The Games of the XXXI Olympiad

Exactly two weeks from today, one of the most exciting decisions of 2009 will be made: who is going to receive the 2016 Olympics. Seeing as I am currently living in one of the candidate cities and have gone to school for three years in another, I feel it is very appropriate (and necessary) for me to devote a blog entry to the matter. But before I go any further, though, I should probably remind everyone that this is my opinion. I've linked a good article that reviews all of the four cities' bids as well as the official videos of the each city's bid (just click on the cities' underlined names). Read it, watch them, form your own opinion (I imagine most of you already have one that clearly disagrees with mine). This is certainly no life or death (or political) situation. But still, it's exciting to think about what is going to happen in roughly 6.5 years.

I also can't go any further without stating one simple fact: I love the Olympic Games. Always have and always will. Forget the World Series, forget the NBA Finals, forget the Super Bowl, forget the Stanley Cup, and, YES, forget the month of March. None of them compare to what happens every four years. I still remember watching Michael Johnson shred the 200m world record. I still remember where I was when Keri Strug landed on one foot. I still remember screaming at the TV as Marion Jones ran away in the 100m in 2000 (and I'm still disappointed that she turned out to be a drug-cheat). I still remember watching Vince Carter dunk over a 7'2" French center. I still know that last year the men's shot put was won by Poland's Tomasz Majewski. And whenever I power clean at Patten Gym, one of the first people that comes to mind is Pyrros Dimas. Every four years, something inside of me wakes up. It happened with Atlanta, with Sydney, with Athens, with Beijing, and it will happen again with London.

But where will it happen in 2016?

We're down to four cities: Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, and Tokyo. Based on the aforementioned article, Madrid lacks full understanding of what hosting an Olympics means while Tokyo is only backed by 55% of its citizens in its bid to host. So it looks like the race is down to two: Chicago and Rio de Janeiro.

Chicago's bid has been strong from the beginning, primarily in its solid plan for the sporting venues and Olympic village. But there are still some factors that are hindering Chicago from being a knockout punch. The first one is transportation. While the city has promised to revamp public transportation system to accommodate the huge influx of people, thinking about how and whether the city is actually going to do that to a system that already struggles to quickly and reliably transfer its own citizens is, as cynical as it sounds, funny. Really funny. The second major issue is financing the Games. Mayor Daley recently (and finally) signed the contract committing Chicago to covering the Games' expenses if selected, but Chicago's delay in doing so most likely raised some eyebrows about whether Chicago was the best host. Moreover, while the IOC voting delegates were probably not aware of the situation, the debate surrounding financing the Games was the second best showing of Chicago politics in the past year (The first going to Gov. Rod Blagojevich. If you want a starting point about the mess, click here). Which is funny and ironic because one of Mayor Daley's biggest sells behind the Olympic bid is showing the world that Chicago a truly modern city, one that has moved past its days of political and gangster corruption. Gangster, yes. Political...?

Rio de Janeiro's bid had me at the beginning and has seemed to be only gaining momentum. There are indeed issues of concern with Rio de Janeiro, including proximity of the venues, transportation, and, most importantly, crime. The latter is the city's Achilles' heal (don't worry, Nancy, I've been fine :) ), but the government has instituted crime prevention programs that have been working...only in the areas where they were instituted. Whether they work for two weeks throughout most of the city come 2016, that is another story. But overall, Rio de Janeiro presents opportunities that none of the other cities possess. When the delegates vote in two weeks, they will be voting to send the Olympics back to the US for the ninth time, back to Japan for the sixth time, back to Spain for the second time, or to Brazil (and South America, in general) for the very first time. Many, including some Cariocas I've talked to, have said that the city is not quite ready for such an event. But Rio de Janeiro successfully hosted the 2007 Pan American Games and is set to host the 2014 World Cup. While the Olympics is an entirely different, playing host to these two do and will provide the city with invaluable experience to be a successful Olympic host. Moreover, the latest review of each candidate's bid praised Rio de Janeiro for understanding "[the] potential power of the games to transform a city, a region and a country." This is an important point. Brazil is an emerging country that is poised to take and solidify its place as a key player not only in the Americas but in the world at large. Giving one of its most vibrant cities the opportunity to play host to the largest world-wide sporting festival could have a hugely beneficial impact on the nation's quest to do assume such a post and its (and the continent's) overall development. But the real tipping point for Rio de Janeiro is its citizens. Put simply: I'd take a Carioca over a deranged Cubs/White Sox/Bears/Blackhawks/Bulls fan any day. Cariocas (and Brazilians, in general) were born with an extra gene predisposing them to intense sporting passion. It's true; just look at soccer; just go to the beach; just read its bid slogan ('Viva Sua Paixão,' that is, 'Live Your Passion'). You aren't Brazilian if you don't love sports. And if you're planning a two-week party celebrating sports, having a passionate people play host is a sure fire way to ensure the party's success.

So, in short: a chance to make Olympic history, a chance to give an emerging nation the opportunity to open it's doors to the world, a chance to have a two-week long sporting party with people who love sports more than anyone else? Yes, we can, Rio de Janeiro.

But this all goes without saying, I'm just a 22-year old from Nowhere, Colorado, whose opinion doesn't equal a vote and who has had the incredible opportunity to live in two remarkable cities-cities that coincidentally happen to be front-runners for an Olympic bid. I could be dead wrong about all of this. Perhaps Chicago will get it. Perhaps even Madrid or Tokyo will pull through and grab the honor of Olympic host. After all, it's been said by numerous people including London's successful bid manager, Sebastian Coe, and IOC President, Jacques Rogge, that this race is wide open and the vote will be far closer than London's four-vote victory over Paris back in 2005.


But make no doubt about it: eu quero Rio de Janeiro.