Construction work on Rio's Olympic Park has reached 99% completion "as the city finalizes preparations for the first Olympic Games in South America." Five of the nine venues at the park "are ready." Despite the advanced stage of construction at most venues, laborers "are still completing work on the velodrome, a warmup pool at the Maria Lenk Aquatic center, two tennis courts and access ramps at Olympic Arena." A joint venture between the public and private sectors, Olympic Park "has been built at a cost of" R$2.3B ($710M) (XINHUA, 6/30).
Organizers of the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games "announced the start of their volunteer recruit campaign," hoping to bring on more than 22,000 people from around the world to serve as "the face of the Olympics."
The PyeongChang Organizing Committee for the 2018 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games said that "it will receive applications online through the end of September." Candidates "must be at least 18 years old at the opening of the PyeongChang Olympics on Feb. 9, 2018, and organizations with 50 or more members may apply in the group category" (YONHAP, 6/30).
The Japan Sports Ministry "is to embark on a wide range of initiatives to get children with disabilities more interested in the 2020 Olympics." Many "feel excluded from sport, something that is not helped by some local gyms barring wheelchair teams, for example, on the grounds that they may damage the floor." Sources said that "the ministry is considering bringing Olympians and Paralympians into special-needs schools to meet and chat with students." Sources said that the ministry "will request funds for the initiatives under the government’s fiscal 2017 budget." The ministry hopes that athletes’ visits "will change the situation and create new sports fans" (JIJI, 6/30).
