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IOC shoots down British report that Rio Games could be moved

Chris the Redeemer

Christ the Redeemer statue stands above Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Wednesday, June 19, 2013. Sugar Loaf mountain is at right. Scattered street demonstrations popped up around Brazil Wednesday as protesters continued their collective cry against the low-quality public services they receive in exchange for high taxes and rising prices. (AP Photo/Renata Britto)

AP

There is not a shred of truth in a British report that London had been secretly asked if it would be able to host the 2016 Olympics in the midst of Rio de Janeiro’s delays in preparation, an International Olympic Committee spokesman said Friday.

The Evening Standard reported, “an informal approach was made by Olympics bosses to discover whether enough venues from the triumphant 2012 London Games could be brought back into use.”

The newspaper reported Brazil had done 10 percent of Olympic prep work at a comparable stage to when London had 60 percent completed before the 2012 Olympics. It also said the chances of London actually being asked to host the 2016 Games were “infinitesimally small,” citing unnamed sources close to the Olympic movement.

The report was “totally without foundation and totally unfeasible,” an IOC spokesman told The Associated Press.

No city has hosted back-to-back Olympics. Innsbruck, Austria, came the closest, hosting Winter Games in 1964 and 1976.

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