City of Rio reopens Olympic BMX cycling track to the public and professional athletes

29 January 2025 – The BMX cycling track that hosted competitions at the Olympic Games Rio 2016 has been opened to the public after a full renovation. Upholding its legacy commitments, despite governance issues during the years after the Games, the city continues to benefit from the long-term positive effects of Rio 2016.

The reopening was marked by a special inaugural event attended by Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes, who affirmed, “Rio wants to be a hotbed of high-performance sports.”

The track is set to serve as a training ground for Brazil’s national athletes through a partnership between Rio City Hall and the Brazilian Cycling Federation (CBC). The BMX Olympic Centre will also offer initiation programmes for local schools.

Both amateur and professional athletes at the event commended the track’s exceptional features. Priscilla Stevaux, the Brazilian BMX racing champion who competed on the same track during the Rio 2016 Games, praised the reopening of the track for sports development.

The track is amazing. Being able to compete on a quality track like this, with perfect undulations, helps the athlete develop.

Priscilla Stevaux, Brazilian BMX racing champion and Olympian, Rio 2016

Spanning 4,000 square metres, the BMX Olympic Centre features a track with a 350-metre course for women and a 400-metre course for men. Redesigned to accommodate both professional and amateur athletes, the facility offers versatile training opportunities for riders of all skill levels. For Olympic and international competitions, the track is equipped with an eight-metre starting ramp, while a five-metre ramp has been recently installed to support beginners as they develop their skills. Some of the improvements made to the track include restoring the metal structures at the starting points, replacing the wooden ramp surface with a steel deck slab, and correcting undulations.

“We are delighted to see that the city of Rio is fulfilling its commitments to maximise the Games’ benefits for the population. The revitalisation of the BMX Olympic Centre into a world-class, accessible facility demonstrates how the Games continue to deliver lasting social and sporting benefits for their communities,” said Marie Sallois, IOC Director for Corporate and Sustainable Development.

Eight years after the Olympic Games took place in Rio, the reopening of this track will allow the Olympic spirit to continue to grow, nurture future champions and foster a culture of sport that will inspire generations to come.

Marie Sallois, IOC Director for Corporate and Sustainable Development

The BMX Olympic Centre is situated in the Deodoro Sports Complex in Rio de Janeiro’s West Zone, in an area called X Park that hosted canoe slalom, mountain biking and BMX events during Rio 2016. Today, the site has been transformed into a vibrant public space offering 19 free sports activities to more than 3,000 students, including basketball, swimming and boxing. In addition to these programmes, the warmup area of the canoe slalom venue continues to be used as a swimming pool open to the public on weekends, providing a recreational space for the local community. In addition, the canoe slalom course used during the Rio 2016 Games has been used as a dedicated training facility for the Brazilian canoeing team, and continues to host national and international elite competitions.

The reopening of the BMX track reflects Rio’s commitment to building a lasting legacy by transforming key venues into educational and community spaces that continue to benefit the city. The Arena of the Future, which hosted handball and goalball during the Games, has been dismantled and repurposed into four public schools. The Arena Carioca 3 has become the Isabel Salgado Olympic Educational Gymnasium, the first Olympic venue converted into a public school. Other sites are being repurposed for educational and recreational use, with some retaining their suitability for high-performance sport. The Olympic Aquatics Stadium pools have been dismantled and relocated. In 2019, three pools were moved to Manaus, Salvador and São Paulo, while the main pool was reassembled in Parque Radical, Inhoaíba, in 2024, providing new recreational facilities for the community. Additionally, the Olympic Park has been revitalised with new public spaces that allow local communities to practise sport.

Find out more about the Rio 2016 Legacy.

Rio 2016: Shaping urban renewal and social progress in challenging times

Despite facing challenges as the first Olympic Games held in South America, Rio 2016 created lasting benefits for Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and the Brazilian people.

Legacy overview