You have to feel somewhat sorry for them, just not all the way.
I appreciate the idea that they wanted the pride of hosting the Olympics, and to their credit they came off pretty well.
Conversely, they mortgaged quite a bit for the privilege of a such a dubious honor.
IMHO, if the IOC wants to put these games in such places as Rio de Genaro then the IOC should fund them and the venues are their gift to the host city.
The idea that a city anywhere has to spend billions on a two week affair is silly.
“then the IOC should fund them and the venues are their gift to the host city.”
Ummm.. fine, except that I think that means the USA, which already underwrites the Olympics for a lot of third world countries, would end up building the venues, too...
This is rapidly becoming the sort of thing that only appeals to Third World countries.
The Olympics are being held more and more frequently outside of Europe and North America because First World cities are declining to even submit bids anymore. The next three Olympic sites are all in Asia (South Korea in 2018, Japan in 2020, and China in 2022). Beijing, in fact will become the first country to host a Winter Olympics after having already hosted the Summer Olympics (2008).
The idea that a city anywhere has to spend billions on a two week affair is silly.”
It’s beyond silly and I feel the same way about the Super Bowl after watching all the money Houston dumped into preparations instead of, for instance, spending it repairing infrastructure or addressing the homeless situation.
IMO all Super Bowl games should be in the same place every year as well as all the olympics.