Rio de Janeiro's mayor admits he's using next year's Olympic Games as an excuse to transform his city.
And Mayor Eduardo Paes says Rio won the right to host the Games because it was the worst bidding candidate, not the best.
"The reason we won the Olympic bid in 2009 against cities like Chicago and Tokyo was not because we are a better city," Paes told a Rio 2016 World Press Briefing on Monday.
"The real reason we won the bid was Rio was a city with much more problems than other cities - a lack of infrastructure.
"What was a problem for us at the beginning of the Olympic bid became our asset.
"We came to the IOC members, the ones that were going to have to vote, and we told them if you want to Olympics to mean change, you (have) got to come to Rio.
"What are you going to do in Tokyo, Chicago? These guys have got everything."
Paes said the Olympics would deliver much-needed infrastructure projects in Rio that would have been impossible without Games-related funding.
But he cautioned visitors to Rio to expect a different Olympic experience.
"Don't come to Rio, don't come to Brazil, and imagine you are going to find a first-world city with all the infrastructure," he said.
"Rio is a city that faces many problems, the country still faces many problems.
"We always saw the Olympic Games as an opportunity for transformation ... this is something we did not try to hide during the Olympic bid, try to cheat on the voters of the IOC.
"We all the time told them that we had many challenges.
"We always saw the Olympic Games as a great opportunity for transformation. It's a good excuse to get things done."
Paes said others doubted Rio could deliver the Olympics on time and within budget, but guaranteed that would not be the case.
"I know the distrust and I understand the distrust," he said.
"Most people in Brazil, we are not known for our capability on delivering things on time and on budget.
"This mistrust is something that we understand.
"We want to prove that this country is capable of delivering things on time."
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