On Wednesday, June 15th, 2016, the Olympic Village for the Rio Games officially opened.
According to a release on the Rio 2016 web page, two members of the Team of Refugee Olympic Athletes (ROA) were some of the first people to get a look at the village.
Popole Misenga and Yolande Mabika, both judokas from the Republic of Congo, got to see where they’ll be staying during the 2016 Olympics. They were shown around in part by Rio 2016 president Carlos Nuzman and IOC president Thomas Bach. They took their tour after the city of Rio symbolically handed the keys to the village over to Nuzman.
Both will represent ROA at these Games. Mabika laid out her goals for the upcoming competition. “I want to win a medal,” she said. “Just one, and it doesn’t matter if it’s bronze or silver.”
According to the Rio 2016 page, there are “31 buildings and more than 3,600 apartments,” and “the Olympic and Paralympic Village will be home to 15,000 athletes and team officials during the Games.”
Check out some of the photos of the now-open Olympic village, courtesy of the official Rio 2016 Facebook page, down below.
c/o: Rio 2016 Facebook
c/o: Rio 2016 Facebook
c/o: Rio 2016 Facebook
c/o: Rio 2016 Facebook
More photos can be seen on the Rio 2016 Facebook page here.