Olympics in Rio.

Many people were surprised when the 2016 Olympics were awarded to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. For the first time the games will be played in a Latin American country.

There has been a tendency for the northern hemisphere to hog the Olympics and the other three contenders - Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid all hailed from that part of the world.

There is much to be gained by hosting this huge sporting spectacle, as Sydney found in 2000. For a few brief weeks both the city and the country becomes the Mecca of world attention, drawing vast crowds of spectators and tourists - and generating lots of money.

It also costs huge sums to create the venues, but after the event these remain and sustain the sporting life of the host country.

Unfortunately Rio will be under a lot of pressure to change the timetable of premier events to suit northern hemisphere peak television viewing times. It seems that this is a single sided coin. When the Olympics are held in the northern hemisphere there is no consideration to timing in regard to the rest of the world.

The whole of South America will gain from the 2016 Olympics. All the countries surrounding Brazil will see an increase in tourist numbers and the world media will showcase this usually forgotten part of the world.

Despite hard lobbying by the powerful and famous, the Olympic committee made a wise decision. One of the few occasions where " the little guy " comes out on top !