Rio
by rick olivares
“When she walks she’s like a samba
That swings so cool and sways so gentle
That when she passes, each one she passes goes, ‘ooh.’”
The American President, Barack Obama sure can deliver a speech. Yes, he can.
And the former International Olympic Committee President, Juan Antonio Samaranch, can wax emotional on behalf of Madrid.
Yes, he did.
But the Brazilian President, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the popular two-term leader of his country, knows what buttons to push.
“I honestly think that it is Brazil’s turn. It is South America’s bid. This is a continent that has never hosted the Games. It is time to address this imbalance.”
And for the coup de grace: “When I look at the Olympic rings, I see my country in them.”
Yes, he – Rio, no, all of Brazil, did win.
In a stunning comeback when it seemed that other city’s bids looked more impressive, Rio, in the final round of voting, garnered 66 votes to Madrid’s 32. And the city of over six million people (not to mention other all over the world’s fifth largest country) broke out in celebration.
The choice of Rio is transformational. It is significant for South America and reconfirms the relevance of the Olympics in geopolitics. And it is more than a sporting spectacle. It’s an event that keeps the whole world riveted for several weeks and on people’s minds long afterwards.
If Beijing was a coming out party of a new world power, and Athens in 2004, a sentimental yet classical choice, Rio de Janeiro, the second largest city in Brazil after Sao Paolo, will turn the Olympics into the biggest party for the Summer of 2016.
Perhaps, the IOC took a cue from the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) of which its president Sepp Blatter is a voting member. FIFA rotates the hosting of the World Cup via continent; a move that takes the football to an even wider audience -- first to South Africa in 2010 and to Brazil in 2014. In doing so, the IOC expanded its frontiers by reaching out to the third-fastest growing economy (as well as its neighboring countries) behind China and India.
“His speech went under my skin,” said Blatter of da Silva’s passionate plea.
Brazil’s four-point plan on technical excellence, the experience of a lifetime, the transformation of Rio and of the country, and support for Paralympics was sound on all fronts and the city’s image of fun and merry making was certainly the cherry on the icing. The latter is something the Olympics sorely needs especially after the carefully choreographed and scripted 2008 Beijing Summer Games.
Just imagine… the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, the Corcovado and Sugarloaf Mountains, and the Maracaña, already sights to behold, awash in Olympic festivities!
“From the bottom of my heart, this is the most emotional day of my life. Rio deserves it. Brazil deserves it,” said an emotionally choked up da Silva after the announcement was made.
“Ooh but I watch her so sadly
How can I tell I love her
Yes I would give my heart gladly
But each day when she walks to the sea
She looks straight ahead and not at me.”
Yet even as all of Brazil exploded in rapture over the announcement, there were a few voices that offered points of restraint and reflection. And they charge that the IOC turned a convenient blind eye to Brazil’s problems just as they did in Beijing.
The IOC widely praised the Beijing Summer Games as the best ever. But it is hollow and self-serving praise that many counter including Human Rights Watch’s Media Director Minky Worden who tersely summed up all the problems of that summer: “The IOC conveniently lowered its standards on human rights around the Olympic Games.”
Although Brazil isn’t under a totalitarian regime, the awarding of the 2016 Games to Rio has left others with similar apprehensions.
“The candidature of Rio was based on marketing and does not reflect what the city is really like. They contracted Mike Lee (the British Public Relations guru and Order of the British Empire officer who also masterminded the campaign for London’s 2012 bid) to sell an image that does not exist,” decried Albert Neto, a former IOC member.
Brazil has for the most part, weathered the global economic crisis, but in recent months, it has been hit by massive layoffs to its work force, throwing some mud on the Teflon-image that da Silva has carefully cultivated. The crime-ridden favellas of the nation are a real concern. With the influx of tourists in the summer, holiday season couldn’t come earlier for them. And there’s the matter of substandard sports facilities that are only beginning to be addressed.
Brazilian Olympic officials point to the private sector and government’s pumping in 2.2 billion reais (US $1.2 billion) for the World Cup that should complement Rio’s requirements come the 2016.
Crucial to the bid of Rio was keeping almost all the events within city limits. It’s only in football where countries will spread to the other cities such as Brasilia, Sao Paolo, Belo Horizonte, and Salvador for their matches. The concentration of the events in Rio should make for easier coordination, less travel time, and decrease chances of falling prey to opportunists, something that South African government has to contend with come the World Cup next year.
Brazilian Olympic officials pointed out that it will take athletes 20 minutes to get from the Olympic Village to their venues, but the truth is, Rio, like any current megapolis, suffers from massive traffic jams. The city’s metro line only reaches Copacabana. And the proposal of an additional rail system from Rio to Sao Paolo is called “the Bullet Train” is hardly a solution as its critics assail. The metro line is nicknamed as such not because of its speed in getting to and fro but because it will pass through crime heavy areas where commuters will have to dodge bullets.
Not exactly reassuring.
Critics of Rio’s bid also point to the 2007 Pan Am Games as proof that their country isn’t ready to host a bigger sporting event such as the Olympics. The accounting for those games is still being evaluated and audited as Brazilian Congressman Silvio Torres gave a thumbs down review on those games: "The main legacy of the Pan Am Games was to show how it shouldn't be done."
Muricy Ramalho, coach of football team Palmeiras perhaps threw in the most jarring reality check: "The population doesn't need an Olympics to improve things. It's an obligation of the government to improve health and security. What we need to know is who is going to pay the bill for all this."
“Tall and tan and young and lovely
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, I smile but she doesn’t see
She doesn’t just see, she never sees me.”
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