Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes "inaugurated the Youth Arena and the Deodoro Stadium on Wednesday," according to XINHUA. Both facilities "will be used in the Olympic Games" to be held in the Brazilian city in August. While unveiling the facilities, Paes said that "the only facility that still worries authorities is the velodrome due to delays." The Youth Arena will be used for female basketball, fencing in the pentathlon and wheelchair fencing in the Olympics and Paralympics and the Deodoro Stadium will be used for the rugby tournaments, seven-a-side Paralympic football and three pentathlon categories. Deodoro will be the "second most important complex in the Rio Olympics after the Olimpic Park in terms of the number of competitions that will take place inside it." Work on the complex began in '14 and the IOC and Rio's Mayor's office "were worried as there were some delays in construction." In the same complex, four facilities "have already been inaugurated and tested" -- the mountain bike track, the BMX track, the kayaking circuit in rough waters and the hockey center (XINHUA, 3/3). In Rio, Lise Alves reported the stadium will have 15,000 seats installed for the games, "while the Youth Arena will have the capacity to hold 5,000 spectators during the sporting events." The Deodoro Stadium will host the Int'l Rugby Sevens Tournament next weekend as a test and the Modern Pentathlon "will be held in both the stadium and the Youth Arena next week." The Olympic venue at Deodoro "has been a major concern for organizers," with construction workers going on strike for more pay and city officials canceling contracts with engineering companies due to delays. Paes said, "What was our greatest problem is today a certainty" (RIO TIMES, 3/3).
