Going for gold.(Trade Talk)(Brief Article)

Five rings symbolize the Olympics, but hosting them has largely been a three-ring circus. Of the five continents, two--South America and Africa--have never been chosen for an Olympiad. Rio de Janeiro hopes to change that in 2012, as it competes against eight other cities to score an Olympic Games.

The city's selling points include its hosting of the 2007 Pan American Games, and that Brazil is favored to be selected for the 2014 soccer World Cup. But Rio will have to deal with its notorious, gang-fueled waves of violent crime, and state and city coffers--a big source of funding for games infrastructure--might not be up to the more than $4 billion in planned construction ahead of the games.

Overall, though, Rio's bid looks strong. It's $23.3 million war chest to win the Olympic bid beats New York's and nearly exceeds Istanbul and Madrid's combined budgets. But it's $1.5 billion in broadcast rights, much of which goes to the host city to pay for the games, that could be Rio's trump card. "There is pressure to be able to broadcast the Olympics live on prime time to reach a larger audience. The time zone Rio is favorable to the U.S. networks because the games won't have to be pre-recorded," says Holger Preuss, an Olympics economics expert at Germany's Mainz University.

A short list of candidates will be decided next month and final choices will be made in July 2005.

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