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Panam Sports Commission begins evaluation visit of Rio-Niterói's bid for the 2031 Pan American Games
Published on 01/10/2025 - 18:35 | Updated on 01/10/2025 - 18:42
The delegation will tour the main sports facilities in the five competition zones planned for the Games. Photo: Marcelo Piu
The Panam Sports Evaluation Committee, the highest authority for Olympic sport in the Americas, began on Wednesday (October 1st) a technical visit to Rio de Janeiro and Niterói's bid for the 2031 Pan American Games. Until next Friday, October 3rd, the delegation, made up of five members and led by Panam Sports president Neven Ilic, will tour the main sports facilities in the five competition zones planned for the Games.
"It's an honor for Panam Sports to be here in Rio de Janeiro and Niterói, a great joy. The idea of this visit is to reconfirm all the proposals that Rio and Niterói presented in their candidacy dossier. Over these three days, we will analyze in detail all the planning, infrastructure, and prepared programming. I thank the cities for following this process, which will be decided on October 10th," stated Neven Illic.
Accompanying the visit are the president of the Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB), Marco La Porta, and the mayors of Rio de Janeiro, Eduardo Paes, and Niterói, Rodrigo Neves.
"We are very pleased with the visit from Panam Sports. We know our cities' capacity to deliver major sporting events to the world. We have worked hard, and this visit will be very beneficial. We are confident. We have a strong collaborative project with other countries in the Americas, as our structures are practically ready. We want to leave a legacy of knowledge to share with other countries. I am certain that Rio and Niterói will be ready to put on a great show, as we always have. Now we must work until the end to secure the right to host the Pan American Games on the 10th," declared COB president Marco La Porta.
The program began at the Barra Olympic Park, home to many of the sports facilities already ready to host the Pan American Games. The Olympic Park is part of the Barra region and is expected to host 18 sports across 11 existing and in-use facilities.
"We're very optimistic, but it's clear that this is a sporting event. The three levels of government—the Rio and Niterói City Halls, as well as the state and federal governments—are united so that we can achieve this victory on the 10th. We believe that Rio and Niterói have all the conditions to deliver high-quality Pan American and Parapan American Games. The effort to leave a legacy is something that has a significant impact," stated Rio's mayor, Eduardo Paes.
The starting point was the Maria Lenk Aquatic Park, home to the COB Training Center, a training ground for Brazil's elite athletes. From there, the delegation continued on to the Isabel Salgado Experimental Olympic Gymnasium, the Rio Olympic Museum, the Olympic Velodrome, Arena Carioca 1, and the Olympic Arena (Farmasi Arena).
"We've been working on this project for some time, alongside Rio's city government and the Brazilian Olympic Committee, and receiving the Pan American Games commission is a great pleasure. Our bid is very well structured technically. We already have a good portion of the sports infrastructure ready in Rio and Niterói, and now we'll have a legacy of mobility, infrastructure, and quality of life for the Rio de Janeiro metropolitan area. We're very confident and excited. Niterói has an Olympic medal-winning vice-mayor, Isabel Swan, who has been a great help in preparing the bid. We're ready to host the best Pan American Games in history," declared Niterói's mayor, Rodrigo Neves.
Back at the COB Training Center, the Evaluation Committee toured the Artistic Gymnastics Center in detail, with a presentation by Olympic medalist Jade Barbosa, who recalled the importance of the Rio 2007 Pan American Games in her career, a turning point, according to the athlete. The members also visited the organization's High Performance Center, which houses state-of-the-art equipment for the country's athletes.
Next, Panam Sports members experienced the experience of riding the BRT to Jardim Oceânico Station, enjoying one of the main urban legacies left by the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Members of the Panam Sports Evaluation Committee:
- Neven Ilic – President Panam Sports
- Jimena Saldaña – General Secretary of Panam Sports
- Mario Moccia – President of the Argentine Olympic Committee
- Dennis Knight – President of the Saint Kitts and Nevis Olympic Committee
- Sara Rosario – President of the Puerto Rico Olympic Committee
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