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“One year from now I plan to come to Rio and make history. I won the 100m, 200m and 4x100m in the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. I am working hard every day to make it a ‘triple triple’ in Rio next year.”“The Olympic Games in Rio will be the most important eight days of my life. I know Rio will be a brilliant host city.”AS THE CLOCK COUNTS DOWN TO RIO 2016, CARLOS ARTHUR NUZMAN AND NAWAL EL MOUTAWAKEL EXPLAIN THE KEY PRIORITIES FOR THE ORGANISING COMMITTEE AND THE IOC, AND LOOK AHEAD TO WHAT WE CAN EXPECT AT THE GAMES AND BEYONDundertaking – more than 240,000 people applied for 70,000 volunteer positions. Our final task is to bring all our partners together and build an operational team based on the excellent collaboration we have enjoyed to date.Q. What are your priorities as President of the Brazilian NOC?A. The main goal is to ensure that the Brazilian athletes have the best possible preparations for the Games. We are working hard to give them the opportunity to realise their potential in Rio de Janeiro and have seen lots of positive results over the last two years in the build-up to the Games, with many athletes shaping up as medal contenders. There has been significant success among younger athletes too – Brazil won gold medals in six different sports at the 2014 Youth Olympic Games in Nanjing.Q. What role has the IOC been playing in the organisation of the Games?A. The IOC brings considerable expertise and has been a trusted partner with utmost professionalism. Through its Coordination Commission, the IOC unites all of the relevant stakeholders, who in turn share their perspective and experience. Rio 2016 has benefited greatly from the IOC’s hands-on approach; while the Organising Committee has been immersed in the day-to-day details of hosting the Games, the IOC has always been on hand to assess the planning and offer an outsider’s point of view.USAIN BOLT (JAM, ATHLETICS)CHAD LE CLOS (RSA, SWIMMING)ANNA MEARES (AUS, CYCLING)“The Olympic Games are a very rare opportunity to perform on the grandest stage. I think Rio will make the Games special because of Brazilians’ ability to embrace and welcome as well as their love of sport and their passion.”“First of all, the Brazilian people love sports. If you look at the enthusiasm during the [FIFA] World Cup, the Brazilians showed themselves to be a fantastic crowd. I expect the same for the Olympic Games. I hope that many people will see the sport and get enthusiastic about it. As Brazil is such a sport-minded country, I do believe hockey will be bigger there after the Olympic Games.”G)ES ELLEN HOOG (NED, HOCKEY)President of the Rio 2016 Organising Committee, IOC Honorary Member and President of Brazil’s National Olympic CommitteeCARLOS ARTHUR NUZMANQ. What will be the key features of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro?A. Rio de Janeiro is a cultural hub of Brazil, known for festivals, celebrations and a deep sense of heritage, and its iconic features and symbols will form a big part of the Games. With the city and its cariocas set to embrace their fun-loving reputation, the Games will become a celebration both inside and outside the sporting venues. As well as the events at the four competition zones, there will be festivities at live sites across Rio de Janeiro. The city will be the venue.Q. With one year to go until the Games, what are the Organising Committee’s current priorities?A. There are three very clear priorities over the next 12 months. Firstly, we must deliver all the test events, which are a crucial part of our preparations and will showcase Rio de Janeiro’s readiness to stage the Games. We will learn many key lessons from these events, which we will apply during Games time. Next, we must complete the recruitment of the workforce and volunteers for the Games. This is a significant 40 OLYMPIC REVIEW