Tag Archives: Rio

Athletics timetable for Rio 2016 is published

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The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) has released the athletics’ timetable for the Rio Olympic Games in 2016 and it features finals during the morning sessions of the athletics programme.

“Staging finals in the morning was done at the request of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee and the Olympic Broadcasting Service, supported by the International Olympic Committee,” said IAAF competitions director Paul Hardy. “Having finals in the morning will also ensure that we receive maximum visibility for athletics at the Olympic Games across all time zones.”

There is at least one final in all of the morning sessions. All five road events – the two marathons and the three race walk events – will be held in the morning sessions, although both 20km race walks will be in the early afternoon. Other morning finals include the women’s 10,000m, men’s and women’s 3000m steeplechase, men’s 400m hurdles, men’s triple jump, men’s and women’s discus, and the women’s hammer.

For the full calendar – as of 15 December 2014 – click on the photo below, then click again to enlarge the size of the image…

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2016 Olympic and Paralympic mascots unveiled in Rio

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23.11.2014.Mascotes. Forte Copacabana.The Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games mascots have been unveiled. Inspired by Brazil’s fauna and flora, the duo feature various pop culture influences, along with elements of animation and computer game characters.

“The Rio 2016 mascots represent the diversity of our culture, of our people,” said Beth Lula, the Rio 2016 brand director. “They represent our joy, our way of being. Both of them are magical creatures with super powers and relate naturally with the young audience, who we want to engage with our event so much.”

The Olympic mascot represents all of the different animals in Brazil. He combines the agility of cats, the sway of monkeys and the grace of birds. He can stretch his arms and legs as much as he wants. The Paralympic mascot is a fusion of plants found in Brazilian forests. He is energised by photosynthesis and can pull any object from his head of leaves. He is always growing and overcoming obstacles.

Both mascots have their own Facebook and Twitter profiles and share a special website with fun activities for kids.

“The mascots are one of the most important symbols of the Games because they create an emotional link with the public, especially children, and are genuine ambassadors for the event,” added Lula.

What is not known yet, is their names. A poll is already open and the public can vote for their choice from a shortlist of three pairs of names: one for the Olympic mascot, the other for the Paralympic mascot, respectively. The choices are Oba and Eba, Tiba Tuque and Esquindim, and Vinicius and Tom. You can find out more about these names, and vote for your choice by Clicking Here The winning names will be announced on 14 December 2014.

The mascots were created by Birdo Produções, a São Paulo-based design and animation company that has won numerous international awards.

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Rio 2016 announces ticket prices for Olympic Games

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ticketsTicket prices for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games have been announced – and more than half of them will be sold at accessible prices in order to ensure that the event is open to everyone. About 7.5 million tickets will be issued and approximately 3.8 million of these will be available for 70 Brazilian reais (US$30) or less. For the price ranges (in Brazilian reais) for all sports and ceremonies CLICK HERE. Or click on the images below.

Currently (16 September), R$10 is worth about US$4.30, €3.30 or £2.60.

There will be tickets for 717 sports sessions, covering all 28 Olympic sports, plus the opening and closing ceremonies. The range of prices the organizers say is designed to make tickets as affordable as possible, with the goal of ensuring that the local Brazilian population has the opportunity to attend events. The cheapest ticket will be priced at 40 Brazilian reais (less than US$20).

The full Rio 2016 Olympic Games Ticket Sales Programme will be unveiled in November 2014, along with the competition schedule and details on how the public can buy tickets.
The next step on the spectator’s journey towards participating in the first Olympic Games to be staged in South America will come in November. Fans from all over the world will be able to register on the ticket sales website and indicate which sports are of  interest to them. They will then receive tailored news and information on these sports and athletes, as well as other events around the Games, as anticipation builds towards 2016.

Brazilian residents will be able to enter the first of two draws for tickets in March 2015. Non-Brazilian residents will be able to apply to buy tickets in their own territories in the first half of 2015 (details will be announced on the ticket sales website at a later date) and then again in January 2016, in the worldwide first-come-first-served online sales phase.

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Rocinha by Rocinha offers a new Rio favela experience

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rocinha4A new initiative, the Rocinha By Rocinha Project, hopes to boost tourism to one of Rio de Janeiro’s largest favelas and was created earlier this year by a small dedicated team of young people, all living in Rocinha. The project hopes to start a cultural exchange between residents and domestic and foreign tourists visiting Rio.

Rocinha By Rocinha has adopted a tourist concept largely used in European countries: the free walking tour. At the end of the guided tour, the visitors then have the option of making a voluntary contribution according to how much they want and can afford. All generated funds go directly to the guide that is doing the tour of the day. The same procedure is adopted for the charged packages, such as the tour to the Dois Irmãos mountain and a tour of Rocinha by night.

“We want to show what the culture of Rocinha has to offer and to give a true feeling of what its like to be part of the community,” explains one of the founders of Rocinha By Rocinha, Erik Martins. Erik leads the team formed by five other guides, all with excellent knowledge of the community, good English and a willingness to become entrepreneurs, and help Rocinha to prosper.

“Our tours cover the recent initiatives that are improving the conditions of the slums, but also reveal the locations that still lack of zeal. We don’t want to hide what saddens us, but explain everything that is beautiful and culturally rich around us, as some fascinating panoramic views that fill us with pride”, Erik explains.

Rocinha By Rocinha has the support of a group of voluntary international consultants who are helping to organize and publicize the work and created the Rocinha By Rocinha website and helped develop a solution for the guides to accept payments from international credit and debit cards.

The Swedish company iZettle, one of Europe’s leading providers of mobile payment services and apps, is a partner of Rocinha By Rocinha and this allows foreign tourists, not always with cash to hand, to be able to pay securely by card. Operating in Brazil since August 2013, iZettle is now helping entrepreneurs and professionals from nine countries to accept payments on their smartphones and tablets.

Reservations for Rocinha By Rocinha can be made ​​through the website or by email  to tours@rocinhabyrocinha.com.

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Brazilian animated film wins top prize at Annecy Film Festival

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Boy and the WorldAle Abreu’s The Boy and the World (O menino e o mundo), which screened at Festival do Rio in Première Brasil: New Trends, has taken the top prizes at the prestigious international animation festival in Annecy. The film won both the festival’s Cristal Award as well as the audience award for favourite film during the 38th festival.

This is the second year in a row that a Brazilian feature has won the top prize. In 2013 the Cristal Award went to Luiz Bolognesie’s Uma história de amor e fúria (Rio 2096).

Brazil: The Guide launches a Kindle text version for use off-line

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Brazil CoverTo help to satisfy the demand of people travelling to Brazil who would like to have the information on www.braziltheguide.com to hand, even when the are off-line, we have published a text only Kindle version of the guide that can be purchased globally from Amazon.

In the UK the guide sells for just £2.58. To access UK Amazon CLICK HERE

It is at a similar low price on Amazon stores around the world. For links to all the various global stores CLICK HERE

Julien Temple’s “Rio 50 Degrees”

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Screen Shot 2014-04-12 at 13.52.51Julien Temple’s “Rio 50 Degrees”, in part developed by Critical Divide, the publisher of Brazil the Guide, received its world premiere screening as the opening gala of the BBC’s Art Screen Festival at the Glasgow Film Theatre on 10 April.

The film, which takes a look at Rio de Janeiro as the city prepares to host two of the world’s most high-profile events: the FIFA World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games, will be broadcast on the BBC as part of Alan Yentob’s Imagine series.

Julien Temple with the BBC's Kirsty Walk

Julien Temple with the BBC’s Kirsty Wark

Ayrton Senna drives Unidos da Tijuca to carnival victory

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12923446995_1ccbe839d2_bWith a samba based on the life and times of Brazilian Formula One great, Ayrton Senna, Unidos da Tijuca drove to victory as the top samba school in Rio de Janeiro for 2014.

The very last of the twelve top samba school to parade, Unidos da Tijuca won a very close fought contest with Salgueiro, winning by just 0.1 of a point out of 300. The winner in 2013, Vila Isabel, could only manage tenth place in 2014.

Placing is important as the winning school can choose when it will parade the following year. The next school has second choice, and so on, until the one school coming up from the second division, Viradouro in 2015, gets the spot that is left.

azimuth:0.000000||elevation:0.000000||horizon:0.000000Normally the school choose to go late on, even last if they can, but there is a danger in going last as if for any reason the parade gets delayed, and it has been known to happen, then the last school may be going out in the first light of dawn or even daylight. Like a rock concert, that can make a big difference to the visual impact.

As well as the theme of Ayrton Senna, themes in 2014 included African rhythms (Imperio da Tijuca); the city of Marica (Grande Rio); Rio’s favelas, the city’s famous shanty towns (São Clemente); Brazilian celebrations (Mangueira); sustainability and preservation (Salgueiro); a tribute to one of Brazil most famous television executives, Bonifácio de Oliveira Sobrinho, o Boni (Beija-Flor); Pernambuco (Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel); children’s toys (União da Ilha); Brazil’s natural and historical heritage (Vila Isabel),; Zico, one of Brazil’s greatest footballers and part of the best Brazilian team not to win the World Cup (Imperatriz Leopoldinense); and Avenida Rio Branco (Portela).

azimuth:0.000000||elevation:0.000000||horizon:0.000000The full results for 2014 were:

  • Unidos da Tijuca (299.4 points out of 300)
  • Salgueiro (299.3)
  • Portela (299.0)
  • União da Ilha do Governador (298.4)
  • Imperatriz Leopoldinense (297.6)
  • Grande Rio (297.20)
  • Beija-Flor (296.4)
  • Mangueira (296.2)
  • Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel (296.0)
  • Unidos de Vila Isabel (295.9)
  • São Clemente (294.3)
  • Imperio da Tijuca (291.6)

Carnival 2014