Rio de Janeiro Gets the 2016 Games - Now the Work Begins

"Rio de Janeiro to host 2016 Olympics"
CNN (October 2, 2009)

"Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee announced Friday.

"The announcement brought tears to Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who dabbed his eyes with a handkerchief several times in a news conference afterward.

" 'Our hour has arrived,' he said. 'It has arrived.'

"In Rio, jubilation erupted at the world-famous Copacabana beach, where thousands of people gathered to hear the announcement.

"Rio organizers promised to start working immediately to make the games a success.

" 'Maybe some of the people tomorrow can rest,' said Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman. 'I'm not [resting].'..."

The 2016 games might have been in at Madrid, Spain; or Chicago, Illinois; or Tokyo, Japan. But that's not the way it turned out.

I'm pretty sure there will be Monday-morning-quarterbacking tomorrow, about how it's not fair, and Madrid, or Chicago, or Tokyo - or Khayelitsha, or Palembang, or some other place should have gotten assigned as host.

As it is, folks in Rio have a great excuse to spruce up their city, fix any chronic shortcomings in the city's infrastructure, and put up eye-popping buildings that will draw tourists and business conventions for years - decades, if they do it right - after the games are over.

All in all, sounds good for Rio.