botequim programme. Joining the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau and Las Iguanas are Riotur, the Secretary of Sport for Rio, Rio Film Commission, Sport TV and TAM Airlines, among others. Together the partners are all looking and planning to help make it a “Carioca” summer for Britain to remember.
For more details of what is happening at the Rio Botequims and in Las Iguanas over the Olympic period, visit the Las Iguanas web site, www.iguanas.co.uk; follow on Twitter (@las_Iguanas or @RioDiary) or Facebook (www.facebook.com/pages/Las-Iguanas/48003656683).
Brazil send a team of 259 athletes to London Olympics
Brazil is to be represented by 259 athletes (136 men, 123 women) at the London 2012 Olympic Games. They will be competing in 32 different disciplines.
The Brazilian Olympic Committee (Comitê Olímpico Brasileiro – COB) expects that the total haul of medals will be similar to that achieved by Brazil in Beijing at the 2008 Olympics, when the country won 15 medals including two individual golds (César Cielo in the men’s 50m freestyle swimming; and Maurren Maggi in the women’s long jump) and one team gold (women’s volleyball).
Brazil hopes to be better placed to win a higher number of medals when Rio de Janeiro hosts the Olympics in 2016.
Footballing Gold
Brazilian fans are hoping that at Wembley Stadium the men and women’s football teams can finally end their long and exasperating wait for an Olympic gold. Both have won silver in the past. The women in Beijing, losing to the United States in the final; and the men in 1984 in Los Angeles, losing to France in the final, and in 1988 in Seoul, losing to the Soviet Union. In Beijing the men’s team won bronze. The Olympics is the only international competition in football organized by FIFA that Brazil has never won.
Brazil Coach Mano Menezes has selected a strong group for the men’s team for the 2012 Olympics including Porto striker Hulk alongside AC Milan’s Thiago Silva and Real Madrid left-back Marcelo as his three over-age players.
Some of the world’s leading stickers have been named in the squad including Santos’ Neymar who has scored nine goals in 18 games for the senior Brazil team, while Hulk and AC Milan’s Pato have also impressed for the full side.
Premier League players include Rafael, of Manchester United, and Tottenham midfielder Sandro.
The full Brazil squad for London is: Rafael Cabral (Santos), Neto (Fiorentina); Alex Sandro (Porto), Marcelo (Real Madrid), Rafael (Manchester United), Danilo (Porto), Thiago Silva (AC Milan), Bruno Uvini (Sao Paulo), Juan (Inter Milan); Sandro (Tottenham), Romulo (Spartak Moscow), Paulo Henrique Ganso (Santos), Oscar (Internacional), Lucas Moura (Sao Paulo); Neymar (Santos), Leandro Damiao (International), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Hulk (Porto).
Brazil Going for Olympic Football Gold
The draw for the 2012 Olympic soccer tournament has been made.
Brazil’s men, who are still looking for their first Olympic title, are scheduled to play:
26 July, 19.45: Brazil x Egypt – Millennium Stadium – Cardiff
29 July, 12.00: Brazil x Belarus – Old Trafford – Manchester
1 August, 14.30: Brazil x New Zealand – St James Park – Newcastle
If Brazil’s wins its group (C), it will play a quarter final in Newcastle at 17.00 on 4 August, then a semi-final in Manchester on 7 August at 19.45, and the final in Wembley on 11 August at 15.00.
If second in its group, the route for Gold for Brazil would be a quarter final in Manchester at noon on 4 August; a semi final in London’s Wembley Stadium on 7 August at at 17.00, and the final in Wembley on 11 August at 15.00.
All times are local UK times.
Brazil women’s team, also looking for their first Olympic Gold after two Silvers, are drawn to play in a group with Great Britain, New Zealand and Cameroon.
25 July, 18.45: Brazil x Cameroon – Millennium Stadium – Cardiff
28 July, 14.30: Brazil x New Zealand- Millennium Stadium – Cardiff
31 July, 19.45: Brazil x Great Britain – Wembley – London
Brazil the Guide 