By Ryan Guebert
TV Media
Cost
• The total costs of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will amount to more than $11 billion U.S. (35.4 billion Brazilian real): $7.47 billion for the infrastructure, $2 billion for sports facilities and $2.16 billion for the operation and organization of the events.
Torch
• For the first time in the history of the Summer Olympics, the main cauldron is not permanently located at the Games’ main stadiums. The official cauldron is located in the port district of Rio de Janeiro.
Olympic Program
• Rio 2016 marks the first time a South American city has played host to the Olympic Games. Also, it’s the first time a Summer Olympics has been held entirely during a host country’s winter season. (Technically, the Summer Olympics will be in the winter.)
• Kosovo and South Sudan are making their Summer Olympics debut in Rio.
• The 28 sports at the Summer Olympics are split into 42 different disciplines and 306 events.
• The 18-hole golf course in Rio was designed by American golf course architect Gil Hanse. The course is in the Rio suburb of Barra da Tijuca and is set to become the city’s first public golf course after the Games.
• The center court at the Olympic Tennis Center in Barra da Tijuca was named after retired tennis player Maria Esther Bueno. Bueno was the first woman to win all four Grand Slam double titles in the same year.
• The Rio Municipal Velodrome was designed by German architects in the shape of a bicycle helmet. The construction of the facility has been heavily delayed, and it was not ready for testing until after July 25, shortly before the Games were to begin.
• The official song of the 2016 Summer Olympics is a samba-funk song called “The Gods of Olympus Visit Rio de Janeiro.”
• The official logo for Rio 2016 is three figures in yellow, green and blue (Brazil’s national colors) joined at the arms and in a triple embrace with the overall shape reflecting that of Sugarloaf Mountain in Rio de Janerio.
• The slogan of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro is “A new world.”
Team USA
• Team USA has won 2,400 medals in 26 Summer Olympics, and 976 of those are gold.
• The United States hopes to improve on the 103 medals won at the London 2012 Olympic Games. The most medals the U.S. has won at a Summer Games is 239, a record set in 1904 in St. Louis, Missouri.
• Polo Ralph Lauren has designed the United States uniforms for the official Opening and Closing Ceremonies for the fifth time. Ralph Lauren identified a select group of manufacturers from across the country to produce Team U.S.A.’s uniforms, ensuring all products are made in the United States.
Medals
• There are 306 sets of medals set to be awarded to athletes in Rio this summer. The design for these medals highlights the relationship between the power of Olympic heroes and the power of natural forces. The medals use the form of the laurel leaf, an ancient symbol of victory, to connect the champions of the Olympic Games to the forces of the natural world.
• The front of this year’s medals bear the image of the Greek goddess of victory, Nike, and two symbols of ancient and modern Greece— the Panathinaiko Stadium in Athens and the Acropolis.
• The gold in each gold medal has been produced without the use of mercury, while 30 percent of the material used for the silver and bronze medals is recycled.
• In the ribbons for the medals, 50 percent of the plastic comes from recycled sources. The medal cases have been crafted using only freijo hardwood that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, guaranteeing the wood used comes from forests that are managed according to the highest standards of sustainability.
Rio Mascots
• The official mascots of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics are Vinicius and Tom.
• Vinicius is named after musican Vinicius de Moraes (who wrote the Portuguese lyrics for “The Girl From Ipanema” ) and is a symbol of Brazilian wildlife.
• Tom is the Paralympic mascot named after musician Tom Jobim and symbolizes the plants from Brazilian forests.
