News The overwhelming success of the Aquece Rio International Mountain Bike Challenge, held in Deodoro Olympic Park last weekend (11 October), marked the end of the first ‘wave’ of Rio 2016 test events Up to now, the organising committee tested its Olympic and Paralympic Games operations across 12 sports competitions, bringing more than 1,800 of the world’s top athletes to Rio to check out the venues and get into the spirit of the Games  Among the elements that have been praised were the integration of city operations – such as spectator communications, traffic management and security – for the street events, such as road cycling and triathlon The integrated decision-making process across the organising committee and its partners, including government authorities, have also been considered high points, as have the close working relationships with international sports federations and, of course, the athletes Check out the highlights of the first wave of Rio 2016 test events: But, as is the purpose of test events, lessons have also been learned Among the areas that need to be modified before the Games are: create a fixed starting line and new ‘feeding spots’ for marathon swimming; improve road surfacing for some parts of the triathlon and road cycling courses; deliver the modifications requested by competitors on the BMX track There will also be a constant monitoring of the water quality at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, where rowing and canoe sprint competitions will be held in 2016, with eventual withdraw of excess algae The volunteers will also do their duties slightly differently in the next events, with shorter shifts to avoid long hours under the sun