News Two very special guests were present as Rio 2016 officially took ownership of the Olympic and Paralympic Village on Wednesday (15 June) afternoon Popole Misenga and Yolande Mabika, the Congolese judokas who will compete for the first ever refugee team at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, got a sneak preview of where they will be staying this August As the Rio city government, which was responsible for the construction, symbolically handed over the keys to Rio 2016 president Carlos Nuzman, the judokas chatted with International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach “From now on you must concentrate on your preparations for the Games,” said Bach, who won a gold medal in fencing at the Montreal 1976 Games Misenga thanked Bach for the gift of a pin-badge of the Olympic rings and Mabika revealed her target for the Games “I want to win a medal,” she said “Just one, and it doesn’t matter if it’s bronze or silver ” Left to right: IOC Coordination Commission chair Nawal El Moutawakel, Mabika, Bach, Misenga and Nuzman (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro) Misenga and Mabika have been based in Rio since 2013, when they decided not to return to the war-torn Democratic Republic of the Congo after the judo world championships in Brazil Earlier this month they were named among 10 athletes who will march under the Olympic flag as part of an unprecedented refugee team at the Rio 2016 Games “I am very happy to see our new home,” said Mabika after being shown around the village in the Barra da Tijuca neighbourhood, close to Barra Olympic Park, the main venue cluster The Olympic and Paralympic Village will open its doors in July (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro) With 31 buildings and more than 3,600 apartments, the Olympic and Paralympic Village will be home to 15,000 athletes and team officials during the Games “This is one of the most beautiful Olympic villages I have seen in the history of the Games,” said Bach after the key handover ceremony “This will be home to the best athletes in the world,” said Nuzman, while Rio mayor Eduardo Paes said a “microcosm of the world will meet here” Sports minister Leonardo Picciani stressed that the complex had been constructed with 100 per cent private investment One of the bedrooms in the Olympic and Paralympic Village (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro) Earlier in the day, Bach had travelled by train to visit Deodoro Olympic Park, the second largest venue cluster After catching the 9 20am from Rio’s iconic Central do Brasil station, Bach spoke with journalists during the journey “The transformation of the public transport system in Rio in the last few years has been one of the biggest in the world,” he said “What’s happened here has been incredible ” After a journey of about 30 minutes, Bach arrived at Vila Militar station, where thousands of fans will leave the train in August to arrive at the second Olympic Park “I liked the journey very much,” said the IOC president before visiting the venues for equestrian, rugby, modern pentathlon and the X-Park (home to BMX, mountain bike and canoe slalom) At the end of the venue visit, Bach travelled to Barra on the Transolimpica line of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network The 26-kilometre express lane will be a key part of the Games-time transport system Bach arrives in Deodoro flanked by Moutawakel and Nuzman (Photo: Rio 2016/Alex Ferro)