Rogge: Rio deserves 2016 Olympics 15/01/2010 |
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International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge has said that Rio de Janeiro won the 2016 Games on merit and not because of its location.
It will be the first time South America has hosted the Olympics when Brazil stages the event in six-and-a-half years time. Similarly, the football World Cup will take place in Africa for the first time this summer.
But Rogge denied that the 2016 decision had anything to do with a desire to take the Olympics into new markets.
“We were happy to go to Brazil for the first time in South America with the knowledge that these will be good Games, but we did not choose Brazil because South America had never got the Games before,” he said.
“We chose Brazil because of the quality [of the bid]. The purpose of the Olympic Games is not to serve the public opinion of a country or region.
“The Games are there for the athletes. The athletes have on average only two chances to take part in the Olympics and we want good Games for the athletes.
“If, at the same time, we can also go to a region that has never organised the Games, we are happy about that.”
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