Thousands of carefree sun-worshippers pack Rio's Ipanema beach on a hot September day, some just soaking up the rays, others playing volleyball and soccer –a postcard scene framed by lush mountains. More so than any of its three other competitors bidding to host the 2016 Olympics, Rio de Janeiro is a city of extremes with a daily capacity to delight and disturb.
The "Marvellous City," as its residents never tire of calling it, was blessed with mountains, forest and beaches that can take even a seasoned traveller's breath away. The six million Cariocas, as Rio residents are known, have a warmth and passion that explodes in their fierce football rivalries and during Carnival – the annual festival that unites rich and poor in a blur of Samba and Bacchanalia.
Rio is also the nerve-centre of Brazil's fashion scene. Increasingly overshadowed as an economic and cultural hub by the southeastern city of Sao Paulo in recent years – Brazil's largest and most populous – Rio is showing signs of a revival. Its finances are in the black for the first time in years thanks to a competent state government, and the discovery of one of the world's biggest oil reserves off its coast promises a flow of investments and jobs in the coming years.
Rio 2016 President Carlos Arthur Nuzman during a press briefing in April. If Rio de Janeiro succeeds in its bid, it will bring the Olympics to South America for the first time.
The "Marvellous City," as its residents never tire of calling it, was blessed with mountains, forest and beaches that can take even a seasoned traveller's breath away. The six million Cariocas, as Rio residents are known, have a warmth and passion that explodes in their fierce football rivalries and during Carnival – the annual festival that unites rich and poor in a blur of Samba and Bacchanalia.
Rio is also the nerve-centre of Brazil's fashion scene. Increasingly overshadowed as an economic and cultural hub by the southeastern city of Sao Paulo in recent years – Brazil's largest and most populous – Rio is showing signs of a revival. Its finances are in the black for the first time in years thanks to a competent state government, and the discovery of one of the world's biggest oil reserves off its coast promises a flow of investments and jobs in the coming years.
Rio 2016 President Carlos Arthur Nuzman during a press briefing in April. If Rio de Janeiro succeeds in its bid, it will bring the Olympics to South America for the first time.
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