kids encyclopedia robot

2016 Summer Olympics facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Quick facts for kids
Games of the XXXI Olympiad
A green, gold and blue coloured design, featuring three people joining hands in a circular formation, sits above the words "Rio 2016", written in a stylistic font. The Olympic rings are placed underneath.
Host city Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Motto A new world
(Portuguese: [Um mundo novo] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help))
Nations 207
Athletes 11,238
Events 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
Opening 5 August
Closing 21 August
Opened by
Vice President Michel Temer, as acting president
Cauldron
Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima
Stadium Maracanã
Summer
London 2012 Tokyo 2020
Winter
Sochi 2014 PyeongChang 2018

The 2016 Summer Olympics (Portuguese: [Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)), officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad (Portuguese: [Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help)) and commonly known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events in some sports beginning on 3 August. Rio was announced as the host city at the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October 2009.

More than 11,000 athletes from 207 nations took part in the 2016 Games, including first-time entrants Kosovo, South Sudan, and the Refugee Olympic Team. With 306 sets of medals, the Games featured 28 Olympic sports, including rugby sevens and golf, which were added to the Olympic program in 2009. These sporting events took place at 33 venues in the host city and at five separate venues in the Brazilian cities of São Paulo, Belo Horizonte, Salvador, Brasília, and Manaus.

These were the first Olympic Games to be held in South America, as well as the first to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country, the first summer edition to be held entirely in the host country's winter season, the first since 1968 to be held in Latin America, and the first since 2000 to be held in the Southern Hemisphere. These were the first Summer Olympics to take place under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) presidency of Thomas Bach.

The United States topped the medal table, winning the most gold medals (46) and the highest number of medals overall (121); the US team also won its 1,000th Summer Olympic gold medal overall. Great Britain finished second and became only the second country in modern Olympic history to increase its tally of medals in the Olympiad immediately after being host nation. China finished third in the medal table. Host nation Brazil won seven gold medals, its largest tally at any single Summer Olympics, finishing in thirteenth place. Bahrain, Fiji, Ivory Coast, Jordan, Kosovo, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Tajikistan, and Vietnam each won their first gold medals, as did the group of Independent Olympic Athletes (from Kuwait).

Development and preparation

On 26 June 2011, it was reported on AroundTheRings.com that Roderlei Generali, the COO of the Rio de Janeiro Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, resigned just one year after taking the job at ROOC. This came just five months after CCO Flávio Pestana quit for personal reasons. Pestana withdrew later during the 2012 Summer Paralympics, and Renato Ciuchin was then appointed as COO.

Venues and infrastructure

Rio de Janeiro bid venues for the 2016 Summer Olympics
Venues of the 2016 Summer Olympics

Events took place at eighteen existing venues, nine new venues constructed specifically for the Games, and seven temporary venues.

Each event was held in one of four geographically segregated Olympic clusters–Barra, Copacabana, Deodoro, and Maracanã–as was done for the 2007 Pan American Games. Several of the venues were located at the Barra Cluster Olympic Park. Nearly half of the athletes could reach their venues in less than 10 minutes, and almost 75 per cent could do so in less than 25 minutes. Of the 34 competition venues, eight underwent some permanent works, seven were totally temporary and nine were constructed as permanent legacy venues.

The largest venue at the Games in terms of seating capacity was the 74,738-seat Maracanã Stadium, which served as the ceremonies venue and site of the football finals. The second largest stadium was the 60,000-seat Estádio Olímpico João Havelange, which hosted track and field events. The athletes' village was said to be the largest in Olympic history. Fittings included about 80,000 chairs, 70,000 tables, 29,000 mattresses, 60,000 clothes hangers, 6,000 television sets and 10,000 smartphones.

Olympic Park

Parque Olímpico Rio 2016 (2)
Barra Olympic Park

The Barra Olympic Park is a cluster of nine sporting venues in Barra da Tijuca, in the west zone of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The site was formerly occupied by the Autódromo Internacional Nelson Piquet, also known as the Jacarepaguá Formula One circuit.

The nine venues within the Olympic Park were:

  • Carioca Arena 1 – basketball (capacity: 16,000)
  • Carioca Arena 2 – wrestling, judo (capacity: 10,000)
  • Carioca Arena 3 – fencing, taekwondo (capacity: 10,000)
  • Future Arena – handball (capacity: 12,000)
  • Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre – diving, synchronized swimming, water polo (capacity: 5,000)
  • Olympic Aquatics Stadium – swimming, water polo play-offs (capacity: 15,000)
  • Olympic Tennis Centre – tennis (capacity: 10,000 Main Court)
  • Rio Olympic Arena – gymnastics (capacity: 12,000)
  • Rio Olympic Velodrome – track cycling (capacity: 5,000)

Medals

Medalhas Rio 2016 (2)
Medals of the 2016 Summer Olympics

The medals were produced by the Casa da Moeda do Brasil (the Brazilian mint). The medal design was unveiled on 15 June 2016. They were designed to be environmentally friendly using recycled materials; the bronze and silver medals contained 30% recycled materials. The gold medals were produced using gold that had been mined and extracted according to a set of sustainability criteria, such as being extracted without the use of mercury. The medals feature a wreath design on the front, and in keeping with tradition, the obverse features Nike, the Greek goddess of victory. A wooden carrying box accompanied each medal. Medalists were also awarded a trophy in the shape of the Games' emblem.

In May 2017, an Associated Press article disclosed that over 100 athletes who had won medals at the Rio Olympics reported that their medals were showing some damage, including black spots, flaking, or surface degrading. Rio officials offered to replace any defective medals and found problems with 6 to 7 percent of all those awarded.

Torch relay

Passagem da Tocha Olímpica em SP (28605511640)
Basketball player Anderson Varejão carrying the torch in São Paulo
Rio 2016 - Voluntários organizando barreiras (29066118645)
Volunteers working at the Olympic Stadium during the Games

The Olympic flame was lit on 21 April 2016 at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, the traditional start of the Greek phase of the torch relay. The flame was handed over to the Brazilian organisers in a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens on 27 April. A brief stop-off was made in Switzerland to visit the IOC headquarters and the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, as well as the United Nations Office at Geneva.

The torch relay began its journey around Brazil on 3 May at the capital Brasília. The flame visited more than 300 Brazilian cities, including all 26 state capitals and the Brazilian Federal District. The relay ended in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August when the flame was used to light the Olympic cauldron during the opening ceremony.

The Games

Opening ceremony

2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony 1035301-05082016- v9a2048 04.08.16
A scene from the opening ceremony

The opening ceremony took place at Maracana Stadium on 5 August 2016, directed by Fernando Meirelles, Daniela Thomas, and Andrucha Waddington. The ceremony highlighted aspects of Brazilian history and culture, and featured a segment narrated by Fernanda Montenegro and Judi Dench with an appeal to environmental conservation and the prevention of global warming. The crowd in the stadium numbered 60,000 and the event was broadcast to an estimated global audience of three billion.

The ceremony included the inaugural presentation of the Olympic Laurel, an honor bestowed by the IOC on those that have made "significant achievements in education, culture, development and peace through sport"; the trophy was awarded to Kenyan athlete Kipchoge Keino. The Games were officially opened by the acting president of Brazil, Michel Temer.

The Olympic cauldron was lit by long-distance runner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima, the men's marathon bronze medalist at the 2004 Olympics, who had also received the IOC's Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship after being attacked by a spectator and losing his lead in the race. The cauldron was originally expected to be lit by Brazilian footballer Pelé, but he declined to participate due to health problems.

Following the opening ceremony, a public cauldron was lit in front of the Candelária Church by Jorge Gomes, a 14-year-old Brazilian athlete who had escaped from poverty to train as a runner.

Sports

Rio2016 julho ZonaB Deodoro 009 8214 -c-2016 GabrielHeusi HeusiAction
Youth Arena
Rio2016 julho ZonaB Deodoro 014 2480 -c-2016 GabrielHeusi HeusiAction(1)
Deodoro Stadium
Visão da arquibancada da pista olimpica BMX1
Olympic BMX Centre
Golfe Rio 2016
Olympic Golf Course

The 2016 Summer Olympic program featured 28 sports encompassing 306 events. The number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.

2016 Summer Olympic Sports Programme

New sports

In April 2008, the IOC began accepting applications for two new sports to be introduced to the Olympic programme. Baseball and softball (which were both dropped in 2005), karate, squash, golf, roller sports, and rugby union all applied to be included on the programme. Formal presentations were made to the IOC executive board in June 2009.

In August, the executive board initially gave its approval to rugby sevens—a seven-player version of rugby union—by a majority vote; baseball/softball, roller sports, and squash were removed from contention, leaving golf, karate, and rugby sevens in the running. A final vote was held on 9 October 2009, the closing day of the 121st IOC Session. At this session, a new voting system was in place: a sport now needed only a simple majority from the full IOC committee for approval rather than the two-thirds majority previously required.

The 121st IOC Session decided to add rugby sevens and golf to the Rio 2016 Olympic programme. The tally for rugby was 81 in favor, with eight against, and golf was approved by 63 votes to 26. Neither of these two sports is new to the Summer Olympics; rugby last featured in 1924, and golf in 1904.

In May 2012, the International Sailing Federation announced that windsurfing would be replaced by kitesurfing at the 2016 Olympics, but this decision was reversed in November.

Participating National Olympic Committees

Rio2016 julho VilaAtletas Barra 002 2659 -c-2016 GabrielHeusi HeusiAction
Rio 2016 Olympic Village

All 205 National Olympic Committees qualified at least one athlete. The first three nations to qualify athletes for the Games were Germany, Great Britain, and the Netherlands, who each qualified four athletes for the team dressage by winning medals in the team event at the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games.

As host nation, Brazil has received automatic entry for some sports including in all cycling disciplines and six places for weightlifting events.

The 2016 Summer Olympics were the first Games in which Kosovo and South Sudan were eligible to participate. Bulgarian and Russian weightlifters were banned from Rio Olympics for numerous anti-doping violations.

Kuwait was banned in October 2015 for the second time in five years over government interference in the country's Olympic committee.

2016 Summer Olympics team numbers
Country by team size
2016 Summer Olympic games countries
Participating countries color code
Blue = Participated for the first time in 2016.
Green = Had previously participated.
Yellow circle is host city (Rio de Janeiro)
Participating National Olympic Committees
  •  Afghanistan (3)
  •  Albania (6)
  •  Algeria (64)
  •  American Samoa (4)
  •  Andorra (5)
  •  Angola (25)
  •  Antigua and Barbuda (9)
  •  Argentina (213)
  •  Armenia (33)
  •  Aruba (7)
  •  Australia (421)
  •  Austria (71)
  •  Azerbaijan (56)
  •  Bahamas (28)
  •  Bahrain (35)
  •  Bangladesh (7)
  •  Barbados (12)
  •  Belarus (121)
  •  Belgium (108)
  •  Belize (3)
  •  Benin (6)
  •  Bermuda (8)
  •  Bhutan (2)
  •  Bolivia (12)
  •  Bosnia and Herzegovina (11)
  •  Botswana (12)
  •  Brazil (465) (host)
  •  British Virgin Islands (4)
  •  Brunei (3)
  •  Bulgaria (51)
  •  Burkina Faso (5)
  •  Burundi (9)
  •  Cambodia (6)
  •  Cameroon (24)
  •  Canada (314)
  •  Cape Verde (5)
  •  Cayman Islands (5)
  •  Central African Republic (6)
  •  Chad (2)
  •  Chile (42)
  •  China (413)
  •  Chinese Taipei (60)
  •  Colombia (147)
  •  Comoros (4)
  •  Republic of the Congo (10)
  •  Democratic Republic of the Congo (4)
  •  Cook Islands (9)
  •  Costa Rica (10)
  •  Croatia (87)
  •  Cuba (120)
  •  Cyprus (16)
  •  Czech Republic (105)
  •  Denmark (122)
  •  Djibouti (7)
  •  Dominica (2)
  •  Dominican Republic (29)
  •  Ecuador (38)
  •  Egypt (120)
  •  El Salvador (8)
  •  Equatorial Guinea (2)
  •  Eritrea (12)
  •  Estonia (45)
  •  Ethiopia (34)
  •  Fiji (51)
  •  Finland (56)
  •  France (399)
  •  Gabon (6)
  •  The Gambia (4)
  •  Georgia (39)
  •  Germany (425)
  •  Ghana (14)
  •  Great Britain (366)
  •  Greece (95)
  •  Grenada (6)
  •  Guam (5)
  •  Guatemala (21)
  •  Guinea (5)
  •  Guinea-Bissau (5)
  •  Guyana (6)
  •  Haiti (10)
  •  Honduras (26)
  •  Hong Kong (38)
  •  Hungary (160)
  •  Iceland (8)
  •  India (124)
  •  Indonesia (28)
  •  Iran (64)
  •  Iraq (23)
  •  Ireland (77)
  •  Israel (48)
  •  Italy (314)
  •  Ivory Coast (12)
  •  Jamaica (68)
  •  Japan (338)
  •  Jordan (8)
  •  Kazakhstan (104)
  •  Kenya (89)
  •  Kiribati (3)
  •  North Korea (35)
  •  South Korea (205)
  •  Kosovo (8)
  •  Independent Olympic Athletes (9)
  •  Kyrgyzstan (19)
  •  Laos (6)
  •  Latvia (34)
  •  Lebanon (9)
  •  Lesotho (8)
  •  Liberia (2)
  •  Libya (7)
  •  Liechtenstein (3)
  •  Lithuania (67)
  •  Luxembourg (10)
  •  Macedonia (6)
  •  Madagascar (6)
  •  Malawi (5)
  •  Malaysia (32)
  •  Maldives (4)
  •  Mali (6)
  •  Malta (7)
  •  Marshall Islands (5)
  •  Mauritania (2)
  •  Mauritius (12)
  •  Mexico (125)
  •  Federated States of Micronesia (5)
  •  Moldova (23)
  •  Monaco (3)
  •  Mongolia (43)
  •  Montenegro (34)
  •  Morocco (51)
  •  Mozambique (6)
  •  Myanmar (7)
  •  Namibia (10)
  •  Nauru (2)
  •  Nepal (7)
  •  Netherlands (242)
  •  New Zealand (199)
  •  Nicaragua (5)
  •  Niger (6)
  •  Nigeria (75)
  •  Norway (62)
  •  Oman (4)
  •  Pakistan (7)
  •  Palau (5)
  •  Palestine (6)
  •  Panama (10)
  •  Papua New Guinea (8)
  •  Paraguay (11)
  •  Peru (29)
  •  Philippines (13)
  •  Poland (243)
  •  Portugal (92)
  •  Puerto Rico (42)
  •  Qatar (38)
  •  Refugee Olympic Team (10)
  •  Romania (97)
  •  Russia (282)
  •  Rwanda (8)
  •  Saint Kitts and Nevis (7)
  •  Saint Lucia (5)
  •  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (4)
  •  Samoa (8)
  •  San Marino (5)
  •  São Tomé and Príncipe (3)
  •  Saudi Arabia (12)
  •  Senegal (22)
  •  Serbia (103)
  •  Seychelles (10)
  •  Sierra Leone (4)
  •  Singapore (25)
  •  Slovakia (51)
  •  Slovenia (61)
  •  Solomon Islands (3)
  •  Somalia (2)
  •  South Africa (137)
  •  Spain (306)
  •  Sri Lanka (9)
  •  Sudan (6)
  •  South Sudan (3)
  •  Suriname (6)
  •  Swaziland (2)
  •  Sweden (152)
  •  Switzerland (104)
  •  Syria (7)
  •  Tajikistan (7)
  •  Tanzania (7)
  •  Thailand (54)
  •  Timor-Leste (3)
  •  Togo (5)
  •  Tonga (7)
  •  Trinidad and Tobago (32)
  •  Tunisia (61)
  •  Turkey (103)
  •  Turkmenistan (9)
  •  Tuvalu (1)
  •  Uganda (21)
  •  Ukraine (203)
  •  United Arab Emirates (13)
  •  United States (554)
  •  Uruguay (17)
  •  Uzbekistan (70)
  •  Vanuatu (4)
  •  Venezuela (87)
  •  Vietnam (23)
  •  Virgin Islands (7)
  •  Yemen (3)
  •  Zambia (7)
  •  Zimbabwe (31)

Number of athletes by National Olympic Committee

Refugee athletes

Rio 2016 Refugees 1033413-29072016- dsc1069
Refugee Olympic team arriving in Rio de Janeiro

Due to the European migrant crisis and other reasons, the IOC allowed athletes to compete as Independent Olympians under the Olympic Flag. During the previous Summer Olympic Games, refugees were ineligible to compete because of their inability to represent their home NOCs. On 2 March 2016, the IOC finalized plans for a specific Refugee Olympic Team (ROT); out of 43 refugee athletes deemed potentially eligible, 10 were chosen to form the team.

Independent athletes

Due to the suspension of the National Olympic Committee of Kuwait, participants from Kuwait were allowed to participate under the Olympic Flag as Independent Olympic Athletes.

In November 2015, Russia was provisionally suspended from all international track and field athletic competitions by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) following a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report into a doping program in the country. The IAAF announced that it would allow individual Russian athletes to apply for "exceptional eligibility" to participate in the Games as "neutral" athletes if it was independently verified that they had not engaged in doping nor in the Russian doping program.

On 24 July 2016, the IOC rejected the IAAF and WADA's recommendations to allow athletes to compete neutrally, stating that the Olympic Charter "does not foresee such 'neutral athletes'" and that it was each country's National Olympic Committee decision on which athletes would be competing. As a result, Russian athletes competed under the Russian flag, although they would compete under a neutral flag in the 2018 Winter Olympics following several developments concerning the doping investigation.

National houses

During the Games, some countries and continents had a national house. These temporary meeting places for supporters, athletes and other followers were located throughout Rio de Janeiro.

Records

Twenty-seven world records and ninety-one Olympic records were set during the 2016 Summer Olympics. The records were set in archery, athletics, canoeing, cycling track, modern pentathlon, rowing, shooting, swimming, and weightlifting.

Medal table

The top ten listed NOCs by the number of gold medals are listed below. Host nation Brazil finished in 13th place with a total of 19 medals (7 gold, 6 silver, and 6 bronze).

  *   Host nation (Brazil)

2016 Summer Olympics medal table
Rank NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
1  United States (USA) 46 37 38 121
2  Great Britain (GBR) 27 23 17 67
3  China (CHN) 26 18 26 70
4  Russia (RUS) 19 17 20 56
5  Germany (GER) 17 10 15 42
6  Japan (JPN) 12 8 21 41
7  France (FRA) 10 18 14 42
8  South Korea (KOR) 9 3 9 21
9  Italy (ITA) 8 12 8 28
10  Australia (AUS) 8 11 10 29
11–86 Remaining NOCs 125 150 181 456
Totals (86 NOCs) 307 307 359 973

Podium sweeps

Date Sport Event NOC Gold Silver Bronze
17 August Athletics Women's 100-meter hurdles  United States Brianna Rollins Nia Ali Kristi Castlin

Event scheduling

Candelária cauldron at 2016 Summer Olympics
The public cauldron, located outside the Candelária Church.

A number of events, most notably in aquatics, beach volleyball and track and field, were scheduled with sessions and matches occurring as late as 10:00 p.m. to midnight BRT. These scheduling practices were influenced primarily by United States broadcast rightsholder NBC.

Closing ceremony

Terminam os Jogos Olímpicos Rio 2016 (29040726262)
2016 Summer Olympics closing ceremony at Maracanã Stadium

The closing ceremony of the 2016 Summer Olympics was held on 21 August 2016 from 20:00 to 22:50 BRT at the Maracanã Stadium. As per traditional Olympic protocol, the ceremony featured cultural presentations from both the current (Brazil) and following (Japan) host countries, as well as closing remarks by IOC president Thomas Bach, who declared the Games closed, and the Games' organizing committee leader Carlos Arthur Nuzman, the official handover of the Olympic flag from Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes to Tokyo governor Yuriko Koike, whose city will host the 2020 Summer Olympics, and the extinguishing of the Olympic flame.

The creative director for the ceremony was Rosa Magalhães. Amid heavy rainfall, the ceremony began with interpretive dancers representing various landmarks in the host city. Martinho da Vila then performed a rendition of "Carinhoso [pt]" by Pixinguinha. In another segment, introducing the athletes, singer Roberta Sá channeled Carmen Miranda, the fruit-headdress-wearing, mid-century Hollywood diva who endures as a beloved camp figure. The Parade of Flags followed shortly after a choir of 27 children, representing the states of Brazil, sang the Brazilian national anthem.

Cost

Centro Olímpico de Deodoro
Deodoro Olympic Whitewater Stadium

The Oxford Olympics Study 2016 estimated the out-turn cost of the Rio 2016 Summer Olympics at US$4.6 billion in 2015-dollars. This figure included sports-related costs, that is, (i) operational costs incurred by the organizing committee to stage the Games, of which the largest components were technology, transportation, workforce, and administration costs, while other operational costs included security, catering, ceremonies, and medical services, and (ii) direct capital costs incurred by the host city and country or private investors to build the competition venues, the Olympic village, international broadcast center, and media and press center, which were required to host the Games.

Olympic Golden Rings Awards

Rio 2016 (28430991164)
Olympic rings displayed in Rio de Janeiro.

In November 2017, the International Olympic Committee announced the winners of the Golden rings in six categories for the best broadcast coverage of the Games. The Best Olympic Sports Production was awarded to Beach Volleyball, produced by Geoff Johnson and directed by Greg Breakell and Gary Milkis. The production for the cycling road race and Sailing came second and third. The next category was the best Olympic feature, for which TV Globo's feature entitled Esporte Espetacular finished third, and China Central Television's feature A Sequel of Love came second. The winner was NBC Olympics for their feature The Most Beautiful Thing. The third category was The Best Athlete Profile, for which RTBF Radio Télévision de la Communauté Française de Belgique collected the third place prize for their profile of Nafi Thiam. TV Globo went one better than the previous category coming second with their profile of Izaquias Queiroz. The winner of the category again was NBC, this time for their piece on Wayde van Niekerk. The Best On-Air Promotion was announced next, with the BBC Sport winning with NBC coming second this time and Bulgarian National Television finishing third. The Best Olympic Digital Service went to NBC, with ZDF-German TV and SporTV/Globosat picking up the second and third places. The Best Olympic Programme was awarded to SporTV/Globosat, while TV Globo and BBC Sport completed the podium.

Marketing

Mascots

Vinicius and Tom
Vinicius (left), the mascot of the Rio 2016, and Tom (right), the mascot of the 2016 Summer Paralympics

On 24 November 2014, the official mascots of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics were unveiled, created by Sao Paulo-based animation company Birdo. The Olympic mascot Vinicius, named after musician Vinicius de Moraes, represents Brazilian wildlife and carries design traits of cats, monkeys, and birds. According to their fictional backgrounds, the mascots "were both born from the joy of Brazilians after it was announced that Rio would host the Games".

Brand director Beth Lula stated that the mascots were intended to reflect the diversity of Brazil's culture and people. The names of the mascots were determined by a public vote whose results were announced on 14 December 2014. The names, which reference the co-writers of the song "The Girl from Ipanema", won over two other sets of names, tallying 44 percent of 323,327 votes. At the Olympic wrestling events, coaches were given plush dolls of Vinicius to throw into the ring when they wished to challenge a referee's call.

Emblem

Parque Olímpico Rio 2016 (28370259403)
Sculpture of the Rio 2016 logo in Barra Olympic Park

The official emblem for the 2016 Summer Olympics was designed by Brazilian agency Tatíl Design and was unveiled on 31 December 2010, winning in a competition against 139 agencies. The emblem represents three figures joined at their arms and feet, with the overall shape reflecting that of Sugarloaf Mountain. It was also designed to have a three-dimensional form, which designer Fred Gelli claimed made it the first 3D logo in the history of the Olympics.

The logo has been noted as evoking Henri Matisse's painting Dance. There were also allegations by the Colorado-based Telluride Foundation that the logo had been plagiarized from its own; while also consisting of several figures linked in motion, the Telluride Foundation logo contains four figures. This is not the first time that the foundation had alleged plagiarism of its logo by a Brazilian event; in 2004, the linked figures element had been copied for the logo of Carnival celebrations in Salvador. Gelli defended the allegations, stating that the concept of figures linked in embrace was not inherently original, as it was "an ancient reference" and "in the collective unconscious." Gelli cited Dance as an influence of the logo's concept and stated that the designers had intentionally aimed to make the interpretation of the concept as dissimilar to others as possible.

Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Juegos Olímpicos de Río de Janeiro 2016 para niños

kids search engine
2016 Summer Olympics Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.