"Boston Already Saying 'Hell No' to Olympics" -- Media Watch

(ATR)The Nation's sports correspondent Dave Zirin says, "Boston is already saying 'hell no' to the 2024 Olympics."

Boston, Los Angeles, San Francisco, andWashington, D.C.are all contenders for a U.S. bid for the 2024 Games."An organization called No Boston Olympics has launched an effort in advance of the USOC's December decision as to which city will represent the United States in the bidding process," Zirin writes. "Here is hoping that activists throughout the city of Boston are successful."

Scotty Schenck, correspondent for Boston's independent,student-run publicationHuntington News, also spotlights No Boston Olympics. "Although some believe hosting the Olympics will bring increased tourism and an economic boom to host cities," Schenck writes, "Chris Dempsey, co-chair of No Boston Olympics, said this is false.

"Instead, he thinks the event will put massive strain on the economy of the city that tries to host the Olympics."

Dempsey spoke with Huntington News and said, "Olympics do not create economic benefits.Study after study by independent economists have found that there’s really no real long-term impact of hosting the Games."

Boston Globe columnist Scott Kirsner proposes that instead of the 2024 Olympics, Boston should host a different competition."Call it the Innolympics: a set of contests to innovate and upgrade the city," Kirsner says."Rather than having urban enhancements as a hoped-for byproduct of hosting the Olympics, we would make them the main event.

"I’d like to see Mayor Marty Walsh work with local entrepreneurs and nonprofits to find consensus on four areas where Boston ought to make significant progress by 2024," Kirsner adds. "Raise $5 million immediately, and $40 million over the next decade from foundations, philanthropists, and corporate underwriters who want to elevate Boston as well as see if this competition would work in other places."

Road to Rio

Following a campaign from activists, Rio de Janeiro has opened its first nudist beach. "Abrico beach, an hour's drive from the city center, will now welcome those who prefer to bare all when sunbathing, marking a historic shift in Brazil’s surprisingly prudish attitude to public nudity,"The Guardian's Will Coldwell writes.

Coldwell says Paula Nogueira, one of several nudists who campaigned for the beach's opening, described the move as a "courageous decision by the mayor.

"It will help Rio become a cultural and tourist reference point, especially with the city about to celebrate its 450th anniversary and the 2016 Olympic Games."

Olympic gold medalist Alex Gregory tells BBC Radio Gloucestershire that his recent trip to Riohas made him more determined to be part of Team GB at the 2016 Olympics."It's motivated me massively to make sure I'm in a seat.

"I can't put into words how amazing the 2016 Olympics is going to be."

Graema Copas, a writer for the local London publication Maidenhead Advertiser, features another Olympic gold medalist hoping to compete on Team GB at the 2016 Games. Following a two-year hiatus from rowing, Katherine Grainger has decided to begin training for Rio. "When I made the decision, I obviously had Rio in mind--I wouldn't come back just to do this as a 'job,'" Grainger tells Copas.

"I came back feeling that if it all went right the Rio Olympics was always the goal.

"We've got some fantastic experts working all the way across British sport and I feel in very, very safe hands."

Tokyo in the News

Next week, Tokyo 2020 organizers will meet with a delegation from the IOC to discuss preparations for the 2020 Olympics.New York Timescolumnist Amy Chozick offers readers an "outsider's (and insider's) guide to Tokyo."

Photographer Matthew Pillsbury contributes a photo gallery to CNN that captures "Tokyo's dance between past and present."

Compiled byNicole Bennett

For general comments or questions,click here.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics isAroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.