Aug 5, 2015

Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said “we are literally making a miracle happen here.”

: A goal area stands on a handball court after a press conference inside an arena under construction at Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said on Wednesday all the venues for South America’s first games are on track to be ready when the curtain comes up on Aug. 5 next year. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: A construction worker walks inside the Olympic handball arena inside Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said on Wednesday all the venues for South America’s first games are on track to be ready when the curtain comes up on Aug. 5 next year. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: The future arena for Olympic handball is built in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said on Wednesday all the venues for South America’s first games are on track to be ready when the curtain comes up on Aug. 5 next year. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: Rio de Janeiro’s Mayor Eduardo Paes, left, plays handball inside an Olympic arena under construction, after a press conference at Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. Paes said on Wednesday all the venues for South America’s first games are on track to be ready when the curtain comes up on Aug. 5 next year. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: A construction worker stands behind a pile of bricks as he helps build the arena that will host Olympic handball, at Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said on Wednesday all the venues for South America’s first games are on track to be ready when the curtain comes up on Aug. 5 next year. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: The Olympic handball court is illuminated inside an arena under construction at Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes said on Wednesday all the venues for South America’s first games are on track to be ready when the curtain comes up on Aug. 5 next year. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: Rio de Janeiro’s Mayor Eduardo Paes speaks to the press as Brazil’s Olympic Committee President Carlos Nuzman looks on inside a stadium under construction, one year before the Olympic games start, at Olympic Park in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, Aug. 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: The Olympic Park which will host Rio’s 2016 Olympics is seen under construction in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, July 27, 2015. The Olympics will offer 28 sports, 300 events, 10,500 athletes and, with the exception of five football venues, it’s all packed into Rio for 17 days. The Paralympics add two more weeks, and thousands more athletes. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: Construction crews work on the velodrome at the Olympic Park for Rio’s 2016 Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, July 27, 2015. A study by Said Business School at Oxford University of Olympic Games since 1960 showed each one had cost overruns. This one is expected to be no different. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: Construction continues at the Tennis Center at the Olympic Park for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, July 27, 2015. A last-minute rush seems inevitable, and late work is sure to drive up costs. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: Crews work on the construction of the Carioca Arenas at the Olympic Park for the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, July 27, 2015. Part of the Olympic Park will serve afterward as Brazil’s Olympic training center, mostly for elite athletes. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: The Olympic golf course is seen under construction in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Monday, July 27, 2015. The golf course is part of two high-profile legacy projects that also includes the Athletes’ Village, which are primarily real estate developments anchored by luxury apartments. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

: In this April 13, 2015 file photo, dead fish float at the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The rowing and canoeing venue for the 2016 Rio Olympics will be held at the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, which is a beautiful locale spoiled by sewage-filled water and floating debris. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 22, 2015 photo, personnel work at the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Once the Olympics are over, luxury housing units at the golf course will be sold. The project involve public and private money, with much of the income going to the private developers. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this May 20, 2015 file photo, Antonio, member of the Rio de Paz NGO places a flower at the memorial for cyclist Jaime Gold, at the place where he was stabbed to death at the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Street crime in Rio has spiked. Knifings and muggings are increasingly taking place in the upscale south and west of the city, which will host most of the Olympics. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 23, 2015 photo, a heavy machinery load debris from a demolished house at the Vila Autodromo slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Thursday, July 23, 2015. It will take years to know if the Olympics improved life for 12 million Cariocas, as Rio residents are known. And if so, who profited the most from spending $12 billion in public and private money: ordinary people, politicians, or private real estate developers and construction companies? (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 22, 2015 photo, personnel work at the Carioca Arena 1, that will host basketball during the 2016 Olympic games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Olympics offer 28 sports, 300 events, 10,500 athletes and, with the exception of five football venues, it’s all packed into Rio for 17 days. The Paralympics add two more weeks, and thousands more athletes. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 22, 2015 photo, a journalist walks in the Future Arena which will host the handball competition during the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. With a year to go before the Rio Olympics open, organizers struggle to have all the buildings completed, clean the water in several badly polluted venues for rowing and sailing, and get an efficient transportation network in place to tame one of the world’s most congested cities. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 20, 2015 photo, Personnel work at the Olympic Equestrian Center in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Construction for the Olympics got off to a slow start. And so did ticket sales.(AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 22, 2015 photo, personnel work on the Carioca Arena 1, for the 2016 Rio Olympics, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The head of the local organizing committee Carlos Nuzman says Rio will be the Olympic city with the “greatest transformation,” surpassing Tokyo in 1964 and Barcelona in 1992. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 23, 2015 photo, boys fly kite at the Vila Autodromo slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The slum is being demolished to build part of the Olympic Park for the 2016 Rio Olympics, with some residents holding out for better compensation from the city. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 22, 2015 photo, a worker paints a wall at the Future Arena which will host handball during the 2016 Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Olympics offer 28 sports, 300 events, 10,500 athletes and, with the exception of five football venues, it’s all packed into Rio for 17 days. The Paralympics add two more weeks, and thousands more athletes. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 23, 2015 photo, shows the Athletes’ Village under construction, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Athletes’ Village is one of two high-profile legacy projects, which are primarily real estate developments anchored by luxury apartments. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 20, 2015 photo, shows the Youth Arena that will host several events for the 2016 Olympic Games, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. About 150,000 Brazilian police and soldiers were used during the World Cup. Several reports have suggested Rio will use about 60,000 troops, police, firemen and private guards to keep order. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 22, 2015 photo, a worker toils in the construction of the Carioca Arena 1, for the 2016 Rio Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Olympics offer 28 sports, 300 events, 10,500 athletes and, with the exception of five football venues, it’s all packed into Rio for 17 days. The Paralympics add two more weeks, and thousands more athletes. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

: In this July 23, 2015 photo, Marina da Penha, who doesn’t want to leave her house, looks the Olympic Park construction site from her home, at the Vila Autodromo slum, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. A large section of the Olympic Park will be developed as residential space. Some of that space has yet to be vacated with residents of Vila Autodromo holding out for better compensation from the city. (AP Photo/Silvia Izquierdo)

Paes stood Wednesday in an arena being built for the Olympics and said that all the venues for South America’s first games are on track to be ready when the curtain comes up on Aug. 5 next year.

Paes and Carlos Nuzman, an International Olympic Committee member who heads the local organizing committee, gave a presentation on progress at the Olympic venues.

Both men faced questions — first from Rio newspaper O Globo — about the polluted water surrounding Rio. An Associated Press study released last week showed dangerously high levels of viruses in all water-related venues.

The World Health Organization has asked the IOC to pursue virus testing in Rio during the next year. – AP

The Rio Olympics are 1 year away

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