Last week´s 5th Military World Games in Rio de Janeiro have provided a noteworthy glimpse of priority areas for the city as it prepares for the much larger challenge of the Rio 2016 Olympics, and to a lesser extent the 2014 World Cup.
Although considered the biggest and best edition of the fledgling Games ever held, Rio´s infrastructure was put to the test and came out second best on a number of occasions across a range of areas, according to reports.
Namely, the logistics of transporting athletes to and from event venues during competition and training periods proved a major challenge with Rio still working through key projects aimed at improving the city´s urban mobility infrastructure. Heavy traffic led to a number of delays and inconvenienced athletes trying to train outside of nominated periods. Worryingly, some observers raised concerns that certain traffic problems encountered look very difficult to solve and that serious action is needed to prepare for the heavier congestion expected during the Cup and Olympics.
The ticket distribution and sales system was also criticized and blamed in part for the empty stands for many events, with potential spectators complaining of difficulties in getting into the events.
According to reports, the Games cost the city and state R$1.5 billion and involved more than 4,000 athletes from 114 countries, competing across 20 sports, as well as around 3,000 on and off-field officials, over 2,000 journalists, a workforce of close to 18,000 military members and more than 1,700 volunteers.
Despite the hiccups, Brazil dominated in terms of the medal tally, which it led by a significant margin with over 100 medals, with China in second place.