The event took place at the Rio 2016 Wheel in Copacabana, and was attended by the Mayor of Rio, Eduardo Paes; the president of Rio 2016, Carlos Arthur Nuzman; Rio’s Secretary of State for Sport, Culture and Leisure, Márcia Lins; 80 children from state and city Government sports projects; and Olympic and Paralympic athletes.

 

The documents that make up the candidature file left the printers in João Pessoa and are now en route to Geneva in Switzerland.

 

On Tuesday, they will be driven to International Olympic Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne, and at 11 o’clock precisely, they will be officially handed over ahead of the final deadline on February 12.

 

The documents will be presented by Rio 2016’s operations director, Carlos Luiz Martins, and marketing director, Leonardo Gryner.

 

Nuzman said: “Rio de Janeiro is ready to host the Olympic Games and this is clearly demonstrated in the candidature file, now on its way to Switzerland, along with all the required guarantees and approvals of all international federations.

 

"I would like to thank all involved from the federal, state and municipal Governments for their dedication. We are satisfied and proud of the material to be presented to the IOC."

 

During today’s celebrations, children conducted a symbolic delivery of a canvas with 69,000 messages of support written by visitors to the Rio 2016 Wheel in January.

 

Rio 2016 secretary general, Carlos Roberto Osório, presented a copy of the candidature file, on behalf of all the Rio 2016 staff who worked to produce the document.

 

Paes said: “I would like to congratulate the Rio 2016 team.

 

"They have done a tremendous job, fulfilling all of the tough requirements of the IOC. Rio de Janeiro has a natural vocation as a center of entertainment and sport.

 

"The 2016 Olympic Games will help to divulge the best of the city and country. I strongly believe in our chances of victory."

 

The IOC requires that all candidate cities submit 100 copies of the Candidature File, which is then used as the basis for a technical analysis of the plans.

 

The three-volume document consists of 600 pages, and spans 17 themes, such as transport, accommodation and the environment.

 

The material includes text, tables, technical manuals, maps, and architectural plans of the planned venues. In all, almost half a ton of documents is heading to Lausanne.

 

 

The IOC will select the Host City for the 2016 Games on October 2 at its Session in Copenhagen where the other candidates will be Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo.