The Olympic Experimental Gymnasium (OEG) Program was implemented by the Municipal Government of Rio de Janeiro, to attend students of the final years of Elementary School with talent for sports, seeking the excellence training of student-athlete-citizen in some full-time schools of the network. A case study on the implementation of the program was developed in one of the units, located in the Caju neighborhood. We conducted interviews with technicians responsible for the program in the municipal agencies and institutions that participated in the implementation of the project, with the management team and teachers of the school. We applied a questionnaire to the school actors, gathered documents about the model in question and made observation as participants in the school everyday. We conclude that the location of the school influenced the evolution of demand for positions in this school model possibly to a greater extent than the characteristics of the project itself. The unclear regulations favored the discretion of school characters by broadening the scope for decision-making based on their personal beliefs and values. The demands imposed on a model created to meet also a demand for effective schools in the network, as well as the historical culture of little appreciation of the role of physical education and sport in the school context, also seemed to influence both the discretion of the characters and the establishment of the organizational culture of the school studied. The data analyzed indicated that the selection process of the teachers, the values motivated by the sports actions and the extended time of permanence of teachers and students appeared to positively influence the school environment.