Rio 2016 organisers have unveiled the 16,000-capacity basketball venue for the Games which forms part of the city’s US$195m (£136.3m, €179.3m) Olympic Training Centre (OTC).
Carioca Arena 1, the largest venue in the Barra Olympic Park, will also hold the wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby during the Paralympics, as well as tests for the powerlifting and wrestling later this month.
Janeth Arcain and Hortencia Marcari – two members of the silver medal winning Brazil team in Atlanta 1996 – inaugurated the venue.
Marcari said the “most important thing” was that the arena “inspires players”, while Arcain added: “Brazilian fans always get very involved in live sport and I’m sure they will create an electric atmosphere during the Games.”
The stadium consists of 5,000 permanent and 11,000 contemporary seats, and forms part of the AECOM-designed OTC alongside the Carioca Arena 2, the Olympic Tennis Centre and the Rio Olympic Velodrome.
Following the Games, the OTC will provide tennis, wrestling, weightlifting, badminton, fencing, taekwondo, judo and athletics facilities for elite sports people, and will also be made available for school children and social projects.
An Olympic-standard athletics track and two beach volleyball courts will be added to the park as well as a 166-bedroom dormitory for athletes. After the Games, the park will be able to host international sporting events, concerts and exhibitions.
