Opinion – Marina Izidro: A window of opportunity in sport

From the window, I see the Rio Olympic Park from afar. While on vacation in my beloved hometown, looking at the complex brings back wonderful memories of August 2016. Whether as a spectator or, in my case, a journalist covering the event, we were privileged to be there. At the end of the judo sessions, for example, you could walk to the aquatic center and watch Michael Phelps swim.

Anyone who likes sports knows that the Olympics are like a huge amusement park.

I closely followed everything from the works on the arenas to the legacy debate. There was already a concern: why have a very expensive velodrome in a country with no track cycling tradition? Would the handball arena be turned into schools, as promised?

In the following years, already out of the country, I saw from a distance some of those commitments not being fulfilled. I will always defend the holding of the Games in Rio, for countless reasons. I understand that the park is used for events. However, six and a half years later, there is still underutilization, unnecessary spending of public money and a game of pushing responsibilities.

You can improve, for example, communication for tourists and access. As I write this column, I search the internet for “visit to the Olympic Park”. Nothing official. On the Riotur website, I cannot find a tour or information about the Olympic Park in Portuguese or English (there is information about other Olympic regions, but not the park).

Several cities attract visitors to their Olympic venues and the best example is Barcelona, ​​whose model of the Games inspired that of Brazil. Why doesn’t Rio do the same? If it does, the disclosure could be clearer. The park is in a residential area, far from the beach and tourist attractions. How to attract interest without information? And to get there by public transport you have to take a scrapped BRT bus. I refuse to go.

This week, Brazil opened a new door of opportunities in the sports area. Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s third term begins at a different moment than the second, when the country won the right to host mega-events – in 2007, it was chosen to host the 2014 World Cup and, in 2009, the 2016 Olympic Games. The focus promises to be on the base.

The Minister of Sports, Ana Moser, took office committing herself to access for everyone to physical activity and sport. The country needs public policies, collect data to shape these goals.

Moser, bronze in Atlanta-1996, helped Brazil win its first Olympic medal in women’s volleyball, has experience in management and wants to “invert the logic that has always placed high performance, the top of the pyramid, as a priority.” Hard task. In the first speech, she stated that it is not known today how many people practice physical and sports activities offered by public services.

Sport impacts health, the economy and public safety, and the support of these areas will be important to, for example, reduce sedentary lifestyle – she recalled that only 30% of Brazilians were active before the pandemic and the numbers have worsened. Everything is interconnected.

It is necessary to invest in the maintenance of squares, bicycle paths, soccer fields, volleyball courts, athletics tracks. It’s just a small example.

May the new minister be able to transform excellent intentions into actions, so that future athletes and sports practitioners look to the Olympic Park as a source of inspiration, not just a beautiful view from the window.