CBC’s Scott Russell gives an update on Rio’s Olympic stadium construction
Scott Russell, the host of the CBC's Road to the Olympic Games, offers an update on the construction of the Olympic stadium, the site of athletics, in Rio.
There are less than 100 days to go until the start of the Olympic Games in August. CBC’s Scott Russell, the host of Road to the Olympic Games, is in Rio and got a first-hand look at the state of the track and field facility that will host the athletics portion of the Games.
“The rubberized track has been laid, the building is complete, and the additional seating is in making it [a] 60,000 capacity [stadium],” says Russell. “It needs a buff up. Scoreboards and such I didn’t see in operation but they are there. It’s still hard hat territory but it’s [about] 80 per cent complete.”
RELATED: VIDEO: Team Canada releases Rio 2016 video 100 days out from Olympics.
The CBC sports broadcaster is also aiming to run 300 times this year. The author of three books is well on his way to accomplishing that goal as he updates his Instagram on a daily basis.
RELATED: CBC’s Scott Russell aiming for 300 runs this Olympic year.
Athletics, which includes running, jumping and throwing events, is a large portion of the Olympics, which will be no exception in Rio this summer. The athletics portion offers more medals than any other Olympic discipline with 141 medals up for grabs.
Usain Bolt is expected to make one of his final Olympic appearances in Rio. The Jamaican sprinter is one the most accomplished sprinter of all time and has won every Olympic event he has contested including the 100m, 200m, and 4x100m relay events in Beijing and in London. He holds the world record in all three events.
The Rio Games have been in the news in recent months for all of the wrong reasons. Below are some of the news stories to have surfaced in the lead up to the Games:
– Olympic organizers cut air conditioning for athletes as part of Olympic budget drawbacks.
– Olympic stadium goes dark because utility bills go unpaid.
– Kenya may pull out of Rio Olympics due to Zika virus.
Russell is currently in Rio to cover the Olympics and the 100-day countdown, which was celebrated on April 27. The Games begin begin on Aug. 5 with the opening ceremonies and end on Aug. 21. The Oshawa, Ont. native provided photos of the track construction which can be seen below.
Photos
The running portion of the track is complete but there are still finishing touches to be done on the parts of the track that will host the high jump and field events.
The stadium is expected to have a capacity of 60,000.
Brazil hosted the 2014 Fifa World Cup, a quadrennial event featuring the world’s top soccer nations. Soccer continues to have a strong presence in Rio including a statue of a soccer player in front of the Olympic stadium.
The 400m track will be blue and the stadium will have a grass infield.
Canadian athletes looking to qualify for the Olympics in the marathon have until May 29, 2016 to do so while the qualifying period for track events remains open until the final day of the Canadian track and field championships (July 10).
RELATED: You won’t believe how many people dropped out of the Rio marathon test event.
Overall, it looks like Russell is enjoying his time in Brazil, evident in the below photo of Copacabana beach, one of Rio’s most popular landmarks.
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