Can Rio de Janeiro Handle the 2016 Summer Games?

By: Tiffany Cunningham

There is question to whether or not Rio de Janeiro can support the Olympic games in 2016, but the success the winning-candidate city had in 2007 with the Pan American Games (Pan Ams) proves the city can host the Olympics. Even though the Pan Ams showed challenges Rio de Janeiro faced, the 2007 game and the technical project allowed for higher placement in receiving the 2016 Olympic bid.

Rio de Janeiro will be the first city in South American to host the Olympics. The other three contenders Chicago, U.S. Madrid, Spain and Tokyo, Japan have all hosted the events in previous Olympian years. Chicago was eliminated early on Friday, Sept. 2 from its bid to host the Olympics; Chicago was in disbelief when the announcement was made because of Chicago’s high profile support from President Barack Obama.

One of the reasons Chicago lost its bid may have been the issue with welcoming foreigners into our airports. The experience of tourism has been painstaking at times for foreigners and it was seen by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as a threat to the Olympic games to have Chicago host the events. Efforts by the U.S. to keep our country safe have backfired for an important event to be hosted by city or state in the U.S.

“It isn’t right that the Olympics be held in the U.S. for the eighth time,” Brazilian President Luz Inacio Lula da Silva said in reference to one of the appeals the U.S. had to the IOC delegates. “It’s not fair that Brazil, one of the ten biggest economies in the world for 30 years; that Brazil, one of the world’s most industrialized countries, a nation that has demonstrated the love of sports; it’s not fair that Brazil not be chosen,” Lula said to Andrew Downie, reporter at TIME Magazine.

Lula and Rio officials have been hammering home: “that fair is fair; that this is South America’s turn,” reported in TIME. There are three reasons why Rio won the bid, the first, Rio promises more transport systems to be implemented in the cities transportation system. The proposal was “detailed and of very high quality” stated by the games committee in their most recent report.

Another reason why Rio was chosen is because it has an honored reputation for having the most beautiful and inviting cities to foreigners and tourism. The budget for the Olympics to be held at Rio was also the largest of the four cities. With a budget of $11.1 billion to be spent in connection with the games’ events there was strong public and financial support from multiple levels of government.

The third reason is South American deserves the chance to host the Olympic games. The city needs to make sure to keep its promises, but in June, South America propelled for the Olympics to be held on a new continent. Africa and Antarctica are the only other continents that have not hosted the games, stated on CBSnew.com.

Rio de Janeiro’s push for the Olympics to be held in a different continent connects the need for a committee, a large body of supporters and individuals to be come more open-mined to new ideas and prospects that could enhance the meaning behind an event or Olympic games in this sense. The IOC saw an opportunity to move on from the routine ways of picking a location for the Olympics. The committee branched out and allowed for chance to occur in 2016 when a new city in a new continent will show they will have great success with hosting the summer games.

The book Who Moved My Cheese? written by Spencer Johnson, is a story of two mice, Sniff and Scurry and two little men, Hem and Haw finding the way through a maze. When change is discovered their “cheese,” something they have become used to and comfortable around has disappeared. Each adapts to the change differently and the story reflects the reasons why change is a good thing and letting go is not always bad to find new ambitions and to challenge yourself to a new level of thinking and prosperity.

Rio de Janeiro could have stopped their push after the other bids looked more feasible to the committee, but they pushed and said to the world, “we deserve our chance.” Like Haw, Rio saw the opportunities they had to invest in the Olympics, but did not give up hope for the bid they placed to be chosen. “Rio de Janeiro 2016!” For more information about the 2016 summer Olympic games visit Olympic.org.

Picture assessed through Yahoo News at Yahoo online.