Thomas Bach praises Rio 2016 preparations

Rio de Janeiro: Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, has praised the "dynamic" pace of preparations for the Rio 2016 Games in Brazil.

The panel's vice president John Coates in April had claimed Rio's Games preparations were the worst he had ever seen. But Bach said officials had stepped up work in recent months, reported Xinhua.

The Rio Olympics, the first to be held in South America, will be staged from Aug 5 to 21, 2016.

"We have seen that the mayor and the governor have assumed greater responsibility, showing great dynamism and working together with the local organizing committee," Bach was quoted saying to the Folha de S.Paulo newspaper.

Bach, who assumed the IOC leadership from Jacques Rogge last September, added that the Rio Games preparations had shown "many positive indicators".