We were left aching, lying in a street in Timba, a woman approached, ‘What has happened?’… ‘A kidnapping,’ I managed to say. We cried in each others arms in the middle of the sidewalk, thinking about Teo, for God’s sake how am I going to explain all these bruises. How am I going to tell him that we live in a country where this can happen, how will I look at him and tell him that his mother, for writing a blog and putting her opinions in kilobytes, has been beaten up on a public street. How to describe the despotic faces of those who forced us into that car, their enjoyment that I could see as they beat us, their lifting my skirt as they dragged me half naked to the car.

Read the rest at Global Voices Online.

Many have tried to detract from this move with base arguments about emotion and issues between the U.S. and the IOC. While these arguments are true and have some merit, it is obvious most of those making them never read the Rio bid. Believe it or not, I actually did. A few weeks ago, I found it online and went through pretty much the whole thing. And it’s good. It takes advantage of the beautiful setting, previous infrastructure development and forces Rio to confront such major issues as crime and inequality.

Hosting the Games won’t by any means solve all, or even most, of Rio’s and Brazil’s problems, but the Olympics have aided societies in transition. This move by the IOC shows that many in the international system are willing to take a few risks and begin sharing and entrusting responsibility to the up-and-comers. It has always been said that responsibilities shared makes the load that much lighter.

Hopefully other international organizations will follow the IOC’s lead and begin to share spoils with new members. In many ways this decision is very counterintuitive since the IOC has been known as being wealthy, white and male and European dominated. Maybe if they can change, the rest of us can too?

Call me cheesy but I truly feel that the Olympics can bring out the best in all of us, even if only for 16 days every four years. Hopefully this latest decision by the IOC highlights that fact and reminds the rest of us that the world is changing and maybe we need to change along with it. If the IOC sees the benefits in Brazil, then maybe sport really does imitate life.