IN THE countdown to Rio 2016 this August one Oxfordshire man has more reason than most to this year's Olympic games will be alright on the night.
Jason Prior, from Wantage, was the man entrusted with the vision to transform the former Formula 1 Brazilian Grand Prix track in Barra da Tijuca into the Olympic Park.
More than four years on since Mr Prior came up with the masterplan of what will be the heart of the games in Brazil, he said he will feel a great deal of pride when the athletes take centre stage.
The chief executive of planning consultancy Aecom told the Oxford Mail his team did not just build a major sports venue – it left a legacy.
The former Kind Alfred's school, Wantage, pupil said: "You feel quite proud and get a unique sense of collective effort.
"There's also that unbelievable relief that it's there and ready to work. Sometimes you get slightly anxious, but fingers crossed.
"It's about staying very calm: there is a lot of moving parts and I'm just one cog in a huge human endeavour."
Mr Prior grew up in Wantage with his two brothers. The 55-year-old went to school at King Alfred’s before going on to university in Manchester, originally looking to become a landscape architect.
He is now married with three children and, after playing rugby for Oxfordshire under-18s, is still a big sports fan.
Since then he has taken up hang-gliding as a past time and has even represented Great Britain.
His 120-acre Olympic Park contains nine venues which will host 16 Olympic and nine Paralympic sports, alongside the main press centre and international broadcast centre.
Mr Prior and his team, who won a bid to build the park, worked with local architects and visited Rio on a regular basis in an attempt to reflect local culture in their design.
Mr Prior was also the mastermind behind the London 2012 park and said he took a lot of inspiration from those games into developing the stadia for Rio.
He added: "One thing we wanted to make sure was we captured the Brazilian culture and we created big walking routes through the park.
"We approach this types of project not just as sporting events but more as city development projects.
"It's about the long-term vision. This is catalyst for change and the legacy it leaves behind."
The Olympic Park and other venues will eventually become a centre of sporting excellence, with the creation of Brazil’s first national Olympic Training Centre.
Mr Prior's mother and father, Brian and Ann Prior, both still live in Wantage, and said they were "enormously" proud of their son.
Mrs Prior said: "I don't really know where it came from but I persuade myself it was the way we brought him up."
The Olympic Games will run from August 5 to 21.
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