Australian Olympic Committee President John Coates, who in April branded preparations for the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics as the "worst ever," said on Tuesday the prognosis was now "much, much better," according to Nick Mulvenney of REUTERS. The IOC VP said that Brazil's successful hosting of the World Cup in June and July "had been reassuring." Coates said, "I wasn't there but all of the reports to the IOC were good. We had concerns about the airport and getting around but that all worked, the transport worked. It's a different event ... but over the last two months they've really put their foot to the pedal." Australia's Chef de Mission for the Rio Games Kitty Chiller said that "there were still problems with planning for the seven sports to be held in the Copocabana cluster, where Australia expects to have about 100 athletes competing." She said, "It will go down to wire and Rio does have a lot to do. It has been difficult for us at the AOC to plan because of some unknowns in Rio and the big one is the Copocabana zone" (REUTERS, 8/5). BLOOMBERG's Tariq Panja wrote the head of the country’s effort to host the 2016 Summer Olympics said
that "the goal is to show a different image to the world," after delays and cost overruns marred the buildup to the World Cup in Brazil. Rio 2016 CEO Sidney Levy said, “The time has come for the Brazilian people to deliver something on time, on budget, with full transparency. We can always fail, but that’s what we are willing to do." The Olympics "take over from the World Cup as the country’s highest-profile project with a series of ongoing works," including a subway extension and renovation of the city’s port area that cost about 8B reais ($3.5B) apiece. Organizers said that "work to ready the city is back on track" after criticism from senior members of the IOC and sports federations about the lack of progress at some venues (BLOOMBERG, 8/4). The Rio 2016 Olympic Games Organizing Committee unveiled the official "Look of the Games" logo which will be used for all the event’s visual communications. The new visual identity, which was inspired by the landscapes of Rio and includes illustrations depicting Sugarloaf Mountain and Corcovado, will be on display in all the sporting venues and across the city during Rio 2016, as well as on tickets, uniforms and licensed products (Rio 2016).
