Rio Olympic Park 82% complete - organizers

Construction work at Barra Olympic Park, the main venue cluster for next year's Olympic Games, is 82% complete, organizers said on Wednesday.

The announcement came as the city began the one-year countdown to the Olympics, the first to be staged in South America.

Six of the seven venues being built at Olympic Park will be finished by the end of 2015, as will the golf course, which is being built in the same neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca.

The local government also said that work at X-Park, which will be home to BMX, mountain biking and canoe slalom, is nearly 80% complete.

Barra Olympic Park will host 16 of the 42 Olympic sports and nine of the 23 Paralympic disciplines.

The last venue expected to be ready at the complex is the aquatics stadium, due to be completed in the first quarter of 2016.

Its remaining facilities are forecast to be ready by the end of 2015.

Organizers gave the following venue update:

BARRA OLYMPIC PARK

Carioca Arena 1 - 85% complete

Scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2015, Carioca Arena Carioca 1 will stage basketball during the Olympic Games and wheelchair basketball and wheelchair rugby during the Paralympic Games. After the Games it will form part of the Olympic Training Center, the main sporting legacy.

Carioca Arena 2 - 91% complete

The stage for judo and wrestling during the Olympic Games, then boccia in the Paralympic Games, Carioca Arena 2 will be completed in the third quarter of 2015 and will also form part of the Olympic Training Center.

Carioca Arena 3 - 93% complete

Olympic fencing and taekwondo, and Paralympic judo, will be held at Carioca Arena 3, which will be completed in the third quarter of 2015. After the Games it will be converted into an Olympic Experimental School, which combines academic teaching with top-level sports training, with space for 850 full-time students.

Olympic Tennis Center - 68% complete

The venue for the Olympic tennis tournament, wheelchair tennis and 5-a-side football for the visually impaired will be completed in the third quarter of 2015. It will comprise a center court, two secondary courts plus another seven outer courts, and six courts for warming up and training. Scheduled to be completed in the third quarter of 2015, it will allow Rio to host top-level tennis tournaments for years to come.

Rio Olympic Velodrome - 61% complete

Scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015, the velodrome will host the Olympic and Paralympic track cyclists - the fastest athletes at the Games. After the Games it will allow Rio to continue hosting top-level track cycling events and serve as a high-performance training center, while also hosting groups from social projects.

Future Arena - 74% complete

The 12,000-seat venue for handball during the Olympic Games and goalball during the Paralympic Games is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015. After the Games it will be dismounted and its parts used to construct four public schools, each with a capacity of 500 students.

Olympic Aquatics Stadium - 81% complete

The arena that will host Olympic and Paralympic swimming, plus water polo, will be completed in the first quarter of 2016. After the Games it will be dismounted and its parts used to construct two aquatics centers, both of which will have 50m Olympic swimming pools and be used for training and hosting international events.

Olympic Golf Course - 98% complete

Set to be delivered in time for November's test event, this venue - close to but not in Barra Olympic Park - will host golf's return to the Olympic Games after an 112-year absence. After the Games, it will be a public course.

DEODORO OLYMPIC PARK

Whitewater Stadium - 79% complete

Scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2016, the canoe slalom venue will become a large recreational lakefor public use after the Games.

Olympic BMX Center - 79% complete

Set to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2015, the BMX facilities will be maintained after the Games for high-performance and public use.

Mountain Bike Center - 79% complete

Although the course will be ready for the test event in October, the complete supporting instrastructure is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2016.

Youth Arena - 62% complete

The stage for the fencing section of modern pentathlon and the first phase of women's basketball, plus wheelchair fencing, is scheduled to be completed in the first quarter of 2016. Endi