Rio de Janeiro has broken new ground as the first South American city to host the Olympic Summer Games in 2016.
One of the greatest human spectacles is going Brazilian. The ancient Olympic tradition revived over one hundred years ago and has since traveled the globe. This is where legends are born and peace dominates an ever-increasing playing field. The Olympics originally had track and decathlon events but now feature BMX and basketball.
This year the competition has been intense between Rio, Madrid, Tokyo, Chicago and Prague. Most notable is the competition between Rio and Madrid. Overall Rio offered more benefits and the largest budget ever for the games. Rio beat out Madrid 66 votes to 32.
Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world in terms of geography and population. The country has embraced democracy and revels in its heritage and economic prowess as the tenth largest economy in the world.
Past host cities of the games include: Seoul, Sydney, Salt Lake and Stockholm. The United States has only hosted the Summer Games once, but has hosted the Winter Games four times, more than any other nation. One can only wonder what history will be made at the Rio Games in 2016.
Information from:
CNN.com
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/olympics/2009-10-02-rio-2016-olympics_N.htm
Wikipedia.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Summer_Olympic_Games
