What is the Department for International Trade responsible for?
“We are a UK government department working with businesses based in the United Kingdom to ensure their success in international markets, and encourage the best overseas companies to look to the UK as their global partner of choice. Trade and Investment has never been more important to the country’s economic prospects. We help UK companies of all sizes to grow their businesses through international trade by offering expert advice and practical support through a range of programmes. We also connect businesses to the world’s top commercial opportunities and drive targeted campaigns centred around them.”

Why is the major sports event sector a key focus for you?
“The budgets for the world’s Top 50 major sporting events between 2016 and 2025 are estimated to be worth a total £230 billion. With 30% of procurement made internationally, this creates a potential export market of nearly £70 billion for UK companies. Obviously the Olympic Games is a key focus for the companies we work with, but we have been encouraging them to remember that there are also opportunities to explore around the Paralympics which we feel don’t always get the exposure they deserve.”

Have UK companies been particularly successful in securing business at Rio 2016?
“The special relationship that exists between countries that host back-to-back Olympic and Paralympic Games, and enhanced through a yearly UK-Brazil dialogue which has taken place since 2012, has led to 40 UK companies winning contracts worth so far in excess of £150m from the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Some of the areas where UK companies have been successful include: Architectural and design consultancy, Olympic Park Masterplan, Venue design consultancy, Security consultancy, Engineering and sustainability consultancy, Audio and video operations, Temporary structures and event overlay consultancy, Cost Consultancy, Temporary Kitchens.”

What is the Department for International Trade’s history with the IPC Academy Campus?
“The UK government has  been involved with the IPC Academy Campus since the London 2012 Paralympics where we sponsored and hosted the Inclusion Summit which was a great success. Apart from the insightful programme and networking, it was an opportunity for us to make the event venue - Lancaster House - accessible for people with physical impairments for the first time ever through the fitting of wheelchair ramps for example. For Sochi 2014, we sponsored the Closing Cocktail Reception at the Campus.”

What will you be sponsoring specifically at the 2016 IPC Academy Campus in Rio?
“As was the case in Sochi, we will be sponsoring the Closing Cocktail Reception. This will bring proceedings of the 2016 IPC Academy Campus to a close on the relaxed roof terrace surroundings of the British House at the Shopping Metropolitano Barra. The reception will offer networking opportunities for all IPC Academy Campus participants and act as a ‘graduation ceremony’ for the Campus. Approximately 400-500 people will come together to celebrate the success of the Campus and will be the biggest event-learning gathering of major sport event organisers and their stakeholders ever held in the world. It really is a unique opportunity to rub shoulders with a wide range of people from the major events industry who have attended the Campus and also with industry people from Brazil and the UK who we will be inviting.”

Are you pleased with the engagement you have had from UK companies for the Paralympics and the Campus?
“Yes, definitely. We are bringing over a delegation of UK companies who are a mixture of ones familiar with the industry and others who are keen to explore new opportunities that may be linked to the Paralympics or other major events. In the coming weeks we will be working with them to ensure they get the most out of the trip and the opportunities that come within the unique environment of the Campus.”

What is your advice to organisations attending the IPC Academy Campus for the first time?
“What was great about the last Campus was being asked to stand up at the beginning of the Games Experience Programme and to go and speak to five new people that we had never met before. That was a great ice breaker and really got people integrating. Often people attend events like these and spend the whole time speaking to people they know already and that can be a wasted opportunity to not only to make new friends of course, but also to source new business opportunities. My advice for anyone attending Campus is to make the most of networking with the wide variety of people there and also to learn what you can from the experts who will be hosting the various elements.”

This interview was conducted by the World Academy of Sport (WAoS). Delivered by the IPC Academy – the International Paralympic Committee’s educational division created in 2009 as a partnership between the IPC and the WAoS – the 2016 IPC Academy Campus is a unique event-based learning initiative that will include an Observers’ Programme, Games Experience Programme, Inclusion Summit and Closing Cocktail Reception. The IPC Academy Campus will give stakeholders of major sports events the chance to learn from their peers during the Paralympic Games.
The IPC Academy Campus takes place in Rio de Janeiro between 6-17 September 2016. Its Event Partners include the Adecco Group and the UK’s Department for International Trade. Its Media Partners are Sportcal (Intelligence Partner), Major Events International (Digest Partner), Around the Rings (Online Partner), Host City (Magazine Partner) and AXS Chat (Social Media Partner). For further information about the the IPC Academy Campus, please visit www.ipcacademycampus.com or contact Claire Bennett, Project Coordinator, World Academy of Sport cbennett@worldacademysport.com. 
 

During the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games the Future Arena will host the handball events and be packed with 12,000 spectators. When the Games are over its structure will be dismantled and used in the construction of four state schools for two thousand children in the city of Rio de Janeiro. 
Three schools will be constructed in Barra da Tijuca and one in Maracanã - each accommodating 500 students – as part of a US$77m legacy project.
The brief for the handball arena was to build something that would contribute to the city of Rio beyond the 2016 Olympic Games. A first for the Olympics, the venue will make use of an innovative technique called "nomadic architecture", thus ensuring that even a temporary structure can leave a lasting legacy. 
The arena will be dismantled and the components transported to four separate locations to be rebuilt into state schools. The main elements that will be reused are the roof, rainscreen cladding, main structural steel elements and disabled ramps, which will form the shells of the four schools. The open nature of the rainscreen and external ramp that create the distinctive architecture of the arena will be recognisable in the new schools. 
UK-based firm AndArchitects led by Rio-based practice Lopes, Santos & Ferreira Gomes provided the design for the handball arena. AndArchitects’ experience with six temporary buildings at London 2012 helped them jointly win the bid for this ground-breaking project. 
Careful thought was given to what materials and systems of construction would allow this transition with minimal wasted material. The schools were designed simultaneously with the arena. The grid for the floor plates and the roof were all designed from the outset for both buildings so that the panels on the façade and on the floor and roof could be easily relocated in order for the modules to work for both buildings.
After the Games, once the arena has been converted into schools, the students will be reminded of their schools’ role in the Olympic Games. One idea that is being reviewed is that the names of the stars of the Brazilian team are engraved onto the cladding of the building and these names will remain on the walls of the classroom to inspire students. 
 

Ten refugee athletes will take part in the Olympic Games Rio 2016 this summer in the first ever Refugee Olympic Team (ROT), the International Olympic Committee announced on 3 June. 
Rami Anis, Yiech Pur Biel, James Chiengjiek, Yonas Kinde, Anjelina Lohalith, Rose Lokonyen, Paulo Lokoro, Yolande Mabika, Yusra Mardini and Popole Misenga will march with the Olympic flag immediately before host nation Brazil during the Opening Ceremony. 
“These refugees have no home, no team, no flag, no national anthem. We will offer them a home in the Olympic Village together with all the athletes of the word. The Olympic anthem will be played in their honour and the Olympic flag will lead them into the Olympic Stadium,” said IOC President Thomas Bach.
”This will be a symbol of hope for all the refugees in our world, and will make the world better aware of the magnitude of this crisis. It is also a signal to the international community that refugees are our fellow human beings and are an enrichment to society. These refugee athletes will show the world that despite the unimaginable tragedies that they have faced, anyone can contribute to society through their talent, skills and strength of the human spirit.”
As part of the IOC’s pledge to aid potential elite athletes affected by the worldwide refugee crisis, NOCs around the world were asked to identify any refugee athlete with the potential to qualify for the Olympic Games Rio 2016. Such candidates could then receive funding from Olympic Solidarity to assist with their preparations and qualification efforts.
Forty-three promising candidates were initially identified. Selection of the ten athletes was based on consultation with their host National Olympic Committees (NOCs), International Federations, the UNHCR and the NOCs of their countries of origin. Nomination criteria included sporting level, official refugee status verified by the United Nations, and personal situation and background. 
Five of the athletes originate from South Sudan, two from Syria, two from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and one from Ethiopia. Five are hosted by the National Olympic Committee of Kenya, two by Brazil, one by Germany, one by Luxembourg and one by Belgium. 
Six of the athletes will compete in athletics running events, two in swimming and two in judo.
Like all teams at the Olympic Games, the ROT will have its own entourage to meet all the required technical needs of the athletes. Olympian and former marathon world record-holder Tegla Loroupe (Kenya) was named the team’s Chef de Mission, while Isabela Mazão (Brazil), who was proposed by the UNHCR, will act as the Deputy Chef de Mission. They will lead a crew of five coaches and five other team officials.
The team will be housed in the Olympic Village like all the other teams and will get its own welcome ceremony at the Olympic Village, like all other teams. Team uniforms will be provided by the IOC.
For all official representations of the team (including possible medal ceremonies), the Olympic flag will be raised and the Olympic Anthem will be played. 
A proper doping control process will be introduced through the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Olympic Solidarity will cover preparation, travel and other participation expenses for the team and will continue to support the athletes of the team after the Olympic Games.
The IOC will also continue to support the refugee athletes after the Games.
Through Olympic Solidarity and its Olympic Scholarships for Athletes programme, the IOC aims to help smaller NOCs prepare and qualify their athletes for the Olympic Games. The IOC’s priority is to focus primarily on athletes who need the assistance the most and to place them on an equal footing with their competitors from more developed regions of the world. In the lead-up to London 2012, for example, 1,264 Olympic scholarships were allocated to athletes from 171 NOCs in 21 sports. 657 'scholars' eventually took part in the Games. They won a total of 72 medals.
Following the approval of Olympic Agenda 2020, the IOC’s strategic roadmap for the future of the Olympic Movement, and in light of the current global refugee crisis, the IOC also created a special fund of USD 2 million to develop relief projects through sport in collaboration with NOCs around the world. Over 15 NOCs have already made use of this fund.
The IOC already works with a number of United Nations agencies to help refugees around the world. For the last 20 years, the IOC and UNHCR in particular have been using sport to support healing and development among young refugees in many camps and settlements around the world. They have consequently seen thousands of refugees benefit from sports programmes and equipment donated by the IOC.
The biographies of all athletes and their entourage are available here.
 

With just two months to go until the opening ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the host city is “on the cusp” of reaping the same legacy benefits enjoyed by London, according to AECOM, the company behind both cities’ Olympic masterplans.
“Despite Brazil’s current economic and political challenges, the guiding principle has always been for the Games to serve Rio and boost its development, improving the quality of life for all its citizens,” said Bill Hanway, Global Sports Leader at AECOM.
Rio is aiming to stage the world’s best value Olympic Games by reducing public cost through partnership with the private sector, and by delivering a simple and sustainable venue plan that applies many of the legacy planning strategies of the London 2012 Games. 
According to the IOC, 75 per cent of capital expenditure relating to London’s preparations for hosting the 2012 Olympic Games was invested in transport and utilities infrastructure, land and water clean-up, public open spaces, new homes, and permanent sports and leisure facilities. 
A similar approach has been adopted in Rio. The Games is boosting the development of public transport, with Linha 4 of the metro to Barra, the site of the Olympic Park, due to be completed just in time for the Games. 
Power and data facilities installed to cater for 20,000 journalists from the international media will make the Olympic Park one of the best connected districts in Rio.
“The Games are a catalyst for changing not only the city, but the aspirations of future generations. As with London, our approach is to take a long-term view that sees the Games as a milestone in the ongoing legacy programme,” said Hanway.
“The Games and the success of the event are the primary focus, but also serve as a driver for the future. It’s an opportunity to invest in underdeveloped areas and significantly upgrade transport and infrastructure. Rio is now on the cusp of reaping the legacy benefits.”

Parallel lines: Games and legacy masterplanning
For the London 2012 Games, AECOM delivered masterplanning, landscape architecture, engineering and sustainability services. Working closely with its partners at Rio’s Municipal Olympic Company (EOM), AECOM has reprised these roles in Rio with additional responsibility for the preliminary design of the Barra Olympic Park’s sports arenas and detailed design of the International Broadcast Centre.
AECOM’s masterplan for Rio covers a 20-year period, with three distinct phases: preparation for the event; a transitional phase; and the long-term legacy. All phases were planned in parallel to smooth the transition between modes. AECOM points to the layout of roads and the capacity of utilities in the Barra Park, which were designed to cater for the planned residential, educational, commercial and sporting legacy.
The deconstruction and repurposing of temporary structures will take between five and seven years to complete after the Games. And in the legacy phase, more than three-quarters of the site will become a new neighbourhood. 
Just under a quarter of the Barra site will be occupied by permanent sports facilities, which in legacy mode will provide elite training facilities for the Brazilian Olympic team as well as a sports high school for future Olympians. 
AECOM delivered preliminary designs for six new sports venues: the new velodrome, Olympic Aquatics Stadium and Tennis Centre, as well as three adjoining Carioca Arenas that will host basketball, judo, taekwondo and wrestling competitions.
The velodrome will remain a cycling venue, the tennis centre will be adapted to host tournaments, and the Carioca Arenas will become a Sports Academy School and multi-sport training facility. The Olympic Aquatics Stadium will be rebuilt as two smaller community pools.
AECOM was also tasked with delivering the strategy for reusable, temporary structures that could be moved and rebuilt as community facilities and schools after the Games.
Venues including the Handball Arena and Olympic Aquatics Stadium employ efficient, highly standardised designs based on modular, stacked and repeated bolted steel structures to ease dismantling and reassembly. This “nomadic architecture” approach will allow the Handball Arena to be transformed after the Games into four new primary schools across the city.
AECOM also provided full architectural services for the International Broadcast Centre, which meets strict environmental and sustainability standards while also fulfilling broadcasters’ needs in terms of power and data connectivity, acoustics and temperature control.
The Olympic Park is designed for more than 150,000 spectators to move safely and freely on peak days during the Games. After the Games, the focus will switch to turning the site into parkland, with AECOM’s landscape design strategy transforming large spectator areas into a new linear park for the community.
 

The stage for hockey’s most anticipated competition is set. Four men’s and four women’s national teams gathered at the Deodoro Olympic Park, in Rio de Janeiro, from November 24th through the 28th for the test event called “Aquece Rio” – the most important technical rehearsal for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

The Dow Chemical Company is contributing with its resins to ensure a world‐class, high‐performing surface for the Olympic hockey tournament in Rio. Dow is a Worldwide Olympic Partner and the Official Chemistry Partner of the Olympic Games.

The warm-up also marked the unveiling of an important component of Rio 2016’s “Look of the Games” visual identity: the colours of the field‐of‐play, a much‐anticipated feature since the success of London 2012’s Riverbank Arena and its eye‐catching blue and pink pitch.

For Rio, the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee and the International Hockey Federation (FIH) decided for a blue pitch with green sidelines – a colour pattern that matches Rio 2016’s visual identity and reflects the vivid spirit of the first‐ever Brazilian Olympic Games.

World‐class playing conditions

Rio 2016’s hockey competition will be played on an innovative synthetic turf system which uses Dow’s linear low density “DOWLEX” Polyethylene Resins in the yarn component as well as Dow’s polyurethanes technologies. The system is designed to deliver enhanced durability for increased pitch life, and a higher‐performing and consistent field‐of‐play throughout the busy Olympic competition schedule.

Colourability is a key attribute of the yarn component, enabling customised aesthetics and design for the playing surface.

The playing performance and quality of the pitch were a primary concern when developing the hockey turf system for Rio 2016. The tufted samples were inspected by the Rio 2016’s Venues Management and Look of the Games teams, as well as the FIH and the Olympic Broadcast Service (OBS), to ensure the selected colours met the specific requirements for players, officials, spectators and broadcasters alike.

“We are thrilled that Dow’s solutions and experience in supplying materials for world‐class playing surfaces are setting the stage for one of the world’s most anticipated competitions in Rio,” said Nathan Wiker, global marketing director for Dow Packaging & Specialty Plastics.

“Hockey is a fast game. The colours of the pitch will allow the spectators in the stadium and on television to follow the action more clearly because of the deeper contrast between the ball and the pitch.”

The Olympic hockey competition is scheduled to take place at the Olympic Hockey Centre in the Deodoro Olympic Park from August 6 to 19, 2016. It will feature the 12 best men and women's teams from around the globe. The complex will include two competition pitches and one warm‐up area.

This article was contributed by Dow. For more information on their artificial turf at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, visit www.dow.com/artificialturfsolutions/rio