Rio to host 2016 Olympics

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Rio de Janeiro will host South America’s first Olympics in 2016 after beating other bids including an Obama-backed pitch from Chicago.

Rio de Janeiro saw off Madrid in the final round of voting among International Olympic Committee members overnight.

Carlos Osorio, general secretary of the Rio bid, told Reuters: “Overwhelming, spectacular, unbelievable.”

In an astonishing start to the voting, Chicago, the odds-on favourite, went out in the first round, despite receiving unprecedented support from United States President Barack Obama and the first lady.

It was a rebuff for Obama, who had become the first sitting US president to address an IOC session.

Tokyo followed them out in the second round, leaving Madrid and Rio to slug it out in the final round.

Rio will be the first South American city to host the Games.

Nearly 50,000 people erupted in celebration when Rio was announced host, jumping and cheering in a Carnival-like party on Copacabana beach.

Obama was “disappointed” Chicago failed to win its bid but was “absolutely” glad he went to Copenhagen to make a pitch for his hometown, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.

“The president is disappointed as you might imagine,” Gibbs told reporters aboard Air Force One as Obama flew back from Denmark.

“The president would never shy away from traveling anywhere, talking to anyone about this country. He is enormously proud of this effort that was made,” Gibbs said, adding the Obamas had “made a case from the heart.”

http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/2928223/Rio-to-host-2016-Olympics

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Interesting politics. It would appear Obama owed some favors and appeared for this reason alone. There is no way really that his appearance at this late date could make any difference in the bids because all the bid reports were in and read and all the delegates’ “lost luggage” that needed replacing in potential host cities had already been replaced (or not, as the case may be).
It was a long odds mission for the President.
My own take on Chicago would be how could anyone get anywhere in a timely fashion?
I drove from Windsor to Chicago in 2.5hrs- and then from the one side of Chicago to the other in another 3 hrs! Good thing I arrived before rush hour!

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You will have the same problem in Rio. Avenida Brasil will colapse if heavily transited. I hope they finish building their metro soon.

Anyway great to see the OGs in Brazil, it´s a marvellous country.

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I am amazed they would both pick a city that is hosting the World Cup just 2 years before the Olympics AND pick by far one of the most dangerous cities in the world. It makes South Side Chicago look like a kiddie playground. And Madrid in the final 2 (after London being in 2012)?? This has to be a joke.

I wonder if the IOC is actually looking at themselves long-term as a massive portion of their revenue comes from the US market and I can hardly see how this is going to help things when the popularity of the Olympics dies a bit more every 4 years. It has already been discussed that the USATF is going to be taking a hit since they were going to receive large increases in contributions from some of their sponsors (like Nike) if Chicago was to have the Olympics.

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I live in Chicago and I don’t have a clue how they could pull it off with the traffic. A single Bears game on Sunday shuts the place down.

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Have you ever been to Madrid, Tokyo? I have gone from the south side of Chicago to O’Hare in well under 2hrs during rush hour on a Friday and to St. Charles as well in a similar time frame. It isn’t any worse than the other cities listed and better than some.

I don’t really like the idea of the Olympics in Chicago, but I just don’t see how it could lose out to the places in question except perhaps Tokyo who clearly had the best plan. Politics are fun though.

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I’ve been to Madrid and Tokyo. I could see problems in Tokyo because of the no-right-turn rule but I’ve never experienced delays like Chicago. In any event, I’m sure traffic problems are a side issue to politics as usual.

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I don’t understand why the US nominated Chicago as their Olympic bid candidate city. This is a genuine question: Why Chicago? In my own mind’s eye, I have no impression of anything appealing about Chicago. Sorry, but maybe that’s how the rest of the world saw the place too.

:o

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Sometimes prejudices are hard to fail…Rio is as dangerous as could be any big american city (New orleans, for example, or washington or London, which holds the record for teen agers killing by knife fight…)…in the south and center part, there is nothing to worry.far easier to be robbed the camera or cellular in other european cities…only in certain favelas there are constant wars btw police and drug dealers…but no turist can notice this, because no one goes there…also, not all the favelas are dangerous place…95% of people living there are just poor honest guys.
In a couple of favelas, you reach an Homicide rate of 150 for 100.000, whereas in washington ( all the city) you had 78 in late 90s, new orleans 80…btw, in the center and tourist area of Rio, you have 4 (!!!) each 100.000…actually safer than most european cities…
The crome problem came with democracy in the 80s…still during 80s, homicide and crime in all brazil were similar to those in all USA…Th olypics are the best occasion to move on…

Rio has 3 metropolitan lines ( modern, on time and clean), and there IS a lot of traffic, but public transport is quite efficent…easier to reach any
point of Rio by coach or metro than doing the same in Rome, for example.

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First time in that part of the world, internet, phone, sewer electricity, accomodation and transport. They have cleaned up cities before,

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How many of you have actually visited Rio?maybe for a significant time and not just a swim in Ipanema?Good luck to Rio…I’ll be back there very soon.

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that was the point of the bid- to show that Chicago has a great center part at least but of course from a visual aspect, how can any bid city match Rio?

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By not being one of the most dangerous, crime infested places in the “Western” world. And having money, too, of course. It is also technically winter in Rio during the summer Olympics, which isn’t a huge deal, but average temps in the 60s. I’m not sure if that is considered ideal or what, but not how I exactly imagine a summer Olympics (Sydney was cold, too).

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You gotta be kidding me regarding the crime. This has to be a joke. Today, not 20, 30, 40 years ago, Rio is incredibly more dangerous than virtually any city in the US or in Western Europe and clearly much more dangerous and financially distraught than any of the other cities in question. It isn’t even comparable.

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The slum won it again!

It was the same with London vs Paris… London promised to regenerate the east-end… infact they’re pretty much flattening Hackney!

However, I doubt very much that any stadiums will be built in the Favelas… they’ll be left to rot… worse off than before.

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Do they have a starting date for Rio?

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Are you so sure fogelson?Ever been there for a significant time?There are stats from international organization, and new orleans and washington have far worse death count…then, not a paradise off course(except it should be a paradise…from eyesight it is), and still great disparity among people…but one of the very few country in which, albeit slowly, middle class is growing, slowly but growing…can we say the same here in europe or the us?It’s a city and a country of contrasts…you see favelas and city wars like african tribal wars, and then you have the most advanced anti aids prevention program, plastic surgery and dental ones.
It had been early 30, when according to Roosevelt brazil should have become n1 power in the world…didn’t happen…then during the 60s…didn’t happen…yesterday Lula’s speech is one of the best ever from a country leader, in par with some of Obama (not the ones on Iran for sure…)
Also…average low temp during night is 66 in august, average day high is 78…not so cold in the end…also is the driest month of the year regarding rain.

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Look, I’m not going to turn this into a thread arguing about murder rates, but there has been more than enough published on what a joke some of the purported stats are. Many drug related murders and crimes in Rio aren’t even reported as homicides, so the stats are quite deceiving at best and still show how dangerous it s. I don’t know what years you are referring to, but Washington DC and New Orleans, at their worst, are not as bad as Rio (and I don’t recall New Orleans or DC being in the running for the 2016 Olympics, both of which I would think are absurd). If we look towards violent crime in general, it becomes even more insane.

I too wonder if the IOC is biting the hand that feeds them or at least alienating the US considering the revenues that come directly from the US versus anywhere else in the world.

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Comparing homicide stats won’t get you anywhere, because other countries use murder stats. Homicide includes other things. And besides, I doubt the police are going to report and file every slum corpse or any of their many victims.

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Great point, UKCheetah. Some manslaughters are even classified in the same category as murders in the US. That is sure going to change things…

How has the East End been affected over the last few years (in the lead-up to 2012), from what you have seen?