World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont has described the sports Olympics return in Rio as a game-changer.Six days of sevens action across womens and mens competitions kick off at the 15,000-capacity Deodoro Stadium on Saturday. It is 92 years since rugby last featured in the Olympics, and former England captain Beaumont knows a glorious chance exists to seize the moment.The Olympic Games halo effect started the moment we were voted back onto the programme in 2009, Beaumont told reporters in Rio on Friday.Our national member unions have embraced the Olympic opportunity, and participation has doubled to 7.73 million, with dramatic growth in new and emerging rugby nations.In short, it has been a game-changer, enhancing our vision of a sport for all.This is the players moment to shine, to enjoy and inspire.Their passion and commitment to reach the pinnacle of their discipline and proudly represent their nation and rugby on sports biggest stage will be rewarded with what I fully anticipate being spectacular, game-changing Olympic rugby sevens events.World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper, meanwhile, revealed there had been strong ticket sales for the Olympic sevens, which suggests there is little chance of a repeat of the sparse crowds in early ftball fixtures in Rio.We believe ticket sales are going well, Gosper said. We are hoping for a full stadium across the programme.Whats great about sevens rugby is the closer the fans are to the players, the better the atmosphere, and I dont think we have had a sevens stadium to date that is as close to the play.We are very confident the stadium will be full throughout the sessions across the six days.We believe that our sales have been well above the average of some of the other sports. We are confident of having that festival atmosphere that we are lking for.In terms of percentage of sales, we believe that we are around two-thirds in terms of sales, which is at a high clip.South American rugby superstar Agustin Pichot, the current World Rugby vice-chairman, echoed Beaumonts sentiments about the enormity of rugby reappearing at the Olympics.And he also paid tribute to the late Jonah Lomu, whose role was crucial during the campaign to have rugby restored at the Games.Yesterday, when I arrived, a lot of emotions came through, former Argentina captain Pichot said.I was thinking of Jonah first. He was a very close friend of mine, and I was thinking I would love to be with him here today and tomorrow at the Games.Rugbys a big family, and weve fought very hard to learn the process of the Olympic family.I made great friends with people I have watched on television, and then meeting IOC members, asking them and trying to persuade them to vote for rugby.The whole journey has been wonderful, and tomorrow its going to be very special for a lot of us and a very special day for rugby worldwide.Its a game-changer. Its massive. Its the right moment.Its there in the top things in the evolution of rugby in the last 30 years, and while the challenges are big, we hope we can keep up with the pace. Discount Shoes China . The defence is doing its part, t. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Clearance Shoes China . Hey!" 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TOKYO -- Tokyos original plans for a compact Olympics in 2020 continue to fall by the wayside.A Tokyo government panel is set to propose moving more venues outside of the city -- including hundreds of kilometers (miles) away -- in order to save money, the latest in a series of changes since the Japanese capital was awarded the games three years ago.Among the venues being reviewed are those for volleyball, swimming, rowing and canoe sprint, Kyodo news agency reported Wednesday.Public broadcaster NHK said the panel would propose moving rowing and canoeing to Tome City, about 440 kilometers (270 miles) northeast of Tokyo in the prefecture of Miyagi. Tome was one of several cities severely affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The city is approximately 70 kilometers (45 miles) north of Sendai, which is a three-hour train ride from Tokyo.Details of the proposed changes are expected to be made public Thursday at a meeting of a taskforce for metropolitan government reform.The changes would require approval of the International Olympic Committee and the individual international sports federations.The government panel was set up earlier this month by Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike, who is determined to reduce the soaring costs.Tokyo won the right to host the games in 2013 by promising a compact bid with 28 of the 31 competition venues within an eight-kilometer (5-mile) radius of the Olympic Village. Originally, only shting, modern pentathlon and one ftball venue were to be outside the eight-kilometer radius.ddddddddddddAlready, venues for basketball, taekwondo and cycling have been moved outside of Tokyo to maximize existing facilities. Cycling was moved to Izu, some 145 kilometers (90 miles) southwest of the capital.Tokyo organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori acknowledged in July that the cost of building seven temporary venues for the Olympics had surged to an estimated $2.6 billion, up from an initial estimate of $690 million.Mori said the original figures were the result of sloppy calculations which he blamed on the Tokyo metropolitan government and the Japanese Olympic Committee.The organizing committee hasnt disclosed an official estimate of the overall costs but has acknowledged it will be considerably higher than the $3.5 billion that was forecast in the bid.Preparations for the games have been plagued by a series of scandals involving the new national stadium, the official logo and allegations of bribery in the bidding process.Work on the new national stadium has fallen behind schedule because the government abandoned an original design amid spiraling costs. The total costs for staging the Olympics are shared by the organizing committee, the Tokyo municipal government and the national government. ' ' '