Rio 2016 Earns Sponsor; Paralympic Inspiration

By Robbie Blakeley, Contributing Sports Reporter

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The 2016 Olympic Games, to be hosted in Rio de Janeiro, earned its first official Tier Two sponsor at the prestigious Copacabana Palace Hotel last Thursday (September 8th), as financial services firm Ernst & Young signed up as a Professional Services partner. The company’s role will be to provide consulting services to help meet Organizing Committee requirements.

Carlos Arthur Nuzman, president of the Rio 2016 Organization Committee, said “I am pleased to have the support of a leading firm such as Ernst & Young across a range of professional services in the build-up to organizing an excellent Games. The complexity of the Olympic Games cannot be underestimated and will only be managed with the assistance of first-class partners.”

Chairman and CEO of Enrst & Young James Turley added: “We are very proud to announce and share this great news with all our people in Brazil and the Brazilian market today. The values for which Ernst & Young are renowned are an excellent match with the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games.”

The Rio 2016 Organizing Committee has already secured some big names to participate as Tier One sponsors. Bradesco, Bradesco Seguros, Claro and Embratel will all be sponsorship partners for the Games, and will be featured heavily.

It has been a busy week for Carlos Nuzman, who also welcomed over fifty young athletes, aged between twelve and eighteen, who had just competed in Brazil’s Paralympic Games at the headquarters of the Organizing Committee at the Maracanã. The Paralympics start on September 7, 2016, exactly five years after their visit to Brazil’s most famous football stadium, and Nuzman had lined up some special guests to serve as inspiration to the young hopefuls.

Former Paralympics swimming champion Andre Brasil, shotput and discus champion Roseana Ferreira dos Santos and 100m sprinter Yohansson do Nascimento Ferreira gave speeches to the audience, sharing their own stories and the difficulties they overcame to show their audience that dreams can be achieved with the right mentality and focus.

By reaching out to the teenagers and highlighting the fact that difficulties can be surpassed, the athletes succeeded in showing their audience that anything can be achieved and attitude is paramount. Rosinha told the youngsters: “We should strive to make our dreams come true and commit ourselves wholeheartedly to them.”

Perhaps the most poignant advice came from Ferreira, who left the teenagers with an important message. Explaining that anything worth having will never come easily, he said “The only things I can’t do are those I still haven’t tried. We will always have obstacles, it just depends on how we will confront them.”

The Rio 2016 Paralympic Games are set to be the biggest in history. Running from September 7-18th, over 4,000 athletes from more than 150 countries are expected to take part.