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Photo: A View of Rio de Janeiro

The International Olympic Committee has chosen Rio de Janeiro to host the 2016 Summer Games. Rio will become the first South American country to host the Olympic Summer games.
As a Brazilian, I am glad that the IOC chose Rio. Rio has hosted the Pan-American Games, it will host the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and now the 2016 Olympics.

As an American citizen, I am disappointed that the International Olympic Committee rejected Chicago as the host of the 2016 Olympics. This disappointment was also reflected by President Obama who made a last-minute appeal to the IOC on behalf of Chicago.

The friendly competition between Rio and Chicago took many strange and different turns. Recently, in a meeting of international leaders in Pittsburgh, President Obama and President Lula of Brazil were kidding each other about hosting the 2016 Olympics.

Recently, two sites on the Internet, one of them called “Chicagoans for Rio,” presented several reasons why Rio should be selected as the host city. These Chicagoans for Rio believed that Rio would be a better place for the Olympics and as the first South American city to host the Summer Olympic games, Rio should be chosen as the host city. It just happened that the Chicagoans for Rio were Brazilians who were promoting Rio as the venue for the 2016 Olympics.

If you have never been to Rio de Janeiro, this is the time to make plans to go to Rio, first in 2014, if you are a soccer fan, and then in 2016 for the Olympics. I can guarantee you, both events will attract many people to Rio and those who come will enjoy the attractions of the most beautiful city in the world.

Claude Mariottini
Professor of Old Testament
Northern Baptist Seminary

Tags: 2016 Olympics

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