Rio De Janeiro To Host The 2016 Olympics

The International Olympic Committee made the announcement that they chose Rio de Janeiro as the host of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.  This makes Brazil the first South American country to be the host of the games.

Rio beat out Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid to host the huge event.  Brazil has promised to spend $14 billion to prepare for the Olympics in the face of daunting logistic and social challenges.

With his eyes filled with tears, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said:

“The decision is a homage to the people of Rio who normally only appear in newspaper pages with bad news.  I confess to you that, if I died now, my life would have been worthwhile.”