Suspended reality

Featured in

  • Published 20160802
  • ISBN: 978-1-925355-53-6
  • Extent: 264pp
  • Paperback (234 x 153mm), eBook

WHY WOULD A country whose greatest export is a bikini wax be awarded the Olympic games? Brazil – where every night promises to be Carnivale, where every girl is apparently from Ipanema, and ‘the Brazilian’ is what lies behind the thin strip of lycra that doubles as both the national costume and a barely-there swimsuit.

I’ve probably just answered my own question. The Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games is an invitation to a city known for partying more than anything else. Certainly, the (mostly) men at the International Olympic Committee who elected it as host city back in 2009 found it an invitation too good to refuse: in the final round of voting for every tick given to Madrid, there were two for Rio.

Already a subscriber? Sign in here

If you are an educator or student wishing to access content for study purposes please contact us at griffithreview@griffith.edu.au

Share article

About the author

Tracey Holmes

Tracey Holmes has covered ten Olympic games, was the media information manager for the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games, and is the...

More from this edition

Personal score

MemoirSeasonBY QUEERTIME SHE grew restless and could not see what was in front of her. She felt rootless and lived alone; her friends were...

The Aboriginal football ethic

EssayIN HIS HIGHLY influential history of Australian rules football, Geoffrey Blainey promoted the idea that the sport constituted a ‘game of our own’. In...

Pacific games

ReportageWILL GENIA, RATED by many as one of the best halfbacks in world rugby over recent years, is one of the few Papua New...

Stay up to date with the latest, news, articles and special offers from Griffith Review.