Tuesday 16 June 2009

Does Rio have the momentum to land the 2016 Olympics?

Rio's bid team did little to dampen the enthusiasm around its chances of landing the 2016 Olympic Games on the eve of its presentation to IOC members.

Rumours have been buzzing in Lausanne that, despite being initially tagged as underdogs, Rio could challenge Tokyo, Madrid and especially Chicago for the honour of staging the event.

Carlos Nuzman, the Rio 2016 president and himself an IOC member, said he felt in a 'very, very comfortable position,' adding: 'We've never been this comfortable on the day of a rehearsal [for such a presentation]. We were very comfortable [rehearsing] in the auditorium.'

The bid team, which has enjoyed the vocal support of the country's president Luiz InĂ¡cio Lula da Silva, has sought to make its proposal unique - at times even making fairly direct comparisons with its competitors.

Sergio Cabral, the governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro, said: 'I don't have any doubt about the positions of Tokyo, Madrid and Chicago. All wonderful cities. The huge difference is that Brazil is ready to host a wonderful games in 2016.

'For the United States, Japan and Spain, it would be just one more Olympic Games. It is very important for our country, for our continent, for our city. That's the difference.'

Of the world's ten biggest economies, he added, Brazil is the only one never to have hosted the Olympic Games.

The vote for the 2016 Olympic Games is on October 2, still 15 weeks away.

1 comment:

  1. oh yeah.
    that's gonna be an easy one! :-)

    ReplyDelete