Brazil at the Olympics This marked the first time that any country in South America has hosted the games. This also marks the first time that a lusophone country hosted any edition of the Olympic Games. Rio was only the second city in Latin America to host the Summer Olympics, after Mexico City in 1968, and Brazil was only the second country of the southern hemisphere to host the Olympics, after Australia in 1956 and 2000. Brazil has never hosted a winter edition of the Olympic Games. Brazil has hosted the Games on one occasion. According to official data of the International Olympic Committee,
2016 Summer Olympics Session in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October 2009. Rio became the first South American city ever to host the Olympic Games. These were the first games to be held in a Portuguese-speaking country, the first summer edition to be held entirely in the host country's winter season, the first since 1968 to be held in Latin America, and the first since 2000 to be held in the Southern Hemisphere. The lead-up to these Games was marked by controversies, including the instability of Brazil's federal government; the country's economic crisis; health and safety concerns surrounding the Zika virus and significant pollution