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National Training Network

Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games spread sport legacy throughout Brazil

Brazil earned the right to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games almost five years ago. On the occasion, Rio de Janeiro beat competitors like Chicago (USA), Tokyo (Japan) and Madrid (Spain). Since then, one of Brazil’s biggest targets has been to ensure that the Games related legacy and benefits did not restrict themselves to just the one city.

Therefore, several training centres have been built throughout the country. Through the National Training Network (Federal Bill 12,395 from March 2011), different venues offer better training conditions for Brazilian athletes who will compete in the 2016 Games. More than that, these venues allow for the development of several sports and new Brazilian talent for future Olympic editions.

The programme’s goal is to interconnect already existing facilities - like the ones built for the 2007 Pan American Games - to new venues, with a view to restructuring and renovating Brazilian sport infrastructure. This goes for Olympic as well as Paralympic sports. In Rio de Janeiro, the venues will make up the Olympic Training Centre (COT) in Barra da Tijuca and Deodoro, two regions that will host events in 2016. In addition, coaches, referees and managers are being technically enhanced through the National Network.

Sport Initiation Centres (CIEs) are another of the programme’s pillars. In all, 254 venues will be built in 240 municipalities, supplying the structure for the practice of up to 13 Olympic, 6 Paralympic sports, and one non-Olympic event. Total investments reach R$ 910 million through the Growth Acceleration Programme (PAC 2). The contract for the transfer of funds has been signed for three CIEs and include facilities in the municipalities of Teresina, Picos and Parnaíba (Piauí state, Brazil's northeast region).

For the High Performance Secretary from Brazil's Ministry of Sport Ricardo Leyser, the legacy of the Rio 2016 Games can already be seen before the competition. “We’re building legacy in the whole country and thus, we’re nationalising the benefits of the Games", he stated. “This nationalisation will have a lot of impact in democratising sport, as people will have access to appropriate facilities in relation to the practice of sport, thus, reducing inequalities between Brazilian regions", added the secretary.

Another factor pointed out by Leyser is the reach of the Olympic legacy. “These actions are spreading out into projects that encompass everything from youth level sports to very high performance. For example, they reach 44 thousand schools involved in youth level competitions, as well as Sport Initiation Centres and include the dozens of tracks that are being built or renovated. Furthermore, they're reaching high performance sports centres, like the Olympic Development Centre (CFO) in Fortaleza, the Pan American Judo Centre in Lauro de Freitas in the state of Bahia and the Handball Centre in São Bernado (São Paulo state), among others”, he said.

Also, the number of facilities being delivered has to be added to the development of national sport. “Our Olympic legacy also means the millions of venue related items that are being delivered to several sports like judo, wrestling, fencing and taekwondo, among others", added the secretary.

A summary of the main facilities spread out through the country and that are already part of the National Training Network: