Work advances at Rio Olympics 2016 venues

Rio de Janeiro: The construction work at three Rio 2016 venues is in progress as the city steps up its Olympic preparations, local organizers have said.

The structures for spectator stands have already been built at indoor arenas earmarked for basketball, judo, fencing, taekwondo, wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, boccia and judo, Xinhua cited from the Rio 2016 website.

The work on the adjacent Olympic tennis centre, which will seat 10,000 people, is also "taking shape", organizers said.

"Significant progress has been made and we are happy to see that work is proceeding as planned, and in some cases, is ahead of schedule," said Rio 2016 infrastructure integration director Alexandre Techima.

Meanwhile, foundations are being laid for the Olympic Velodrome and Aquatics Stadium.

Rio Olympic Arena and Maria Lenk Aquatics Centre are scheduled to undergo refurbishment work in the first quarter of 2015.