Rio de Janeiro to host 2016 Summer Olympics

Rio beat out Madrid, Spain, in the final round. Chicago, Illinois, and Tokyo, Japan, were eliminated in earlier rounds. Rio becomes the first South American City ever to host Olympics....I guess it makes sense to give it that honour to spread Olympic spirit to 190 million Brazilians and 380 million South Americans..It was nice to see the Brazilian deligates including their President and Pele in tears after the announcment..It was ofcourse bad to see the Obamas fail though...

I think it is a good choice. I thought it would go to the Windy City (sorry J.J.), but let us hope Rio (and her poor) will all benefit from the event.

I think one big reason Chicago lost out is over concerns about security and visa inconveniences for international athletes and visitors. I understand the Obamas and the Chicago delegation got a lot of questions about that from the IOC.

Other than that, Chicago seemed to be very well set up for the Olympics already. I stopped by the "Chicago 2016" booth at Taste of Chicago this summer, and many of the facilities were already built and ready to go.

The opening ceremonies are sure to be eye-popping. I wonder if they'll be able to show it on US network TV? Wardrobe malfunction-o-rama!

I'll bet the US athletes are much more excited about going to Rio than they would be about going to Chicago. Not that Chicago's not a great city, but it's no Rio.

This is great news! (for me) I'll have both the WorldCup and the Olympic Games just next door. The best part (for me again) is not having be awake at crazy hours to watch the sports.

Also, Rio seems pretty set up too (they hosted the PanAmerican Games in 2007) and in addition a lot of renovations will be done in the city as it will be one of the hosting cities of the WorldCup.

The best part will probably be watching all the Brazilians in the crowd, its usually like a party in the stands when they are there. The fans are gonna have a great time, Rio is not only gorgeous but also such a fun and craaaaaaaaazy city.

Well, they're not truly global until an African nation hosts the games as well...I guess South Africa will be putting their hands up soon enough.

This seems the best option to me as now it will go from Asia to Europe to South America (so a better choice than Spain or Japan) and North America has had them plenty.

I do wonder if the IOC has been reluctant to host them in Latin America after the massacre of 300 people which happened in Mexico City just prior to the ones in '68? I mean, the Rio police are not famed for their unwillingness to participate in massacres and the slums are not getting any smaller; seems like there is the potential for problems. I for one am happy the IOC saw beyond this and gave them the opportunity.

Let's see how they deal with the World Cup next year.

Yes, you are probably right. Because massacres and use of military force don't happen anywhere else other than Latin America. It's well known that we're incredibly trigger happy down south. And because the violence that took place in Mexico in 1968 was completely isolated. The sixties were all about peace and love everywhere else in the world. And because it has nothing to do with infrastructure or politics.

Thanks for the clarification: I was in danger of thinking that you perhaps meant Madrid, Alabama, Iowa or Nebraska.

Can I ask, though: did you perhaps mean e.g. Rio de Janeiro, Chihuahua, MX? Their ability to host an event on the world stage means that there is the potential for confusion. Not to mention the availability of tiny dogs.

I copied those lines direct from Spiegel or DWelle.... dont remember now which one though. had no idea there is a Rio de Janeiro in Mexico, Google map shows me a street in Chihuahua in that name... Its always good to have some experts like you on-board , keep up the good work
Anyway, why not ask people in Times Square where Madrid is ?
[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJuNgBkloFE[/media]

I definitely agree with that, here is a pic of a group at Silverstone F1 a few years ago, having a blast they were.

Expert? Erm, no. Ability to be a sarcastic fool and use Google? Erm, yes.

Anyway, a green point from me for your most gracious and dignified response my wiseass ribbing.