In Rio, Joy At Olympic Honor

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MELISSA BLOCK, host:

Huge, indeed. In Rio de Janeiro, tens of thousands of people celebrated the announcement on famed Copacabana Beach.

I spoke with BBC reporter Gary Duffy, who had a fantastic view of the ongoing party.

Mr. GARY DUFFY (Reporter, BBC): Well, at the moment, I'm on the roof of a hotel in Copacabana looking down on the beach. And the waves of the Atlantic are crashing onto the shore. But the sand and the area that I'm looking at is nearly completely obscured by a huge mass of people - many of them dressed in traditional Brazilian green and yellow.

And ever since the announcement came through, there's been a traditional Brazilian party going on down there with the samba music, and the beer is flowing. And I imagine quite a few Brazilian cachacas as well, a very potent drink. So it looks as if that party is going to go on for a very long time.

BLOCK: I can hear it behind you. How early were people out there waiting for the announcement?

Mr. DUFFY: Well, they started playing music down on the beach from about 9 o'clock this morning. But the announcement itself came in around lunchtime, Brazilian time. And people were streaming out of their offices, really, to come down. The crowd noise is really big and the atmosphere is - at one stage it was like a World Cup victory and New Year's Eve rolled into one. There was such a festive mood, I think.

BLOCK: And how did people get the word that Brazil had been chosen? Are there big TV screens set up down there, too?

Mr. DUFFY: Yeah. There's a large - sort of stage stretching across Copacabana Beach, nearly the entire width of the beach. So there are two screens there. And the announcement when, you know, there was a slight delay as people waited for the translation to come through. And then there was just absolute jubilation. There was silver ticker tape sort of flying through the air. People were jumping and hugging each other - and absolute delight.

Because, you know, while I think many people felt this was South America's moment because the Games had never been here, there were lots of doubts. And let's face it, there were questions about Rio De Janeiro as well. It's a city that has been plagued by urban violence not too far from where I'm standing. There are many favelas, where armed drug dealers wander around with guns. It wouldn't be entirely out of place in Iraq.

There were question marks about whether, you know, the city and the country have the resources, and that the infrastructure here was perhaps not as good as in some other of the bidding cities. But those doubts were set to one side today and really, this is a Brazilian moment of great national pride. The president was crying on television, and the mood of his compatriots here is one of great festivity.

BLOCK: Yeah. And you raise a lot of the concerns there. I mean, everybody knows Brazil can throw a great party. Do you think Rio can put on a great Olympics in 2016?

Mr. DUFFY: Well, there are a number of answers to that. I think first of all, indisputably this is one of the most beautiful cities in the world. I'm looking down at Copacabana Beach. And here we're going to have the beach volleyball. You know, you pass over into the next bay and in the shadow of the famous Sugarloaf Mountain, you're going to have sailing. You go a bit behind me here to Lagoa, and the lake, and you'll have, I think, rowing perhaps there. And that in the shadow of the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer that towers over the city. So as - in terms of a spectacular vision, both for television audiences and I think for people who are here, it will be almost unbeatable.

BLOCK: Well, Gary Duffy, enjoy the celebration there in Rio.

Mr. DUFFY: All right. Thank you very much. I certainly will.

BLOCK: That's BBC reporter Gary Duffy describing the celebration on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro after that city was picked today to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games.

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