News “Welcome to a routine that starts now and will continue for the next 400 days,” said Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro, on Thursday (16 July) He was presenting the city’s operational plan for the triathlon and equestrian test events that will be staged at the start of August in preparation for next year’s Olympic Games The announcement was made at Rio’s Operations Centre – the city’s infrastructure nerve centre – at the same time as Brazil were taking on the USA in the volleyball World League finals at the Maracanãzinho, in the first of 44 test events to be staged until May 2016 On Saturday 1 August, Copacabana will stage the paratriathlon world championships The next day the famous picture-postcard location will host the triathlon Olympic qualifier, which will qualify the three best male and female competitors for the Rio 2016 Games On 5 August, Rio will celebrate one year until the Games begin, and the following day the Aquece Rio International Horse Trials – the Olympic equestrian test event – will begin in the Deodoro Olympic Park The message was clear: Rio de Janeiro is well and truly entering into Games mode And for all the events, the city government’s main recommendation is the same: use public transport In Copacabana, where the city government intends to reduce traffic by 30-40 per cent during the two days of competition, a section of Avenida Atlântica – the grand seaside avenue – will be closed for six days to allow for preparations, operations and the demounting of facilities The triathlon events will be open to the public, free of charge In Deodoro, although the equestrian event will not be open to the public, the same road conditions planned for the Games will be implemented, in order to reinforce testing in a part of the city less accustomed to staging big events Between 5 and 9 August, there will also be the rowing test event – 2015 World Rowing Junior Championships – that will take place at Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas However, the city government believes the event does not require a special operational plan, as it is being staged in a location that traditionally stages events of this size The city government also confirmed that it will reinforce integration with the state and federal government’s planning and control apparatus, along with the Rio 2016 Organising Committee