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Subject: Eduardo´s fragment text

Author:
Eduardo Domingues (Tired)

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Date Posted: 11:04:48 10/02/09 Fri

Rio de Janeiro captures 2016 Olympics – but now the work begins

Residents of South America's largest country often claim that God is Brazilian and, if you believe the propaganda, the 2016 Rio Olympics will be nothing short of heavenly. The city's Olympic bid document is riddled with superlatives – "vibrant" neighbourhoods, "bucolic" suburbs, "breathtaking" scenery and "legendary" sports stadiums – and today thousands upon thousands of elated locals clad in Brazil's green and yellow colours crowded on to Copacabana beach to celebrate what local authorities were calling a historic victory.
Residents of Rio, or "Cariocas" as they are better known, have had their fingers crossed for months about the decision, viewing the Olympics and the 2014 World Cup as a chance to revive their flagging city. Since the Brazilian capital was transferred to Brasilia in 1960, Rio's fortunes have declined; most of the city's 1,000-odd shanty towns are now controlled by heavily armed and very violent drug gangs, and many businesses have abandoned the city in search of safer and more profitable places to set up shop.
Despite this the so-called "Marvellous City" remains one of the most beautiful cities on earth and the prospect of watching Brazilian athletes performing before a home crowd has had sports lovers here salivating. Among those who fans will hope to see at Rio 2016 are Mayra Aguiar, an 18-year-old judo champion who was the youngest member of the Brazilian Olympic squad two years ago in China, Manchester United's young Brazilian twins Fábio and Rafael da Silva, and Marta, currently the world's top female footballer, who at 23 says she hopes to make an appearance in seven years' time.
Off the playing field, Rio's Olympic committee built its campaign around the city's reputation for healthy living and happiness, employing the slogan "Live your passion". But money and transparency, as well as joie de vivre, will be needed if Brazil's former capital is to live up to the hyperbole of its bid.
"If we leave it to some people the focus will only be put on the spectacle itself," warned Chico Alencar, an MP from the Socialism and Freedom (PSOL) party. "These games have to be about society. We will all have to be Olympic athletes in the sport of how best to use public money."
Rio's governors have promised to inject a massive $11bn (£7bn) into this increasingly dilapidated seaside city in the lead-up to the 2016 Games. A six-lane motorway is planned to link two of the major event sites, a private beach will be cordoned off for visiting athletes and a replica downtown street, complete with bars and cafes, is set to be constructed at the heart of the Olympic village in western Rio. The city's mayor, meanwhile, hopes to give the rundown port district a multimillion dollar facelift with the help of the private sector. (...)

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/oct/02/rio-de-janeiro-2016-olympics

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