Rio 2016: an assessment of the impacts of the Olympic Games on health and physical activity of women living in a low socio-economic status community

In 2016, the XXXI Summer Olympic Games took place in Rio de Janeiro. In line with the bidding procedure and the hope for an Olympic legacy, the Brazilian government and the Rio de Janeiro City Council made commitments to deliver lasting improvements to the city’s residents. These improvements relate to infrastructure like transport and facilities, but also residents’ health and well-being. Such health benefits, in particular those concerning physical activity (PA), were promised to be delivered through national and regional policies and interventions. According to official documents, changes would begin to be implemented in the years preceding the Games and one of the legacy promises was to use the event to stimulate people to engage in LTPA/sport. The main purpose of this thesis was therefore to assess the impact of the 2016 Olympic Games on LTPA/sport participation of the local population. Specifically, the investigation focused on women living in Cidade de Deus, a low socio economic status (SES) community located closely to the Olympic park. A mixed-methods design using document analyses, interviews, observations and a questionnaire were used to produce data. The results of the investigation provided insights into sport policies delivered for this low income community, the physical environment for the practice of LTPA and sport available in Cidade de Deus, the PA patterns of women from this community and how public health discourses concerning health and PA have a significant impact in shaping the health and PA discourses of these women