Photo of the Day – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Ipanema Beach, Rio
You might say Rio de Janeiro is on a roll. In the next few years, the city will host the 2014 FIFA World Cup final and the 2016 Summer Olympics making it the first South American city ever to host an Olympic Games. The locals often refer to their home city as “cidade maravilhosa” or the Marvelous City. And marvelous is a fitting description for a city that seems to have won the landscape lottery. From the world-famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema to the soaring peak of Corcovado and unique profile of Sugar Loaf, Rio enjoys a natural setting unmatched anywhere in the world. This picture was taken on my 2004 trip to Brazil to run the Rio de Janeiro Marathon – while it’s a small race in terms of runners, the course is one of the most scenic the marathon world has to offer.
