Rio 2016 announces test event programme

“Establishing the calendar is an important step as these events will allow us to test all aspects of the competitions and ensure that, come Games time, everything will be in place for the athletes to produce their best performances.”

To mark two years to go until the start of the Rio 2016 Games, the organising committee has announced is draft test event calendar. It features six Paralympic specific test events and five which will be held alongside Olympic competition as part of a vast programme covering 45 events.

Test events are a crucial part of an organising committee’s work, providing the opportunity to test the competition sites and venue operations, while also giving athletes the chance to compete at the locations where the Games themselves will be held.

The organising committee works closely with the International Sports Federations to define the details of the events, the majority of which will be held in the second half of 2015 and first part of 2016. As well as being an opportunity to test for the Games, they will be top-level competitions in their own right, and some will be ticketed.

Agberto Guimarães, Rio 2016's Executive Director of Sport and Paralympic Integration, said: “Establishing the calendar is an important step as these events will allow us to test all aspects of the competitions and ensure that, come Games time, everything will be in place for the athletes to produce their best performances.”

Delphine Moulin, Rio 2016’s Test Events General Manager, said: “Test events are a vital part of the preparations for staging the Games, providing the opportunity to put all our planning into practice.

“They also present an invaluable chance to integrate the organising committee’s team with the International and National Sports Federations and government teams, who also have a crucial role to play in the delivery of the Games.”

The first event featuring para-athletes will be an integrated sailing event in August 2015 as part of the Aquece Rio Open Series (“Warm up Rio”).

The following month integrated events will be held in canoe sprint, triathlon and archery.

In November 2015, the first full Paralympic test event will be held in boccia, whilst an integrated table tennis event will also be staged.

The Acquece Open Series will continue in January 2016 with wheelchair rugby and in April 2016 with goalball and shooting.

The Paralympic test events will conclude in May 2016 with athletics and swimming, whilst a powerlifting test event has yet to be confirmed.

The events organised by Rio 2016 will form the Aquece Rio (‘Warm up Rio’) series, while there will also be events organised by International and National Sports Federations, in which Rio 2016 will test specific operations.