The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the Mayor of Rio de Janeiro attended a ceremony Wednesday as the Olympic athletes village was delivered to the IOC.
IOC President Thomas Bach toured the village and took delivery of the complex, 51 days ahead of the Olympic Games.
“First of all, I’d like to express my congratulations to Mayor Paes and everybody involved in bringing this wonderful Olympic village together,” Bach said.
Bach also met with some of the refugee athletes living in the village already.
The two were both born in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
They fled the conflict in the country and sought refugee status in Brazil.
A ten-member refugee team was selected to participate in the games in August, marching under the Olympic flag.
Bach called for countries to open their arms to the refugees.
“We want also to send a message to the countries where these refugees are fleeing,” he said. “We want to show them that these refugees are enrichment to their society and we want to inspire these countries to integrate these refugees and to integrate these athletes as soon and as good as possible.”
Early Wednesday morning, Bach took a train from Rio’s central station to the location of another Olympic complex.
Bach’s three-day visit to Brazil ends Thursday in Sao Paulo.