Rio celebrates 10 years of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games at the Barra Olympic Park.

The Rio de Janeiro City Hall continued the celebrations for the tenth anniversary of the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games this Saturday (August 8th) by holding several workshops with the participation of students from the Olympic Villages, at the Isabel Salgado Olympic Educational Gymnasium, in the Barra Olympic Park. The Municipal Secretary of Sports, Bruno Ramos, honored some athletes who were in the competitions in the city in 2016, such as the gymnast siblings Daniele and Diego Hypólito; volleyball player Douglas Souza; judoka Wilians Silva de Araújo and Camila Leiria, a sitting volleyball athlete, and inaugurated two sculptures alluding to the celebrations.

– This facility (GEO Isabel Salgado) is a legacy in its very essence! There are a thousand students studying here, with the right to practice sports. We also have more than 5 people participating in sports activities, in 26 different disciplines. It's fantastic to celebrate ten years since the Olympic Games. We have a management team that thinks about public policies. The Olympic legacy of Rio is spread throughout the city – highlighted Secretary Bruno Ramos.

Olympic volleyball champion in Rio, Douglas Souza, recalled that the Olympic legacy in Rio transforms people's lives.

"We still have a lot to fight for. But just having an incredible school (Isabel Salgado), which puts children into sports, already takes them off the streets and gives them a purpose to change their lives, as it changed mine. We need more schools like this one," he stated.

Paralympic silver medalist and judoka Wilians Silva de Araújo shared how important the sport has been to him.

– Sport, along with education, is the greatest means of social transformation we have. I'm from Complexo do Alemão. I lived in Vila Cruzeiro for a while and now I live in Olaria. It was sport that showed me the right and victorious path. I can only thank the city hall for all the infrastructure provided. The greatest legacy is what we leave for the children – he emphasized.

The municipal secretary of Education, Hugo Nepomuceno, said that the city of Rio is an example for the world.

– The Olympic legacy in Rio is symbolic and inspiring. This arena, which has become a school, is the first example of a legacy for the entire world. Students from the 1st year of literacy classes up to the 9th year of elementary school are enrolled. The most incredible thing about this is having children and teenagers studying in a place where national and international athletes have excelled, inspired generations, and won their medals. In addition to academic development, with the offer of full-time education, students have the opportunity to develop in sports – he stated.

During the day, around 500 students from the municipality's Olympic villages participated in sports workshops in volleyball, judo, athletics, weightlifting, fencing, rowing, artistic gymnastics, and boxing. Olympic athletes interacted with the children and young people, encouraging not only the practice of sports but also the dissemination of the ideals of Olympism.

"It's a unique opportunity to be with a former Olympic athlete. Sport opens doors to change your life. It's about focusing, waking up early and training," said Larissa Vitória Monteiro, 16, an athlete from the Clara Nunes Olympic Village in Acari, in the North Zone, who participated in the event.

Daniele Hypólito, a former Olympic gymnast, was also honored.

"It was incredible to be able to compete at home, with the crowd on our side, in 2016. Being able to combine education and sport is fundamental. This is the true legacy that is left, using the structure that was created to give continuity to other young athletes along with education," she highlighted.

In addition to workshops with students from the Olympic Village and the tribute to Olympic athletes, the Municipal Secretary of Sports, Bruno Ramos, inaugurated two sculptures of the logos for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The two works were placed and will remain at the entrance of the Isabel Salgado Educational Gymnasium, where they can be visited.

A sporting legacy in harmony with athletes and the community.

Barra Olympic Park

A total of 179 sporting events have been held since 2021, when the legacy plan was resumed after a four-year hiatus, in the municipal arenas of the Olympic Park, ranging from national and continental to world competitions.

In June of this year, the Arena Carioca 1, the Olympic Tennis Center, and the Velodrome were granted to private companies. Even after the concession, part of the resources obtained by the private sector must be allocated to socio-sports initiatives developed in the Olympic Villages.

Velodrome

Game Mode: Hosted the cycling competitions of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Legacy Mode:

– Sports activities and the Rio Olympic Museum.

Free sports activities: Until July 2022, the Velodrome was under the administration of the federal government. After the Rio de Janeiro City Hall took back control of the facility, the space began offering free sports activities to 4.300 people per month, in 34 different sports, cultural or leisure activities.

These include: stretching, circus arts, badminton, ballet, basketball, beach tennis, running and walking, dance, fencing, functional training, futsal, table football, artistic gymnastics, rhythmic gymnastics, handball, weightlifting, hockey, jazz, jiu-jitsu, karate, kickboxing, Olympic weightlifting, Muay Thai, bodybuilding, skating, Pilates, podcasting, hit boxing, skateboarding, taekwondo, table tennis, aerial silks, volleyball, and Zumba.

These activities were developed in Arena 3, which was transformed into the Olympic Experimental Gymnasium (GEO).

Olympic Museum

Opened in August 2025, the museum is dedicated to the Olympic Movement and to telling the story of the achievement, preparation, and execution of the Rio 2016 Games.

Competitions

Being the most modern in South America, the Velodrome hosts several national and international cycling competitions throughout the year, as well as other events such as fencing and judo.

Arena Carioca 3

Game Mode: Hosted the Taekwondo and Fencing competitions at the Olympics, and Judo at the Paralympics.

Legacy Mode:

– Isabel Salgado Olympic Educational Gymnasium

The first sports arena in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to be transformed into a municipal public school, GEO Isabel Salgado consists of 24 classrooms, a reception area, a food and nutrition unit, a multipurpose room and another for pedagogical support, a circulation area, restrooms for staff and students, as well as sports facilities with two courts and areas for practicing judo, wrestling, table tennis and gymnastics. It is a full-time school that benefits approximately one thousand students. Currently, there are 12 GEOs throughout the educational network, with a total of 5.494 students.

Nomadic Architecture

When considering the conservation of public resources and the reuse of arenas after the Games, the Rio de Janeiro City Hall used the concept of Nomadic Architecture for some of the facilities.

Arena of the Future

Game Mode: Hosted the Olympic Handball competitions. And Goalball in the Paralympics.

Legacy Mode:

– Four Technological Educational Gymnasiums (GETs)

In March 2022, the dismantling of the Arena began for its transformation into four schools, located in the neighborhoods of Bangu, Campo Grande, Rio das Pedras, and Santa Cruz, benefiting approximately 1.700 students. Each GET (School Group) consists of ten classrooms, a reading room, a collaborative space, a multi-sports court, and administrative areas.

To build the schools, the municipality used the nomadic architecture concept of the Arena of the Future and took advantage of materials such as breeze blocks (for the facades of arenas), metal structures, electrical, hydraulic and sanitary installations, partitions and sanitary ware.

Luso-Brazilian Stadium

The grandstand and roof structures of the Arena do Futuro were donated to the Luso-Brasileiro Stadium, owned by Portuguesa, on Ilha do Governador. The donation allowed the stadium's capacity to be increased from 5.044 to 16 spectators.

Olympic Aquatic Stadium

Game Mode: Hosted the swimming competitions from the Olympics and Paralympics.

Legacy Mode:

West Park

The pool used in the competitions was set up in Parque Oeste. And today it serves two thousand people a month with free swimming and water aerobics activities for all ages.

Bangu Atlético Clube

Part of the structures were ceded to Bangu Atlético Clube. This measure allowed for the installation of a roof at the social headquarters. The donation also ensured accessibility for people with ASD (autism spectrum disorder) within the club's facilities.

International Broadcasting Centre (IBC)

Game Mode: The International Broadcast Centre (IBC) hosted over ten thousand media professionals, who worked in the building that housed studios and generated the images for the official Games broadcasts.

Legacy Mode: Created from the reuse of part of the steel structures of the (IBC).

The Gentileza Terminal integrates three modes of transport: BRT, light rail, and regular municipal bus lines.

Since its opening, 22,5 million people have passed through the terminal.

Via Olímpica

Gaming Mode: A circulation and social area within the Olympic Park, which also served to connect the sports arenas and culminated in the "Live Site," an esplanade intended for events in front of the Jacarepaguá Lagoon.

Legacy Mode:

Rita Lee Park

It has a total area of ​​136 m², a skate park, a 120 m² climbing wall, multi-sports courts, a children's play area, and a grove with 200 trees. It is located on a route connecting all the main areas of the Olympic Park, such as the arenas, terraces, and the "Live Site," an esplanade for events in front of the Jacarepaguá Lagoon in the Southwest Zone. It has 1.100 trees and 70 shrubs, as well as a basketball wall, an outdoor gym for seniors, a children's playground, furniture, public restrooms, pergolas, colorful flooring, and a bicycle rack. The wet plaza covers 2.600 m² and is formed by 47 metal structures that simulate trees, from which 190 jets of treated water emerge. The water is reused and always undergoes a filtration process before returning to the system.

Olympic Exhibition

The festivities at the Olympic Park were the second event organized by the city government to celebrate the 2016 Games. On Wednesday (August 5th), the date that marked ten years since the Opening Ceremony of the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games, the exhibition “The Olympic Tomorrow: Legacy and Future” was inaugurated at the Museum of Tomorrow.

The exhibition relives Rio's journey in organizing and hosting the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and invites the public to reflect on the legacy already built and what more will be created. Visitors will have the opportunity to see original relics, such as medals, the Olympic Torch, uniforms, and mascots.

The public will still be able to interact with some of the installations and remember the legacy left by the Games.

“The Olympic Tomorrow: Legacy and Future” can be visited free of charge until October 5th, from Thursday to Tuesday (the museum is closed on Wednesdays), from 10 am to 18 pm (last entry at 17 pm).

Kindness Terminal

Residents of Rio de Janeiro will also be able to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games at the Gentileza Intermodal Terminal. An Instagrammable backdrop and an Olympic Torch, where the public can take photos, have been installed at the terminal.