Despite its success in hosting the Pan American Games, there remains much work to be done before Rio de Janeiro qualifies as an Olympic host city, Mario Vazquez Rana, chief of the Pan American Sports Organization (PASO) said on Saturday.
"This Pan American Games are successful, but there remains much work to be done if Brazil wants to host the Olympic Games," Rana told a press conference on the penultimate day of the July 13-29 Games.
The hemisphere-wide Olympic-style Pan American Games, which involve about 5,600 athletes from 42 countries and regions competing in 34 sports, are regarded as a huge test for Brazil to prove its capability of hosting major international sporting events.
Rana, also a member of the International Olympic Committee's executive board, said that the local organizing committee is going to release a review report on the Rio Games Sunday, but an excellent report doesn't ensure that Rio would win IOC's favor.
"The Pan Ams opened the door for Rio, but there is a long way to go," said the 75-year-old Mexican.
Along with Rio, Madrid, Tokyo, Chicago, Doha of Qatar and Baku of Azerbaijan are all interested in staging the 2016 Summer Olympics. The IOC will select the host city in October 2009.
Asked what are the areas that need improvement, Rana said that poor infrastructure at the softball and baseball venue had caused the most problems.
Strong winds destroyed part of the softball venue and forced Pan Ams organizers to postpone the start of the competition. Baseball, also held at Cidade do Rock, was delayed three times last week because of similar problems.
Source: Xinhua
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