GAMES OF RIO

Games of Rio

ALPHA EDITION

 

The Olympic Games: Will Rio Benefit as Much as Beijing?

From Universia-Knowledge@Wharton

As the apparently differing fortunes of Athens and Beijing suggest, there is still a lot of room for an Olympics to be more or less successful, particularly at the city level.

For Brazil, winning the opportunity in late September to host the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro probably represents many of the same things that the 2008 games did for China: a chance for the world to see that it is now an influential, modern country and a way to showcase — domestically and internationally — its remarkable economic growth. But do cities benefit as much from hosting the games as local residents and businesses alike are led to believe? Is the return on investment high enough to warrant the months, if not years, of preparation? And what lessons, if any, can Beijing offer Rio and other future Olympic hosts?

There are no easy answers. One year after Beijing was host to sports stars from around the world, some analysts question whether China's capital city and all the stakeholders involved benefitted greatly from the games. Yet the feel-good factors are hard to ignore. For one thing, the Olympics seem to have been useful for China from a marketing perspective, in terms of rallying people within the country and raising global awareness about "Brand China." Simon Anholt, a government-reputation adviser who produces the 50-country Anholt-GfK Roper Nation Brands Index, a global public opinion poll on country reputations, says early results from his latest research suggests that after several years of decline, China's index ranking has begun to improve following its Olympics experience.

Observers also note that the timing of the 2008 event augured well for the organizers, saying the combination of public and private spending for the games may have acted as an early stimulus program before the global economic downturn began making a deeper impact later that year. "The global financial crisis overshadowed the Olympics, but from a Chinese perspective, the crisis was an external threat and the nationalistic orgy of the Olympics gave [Chinese] leadership an extra boost in fending it off," says Edith Terry, managing director of Cotton Tree Productions, a Hong Kong-based consultancy for East Asian business and public affairs.

The government also used the games as a catalyst to clean up many environmentally unfriendly industries all over the country and to increase spending on public infrastructure, including transportation. "The Chinese government very cannily used the Olympics as a way to push environmental change in China," says Shaun Rein, managing director of the China Market Research Group, a Shanghai-based market research consultancy. Even Greenpeace, the activist environmental non-profit, gives Beijing high marks for its clean-up efforts, including new standards for vehicle emissions, five new subway lines and a fleet of nearly 4,000 buses running on clean-burning compressed natural gas.

But is this simply blurring the lines between what was the result of the Olympics and what should have been on the government's to-do list anyway? "It is true that Beijing is cleaner and more so because of [the Olympics]. But the government did not need an excuse to do all these [things]," says Lin Bo Qiang, a professor at the Center of China Energy Economics Research at Xiamen University. >>> Go to Full Story >>>

 

Rio Wins 2016 Olympics in a First for South America

By JULIET MACUR | New York Times

By choosing Rio, it could help the country develop faster and could bring an entire continent of people closer to the Olympic movement.

When Rio de Janeiro was elected host city for the 2016 Olympic Games on Friday, the room where its bid team gathered turned into a boisterous party with members in uniform navy or moss green blazers hugging, dancing, crying and waving Brazilian flags. The bid leader, Carlos Arthur Nuzman, yelled, "We did it! We did it!"

Rio and Chicago had gone into the day considered the favorites, ahead of Tokyo and Madrid. But by the time Rio was chosen by the International Olympic Committee to become the first South American city to host the Olympics, the Chicago delegation and its star-studded supporters were nowhere in sight. They had already left the building.

Despite the support of President Obama, who flew in specifically to address the I.O.C. voters, Chicago finished last, out of the running in the first round of voting, with a paltry 18 of a total 94 votes. Tokyo received 22, with Rio getting 26 and Madrid 28. In each round, until one city gains a majority, the low vote-getter is eliminated. After Chicago was tossed aside, nearly all of its votes went straight to Rio in the second round. In the third, after Tokyo was eliminated, Rio won handily, 66-32.

The chance to bring the Olympics to a continent that had never hosted the Games worked in Rio's favor. During its presentation, the bid team showed a graphic of the world and marked all the places that have held an Olympics. South America was glaringly bare. "There was absolutely no flaw in the bid," the I.O.C. president, Jacques Rogge, said. >>> Go to Full Story >>>

 

Rio Wins the 2016 Olympics: Now For the Hard Part

By ANDREW DOWNIE | Time

Rio de Janeiro is rightfully and proudly celebrating a historic victory: being named the host city for the 2016 Summer Olympics, the first South American city to host one of humankind's truly global extravaganzas.

If all goes right, it will be a most memorable celebration. Athletes will participate either in or close to world famous icons such as the Maracana soccer stadium, the spiritual home of the "beautiful game," and bodacious Copacabana beach. Some events, like rowing or triathlon, will take place in the shadow of Sugarloaf mountain and the outstretched arms of Christ the Redeemer. Ah, but note that conditional: if all goes right. There is much preparation and building to do. And if it all doesn't go right, the Olympic celebration is likely to lead to much recrimination.

Cariocas, as the residents of Rio call themselves, are still reeling from the cost of the last big athletic event held in their city. The budget for the Pan American Games of 2007 was $177 million. It probably cost several times that at the end (some reports estimate it at close to $2 billion). For the biggest athletic event of all, the Rio Olympic organizing committee has set its budget at $2.82 billion, with another $11.1 billion going to related expenses such as transport, power and security. (Another $170 million has been set aside for the Paralympic Games which usually follow right after the Olympics.)

There are eight existing venues that need to be renovated in time for the Games, including the João Havelange Stadium where the track and field events will take place. Three of the venues are new, built for the Pan Am Games; however, they do not meet the IOC's size or technical standards. The velodrome for track cycling, the aquatics center for diving and water polo and the João Havelange Stadium all need extensive work. The existing sites for archery, sailing, rowing, equestrian, shooting, kayak and rowing, as well as the route of the marathon also need work. All told $200 million has been set aside for upgrades.

Meanwhile, another 11 permanent venues costing an estimated $674 million are to be constructed for basketball, judo, taekwondo, wrestling, handball, modern pentathlon, fencing, tennis, swimming and synchronized swimming, canoe and kayak slaloms, and BMX cycling. Then, at least $78 million will be spent on seven temporary structures for beach volleyball, triathlon, marathon swimming, race walking, road cycling, weightlifting, hockey, mountain biking and modern pentathlon. Rio has promised to spend $427 million on an athlete's village that replicates "the outdoor lifestyle of Rio's beachside neighborhoods" (and no doubt swings to the sounds of samba and bossa nova). And, for an even greater taste of Brazil, a dedicated shuttle bus will take athletes to a beach set aside exclusively for participants. >>> Go to Full Story >>>