Rio Olympics 2016 – Olympic Park Arenas
Okay so we arrived in Rio for our first Olympics with not much understanding of how the Olympic venues work across the city and how to coincide accommodation with venues and so on, but after 10 days here I have a much clearer view on things. Below is an image of the entire Olympic park where a lot of the sport happens. This massive Olympic Park is accessible via a very efficient and Olympics dedicated MetroRio (underground train system), from there via BRT (busses).
I must say that the efficiency, speed and security of the above was way beyond what I expected, keeping in mind that we commuted daily to the Olympic Park all the way from downtown Rio. This constituted a 2 hour trip to and from ( hence the sleep deprivation state of being 
)
There was a heavy presence of Police, Army plus Bomb squad all around Rio. We being afoot all ours of the day and night, with the night games starting only at 10:00 PM, we arrived home around 2am and eventually put head down at 2:30 / 3:00 Am on those days. We never felt endangered at all!
Sport like soccer and beach volley ball would of course be hosted in a brilliant existing venues like the Maracana Football stadium or Copacabana Beach Front. Also note that the Athlete’s Village is not part to the Olympic Park – and is located separately and athletes arrive by VIP bus to their events at the Olympic Park. We did not have access to the athletes village and hence it is not on any images.
I will say this over and over again in this report back on the Rio Olympics:
- You will walk and walk and walk, and footsore is the name of the game for supporters!
- Forget fashion and wear a very good quality RUNNING SHOE!
- It is a SUMMER OLYMPICS, pack lots of shorts, SA supporter tops, cool clothes and something for the rainy day here and there in between.
- Zika was a terrible press hoax by all those who could not attend the games and tried to scare others off Rio! I did not see a single mosquito in 10 days!
- Have something warmer for the night games and the Metro, because it gets freezing with the aircon in the Metro.
- Have enough SA supporter gear, there is no greater feeling than being Proudly South African in a foreign land!
- Pack your silky stunning SA flag and a few extra flags, we ended up exchanging flags with other country supporters.
- Pack the flag of another country that you support on the days that you are just a happy spectator and Team SA is not in the game – for us we supported Brazil on the off days.
- Remember – the Spirit of the Olympics runs way deeper than you and your country and medals. Its is about learning, sharing, camaraderie and so much more!
- ENJOY AND LOOK FORWARD TO TOKYO 2020!
Above – Rio Olympic Park 2016 – Full Layout
Above – Rio 2016 Olympic Park – Main Tennis Stadium in Orange and Yellow, more beautiful by night even with lit up!
Rio Olympic Park 2016 – Arenas 1, 2 & 3
Rio Olympic Park 2016 – Aquatics Stadium
Rio Olympic Park 2016 by Day
Rio Olympic Park 2016 by Night
