Rio de Janeiro city government inaugurated on Wednesday a "monument with the Olympic rings" in Madureira Park, according to Flávio Dilascio of GLOBO ESPORTE. Weighing close to four tons and measuring at a height of 12m and length of 25m, the structure was "donated" by the U.K. government and "installed" at the park's third gate. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said, "Rio is a city full of challenges, many problems and obstacles to overcome. We insisted on bringing the rings to Madureira Park because this region deserves them. If Rio was a human body, Madureira would be the heart" (GLOBO ESPORTE, 5/20). In Rio de Janeiro, Chesney Hearst reported the rings arrived in Rio after a 20-day "voyage across the ocean during January and February earlier this year." They "remained covered in Madureira Park until Wednesday's official unveiling." Featuring a fireworks display and a crowd of "celebratory spectators, the unveiling was also attended, in addition to Paes," by IOC Coordination Commission for the 2016 Games Nawal el Moutawakel, U.K. Consul General Jonathan Dunn and Rio 2016 Organizing Committee President Carlos Arthur Nuzman (RIO TIMES, 5/21).
