President Lula sees endless possibilities for Brazil

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat, in Copenhagen

 BRAZILIAN President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva insists the transformative prospects of staging the 2016 Summer Olympics in his country are limitless.

 HAPPY CHAP: President Lula embraces Pele after Rio is announced as the host of the 2016 Olympic Games

Lula, aged 63, has overseen considerable regeneration in Brazil in his six-year tenure, aided by a discovery of deep sea oil off the south-east coast.

The President and his leftist government must take significant credit however, which has ensured several favelas [slums] are receiving federal public works money to build apartments and health centres, while an experiment in community policing has taken hold in several other.

On visiting Copenhagen in one of the more unpredictable IOC Sessions in history, Lula aided Rio 2016's cause with a heartfelt speech, imploring to give Rio the opportunity to stage the Olympics.

The IOC were clearing listening as Rio eventually defeated Madrid in the final round of voting 66 to 32, after Obama-powered Chicago were the first to get the chop.

And Lula insists it represents a significant milestone in Brazilian history.

"I believe that I cry now because I didn't have to courage to cry during the presentation," said Lula, who will also see his country stage the football World Cup in 2014.

"Jacques Rogge never laughs and that got me worried that he doesn't like Brazil - maybe that means a president should always be serious.

"The IOC has realised our responsibility as Brazilians - we needed these Olympic Games. Brazil was also considered a huge country - there are no more creative people than in Brazil.

"We are a country that was colonised so we have had a number of manias. We also used to think small and think that we didn't have the ability to do things as big as other countries.

"But we have been given the opportunity now and that was all we needed.

"Today is the best day of my life I am most proud to be a Brazilian today.

"It used to be that Rio only showed up in the headlines for crime but that is not how it is any more.

"We want citizenship at an international level, we are not a second rate citizen, we are a first rate citizen, no better and no worse than anyone else."

While Brazil were many people's second favourites to get the nod, few could see the bewildered IOC members looking past Chicago and their high-profile guest for the day.

But Lula revealed he was not concerned by the US President's arrival and admitted he even advised Obama, who has labelled his Brazilian counterpart ‘the most popular politician in the world', to Copenhagen himself.

"President Obama was dominating TV screens and my fellow friends were thinking we're going to lose, we're going to lose," added Lula.

"I saw Obama at the G20 summit in April and I asked him if he was coming to Copenhagen and he said no, he was going to send his wife because she was better at dealing with the sensitive issues at the IOC.

"I told him he better come because I would be going and he would lose if he didn't come.

"He came anyway but God wished that we would win even though Obama came."

With Brazil now set to stage the two biggest sporting events in the space of 24 months, it could prompt some to question where the country goes next, but Lula is already planning for the long-term future.

"After the 2016 Games we will start bidding for the Winter Olympic Games," he said.

The way his luck is going you'd be a fool to rule it out.

AS IT HAPPENED : Today's 2016 Olympic host city presentations and vote, from Sportsbeat's James Toney and Gerard Meagher in Copenhagen