El Moutawakel, the 1984 Olympic 400 metres hurdles champion, has been leading a high profile delegation including IOC Olympic Games executive director Gilbert Felli (pictured second on left) and IOC sports director Christophe Dubi (far right) to carry out a review of preparations.

The meeting with the President at the Palácio do Planalto in the Brazilian capital saw the group discuss the progress of the Rio 2016 project with Rousseff reiterating her Government's strong support for the Games.

Following the meeting, El Moutawakel admitted her IOC delegation had been very impressed.

"With London 2012 almost upon us, it will soon be Rio's turn to be under the spotlight," she said.

"It was therefore an opportune time for us to come and visit President Rousseff.

"She has always been a strong supporter of the Rio project and today's meeting has underlined that once again.

"Indeed, the importance of these Olympic Games to the Brazilian people was evident throughout our discussions."


Also attending the meeting were key Brazilian stakeholders in the Rio 2016 project including Brazilian Minister of Sport Aldo Rebelo (pictured second from right), the Governor of the State of Rio de Janeiro Sergio Cabral (second from left), Mayor of Rio de Janeiro Eduardo Paes (far left) and Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman (far right).

El Moutawakel added that preparations are on track for the Games but that there is still a huge amount of work that needs to be done to be ready on time.

"The challenge in front of the Brazilian team is an impressive one given the scale of the Games project and the immovable deadline of August 5, 2016," she said.

"Rio 2016 and its partners continue to deliver successfully on their commitments but as we have said since day one, there is not a second to waste.

"We have been reassured to see that the Government support that we've seen since the bid phase remains strong, with all levels of the state continuing to work hand in hand with each other and the Rio 2016 Organising Committee to deliver great Olympic Games in 2016."

Nuzman claimed that the union of the three levels of Government made the organisation and planning of the Games speedier and more efficient, while he also highlighted the transformation the city of Rio is going through.

"I am certain that Rio de Janeiro will be the greatest example of transformation of a city in the history of the Olympic Games," he said.

"We are very pleased to be working with the three levels of government to make Rio an example to other cities after the 2016 Games".

The IOC project review in Rio is one of several regular visits by the Coordination Commission Executive leadership and the IOC administration that is held between full visits of the Commission.

The next full visit of the Coordination Commission will be from June 4 and 6 this year.

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