Rio de Janeiro to Play Host to 2016 Olympics

With the selection of Rio de Janeiro as the site of the 2016 Olympics, and Chicago's early elimination from the final vote on Friday, finger-pointing became the sport of choice for many American athletic officials last weekend.

The International Olympic Committee selected Rio as the first South American city to ever host the Olympic Games, beating out bids from Tokyo, Madrid and Chicago. Oddsmakers had pegged Chicago as the favorite after U.S. president Barack Obama agreed to address the IOC on Friday. Nevertheless, Chicago was the first city eliminated from the four-city competition.

With the exception of a few political rivals, fingers weren't pointed at Mr. Obama. Some United States Olympic Committee members the shakeup among the USOC's top management over the past year. Others cited a USOC announcement in July that the organization wanted to create on Olympic television network - an ill-timed sentiment the USOC soon retracted.

Other reasons were given for Chicago's defeat, and more speculation ensued. But the failure to ever hold an Olympic Games in South America meant that the serious Brazilian effort was always going to generate plenty of interest, regardless of how well the USOC and Chicago presented the U.S. case. After all, the Olympic symbol of five interlocking rings is supposed to represent the world's continents. But previous Olympics had only been held in Europe, Asia, North American and Australia. By awarding the 2016 bid to South American, the Olympics are one step closer to fulfilling their goal of global representation. From a neutral viewpoint, even we Americans should view such outreach as positive, even while we're disappointed that the 2016 Games won't be held in the U.S.

Even while the USOC reevaluates its efforts, many are no doubt already looking ahead to 2020. Will Chicago, or another U.S. city, make a bid for those Olympic Games? Will a city in Africa, the final continent without an Olympics to its name, step forward? As always, the next selection process should be interesting.