Word: rios
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Just two weeks ago, Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said between delirious sobs in Copenhagen that the International Olympic Committee's decision to award the 2016 Olympic Games to Rio de Janeiro was a vindication of Brazil's social and economic advances. But the elephant in the room was the precarious security situation in the once great city, now fallen into decay, and that elephant made its presence felt on Oct. 17. At least 14 people were killed and eight more were injured after violent shoot-outs between rival drug gangs careened...
...time to light the Olympic Torch in a tropical country," Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told the International Olympic Committee (IOC) as it gathered in Copenhagen to select a site for the 2016 Summer Olympics. "It is Brazil's time." The IOC agreed. On Oct. 2, Rio de Janeiro beat out First World metropolises Madrid, Tokyo and Chicago to become the first South American city to host the Games--sparking a deafening celebration on Copacabana Beach to rival the city's annual Carnaval bacchanal...
...nova can put on the world's biggest sports spectacle. No country in Latin America--or anywhere else in the developing world--has hosted an Olympics since 1968, when Mexican soldiers massacred hundreds of pro-democracy demonstrators just days before the opening of the Mexico City Games. By tapping Rio, the IOC affirmed the widely held opinion that Brazil--a democracy and the only nation among the world's 10 largest economies never to have held an Olympics--is the first Latin country developed enough to give the region a second chance. "The IOC decision is an embrace of Brazil...
...Rio has a lot of work to do if it wants applause in 2016. True, athletes will compete in such iconic venues as the Maracanã soccer stadium--the largest in South America--while rowers and triathletes will ply Rio's blue waters beneath the outstretched arms of the titanic Christ the Redeemer statue. But many of the venues for the 2016 Games--including the João Havelange Olympic Stadium, where track-and-field events will take place--don't meet IOC standards or will require extensive renovations. Nearly 20 will need to be built from scratch. Cariocas, as Rio...
Such Olympian angst may be moot. IOC insiders believe Rio's bid is gaining favor (South America has never hosted an Olympics). Around the Rings, an American publication that exclusively covers the Olympic movement, tagged Rio as the favorite in its final ?Power Index? ahead of decision day. ?Rio has been able to deliver an emotional edge to its appeal that other bids haven?t matched,? says Around the Rings editor Ed Hula. Perhaps the President can up the ante. After insisting that health care business would prevent him from trekking to Copenhagen to personally lobby...