Deserved victory for Rio and South America

From a purely geographic point of view, the finalists should obviously have been Rio and Tokyo. But Rio should have been the clear favorite because the Games were just held in Asia in Beijing in 2008.

Rio is a truly cosmopolitan city fully capable of hosting a successful Olympics. Technical problems cited by the IOC, such as a lack of adequate hotel rooms to host the large number of visitors, will surely be taken care of by the time the Rio Olympics begin. Besides the attraction of the legendary city, famous for its Carnival and nightlife, the nation of Brazil has also emerged as a major international force in world athletics.

　　At the last Olympiad in Beijing, Brazil won 15 medals, including the gold for women's volleyball, women's long jump and 50-meter freestyle men's swimming. Two of the three gold medals were earned by women, a first in the country's history, and all three were garnered in competitions that Brazil had never previously won at the Olympics.

　　Brazil has sent large teams to every Olympic Games since 1920, with the exception of Amsterdam in 1928. In Beijing, Brazil dispatched its largest-ever delegation, with 277 athletes of whom nearly half were women.

While Brazil has won Olympic medals in many events in recent years, virtually all major sports are widely popular in the country.

　　Many people here clearly remember the excellent performance of Brazilian athletes at the World Games held in Kaohsiung last July, which featured sporting events not held at the Olympiads.

At the 2009 World Games, Brazil's 77-member delegation came in 16th overall, taking three gold, three silver and three bronze medals. Hosting the Olympics will help more people around the world become more familiar with Brazil, the world's fifth-largest nation both in terms of geographic area and population.

　　While most industrialized nations are still reeling from the recent economic meltdown, Brazil's economy is still growing and currently ranks as the world's 10th largest economic entity. The people of Rio and Brazil should be heartily congratulated for winning this opportunity and wished all the best for a successful event.

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