Delivery of Arena Carioca 3 establishes the six-month mark to the Paralympic Games

The official delivery of the Arena Carioca 3 this Sunday (06.03), at the Barra da Tijuca Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, marked the beginning of the six months countdown to the 2016 Paralympic Games. The facilities will host the fencing, taekwondo and Paralympic judo events. The opening ceremony of the Paralympics in Rio has been scheduled for 7 September. Arena Carioca 3 is also hosting the fencing test-event, planned to take place between 23 and 27 of April.

Photograph: Carol Delmazo/brasil2016.gov.br

The delivery event was attended by Rio's Mayor Eduardo Paes, the president of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee Carlos Arthur Nuzman and the Ministry of Sport's Executive Secretary Marcos Jorge de Lima.

The arena is the fourth venue at the Barra Olympic Park to have reached 100% conclusion rate, after the Futuro Arena, Arena Carioca 1 and the International Broadcast Centre (IBC). At the Deodoro Olympic Park, the Deodoro Stadium has been delivered, as well as the Arena da Juventude, the National Equestrian Centre, the National Hockey Centre, the BMX Olympic Centre, the Mountain Bike Olympic Park and the Canoe Slalom Olympic Centre. The Modern Pentathlon Water Centre will be delivered this week.

After the Games, Arena Carioca 3 will be turned into an Experimental Olympic School (GEO), a sport based school able to cater for a thousand students. GEO will have 24 classrooms and Science and Media labs, and will provide students with activities full-time. The official opening ceremony was attended by athletes of the Brazilian Paralympic judo team, who provided a demonstration with 80 children of the Dr. Sócatre GEO, located in Pedra de Guaratiba.

Photograph: Carol Delmazo/brasil2016.gov.br

Federal investment

The three sport halls that are known as Arenas Cariocas had investments in the order of R$ 292.8 million. Resources came from a public private partnership (PPP) from the Rio de Janeiro City Hall. The Ministry of Sport allocated R$ 58 million for the halls' air conditioning systems. During Arena Carioca 3's delivery ceremony, the Ministry of Sport's Executive Secretary Marcos Jorge de Lima explained that the air conditioning equipment has already been installed, but that some final adjustments are necessary before the fencing test-event in April. "The air conditioning system of the three areas is a Ministry of Sport investment and works are on schedule. It has been put in in the three arenas (Arena Carioca 1, 2 and 3) and is ready for delivery", he stated.

Arena Carioca 3 has capacity for 10 thousand people, while Arena Carioca 1 (already delivered) can cater for 16 thousand fans and Arena Carioca 2 (in final construction stages), 10 thousand spectators. Following the same style as Arena Carioca 1, the structure is closed and has 10 thousand seats, with colours ranging from light green to dark blue. The built-up area covers 28 thousand square metres, standing at 19 metres of height. After the events, the grandstands are disassembled. Around 2 thousand workers were involved in the construction, using 3 thousand square metres of concrete. The venue has 195 rooms, 29 lavatories, 6 changing rooms and 5 lifts.

The arena was designed to provide services for Paralympians and accessibility for spectators. Two ramps with anti-skid floors provide access to the grandstands, with special seats set aside for people with special needs. There are adapted lavatories in the area, to be used by athletes, as well as fans, thus, ensuring accessibility and comfort for people with reduced mobility.

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