Dignitaries and representatives from four countries, the United States, Spain, Brazil and Japan were in abundance at the Bella Center Convention Center, Copenhagen, Denmark; eagerly awaiting the announcement from Jacques Rogge, the president of the International Olympic Association at 6.30 pm, on who will host the 2016 Summer Olympics; Bella Center was full of activities; the final selection process for the venue by voting of the 97 members of the 106 members of the IOC was underway for the four candidate cities, Chicago, United States, Madrid, Spain, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Tokyo, Japan. The center witnessed agitated parliaments and diplomatic activities to entice members to vote for their country.

Each of the four countries had their own motives and ambitions in pursuing their bid to host the 2016 Summer Olympics from the United States to Denmark and delivering their short eight-minute speech to IOC members. The underlying motive was to do something about the ailing economy.

The delegation of Spain was led by its King, the Mayor of Madrid Alberto Ruiz Gallardin and the Octogenarian Honorary Life of the IOC, Mr. Samaranch, to bat for Madrid.

The Brazilian delegation was led by its president Lula along with other eminent athletes, including soccer legend Pelé.

The Japanese delegation was led by Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama and Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishiharo and several former Olympic champions.

Criteria for the selection of a candidate city as headquarters:

The IOC members, before launching the final bidding process, prepare an evaluation report on each candidate city whose country has requested the bid. The criteria for evaluating a country are based on the following factors: –

1) Government support,

2) Legal issues and public opinion,

3) General infrastructure,

4) sports facilities,

5) olympic village,

6) environmental condition and its impact,

7) accommodation,

8) Transportation concept,

9) safety and security,

10) experience of past sporting events and

11) finance.

Based on the aforementioned criteria, the list of candidate cities was shortlisted from 7 to 4.

The bidding process:

Although the final selection of the site could have been scheduled for October 2, 2009, the method of selecting the venue among the candidate cities was a lengthy process.

The International Olympic Committee launched the bidding process for the 2016 Olympic Games on May 16, 2007. All IOC member countries were invited to submit their candidacy.

On September 14, 2007, the IOC announced a list of 7 candidate cities: Baku, Azerbaijan, Doha, Qatar, Madrid, Spain, Prague, Czechoslovakia, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Tokyo, Japan.

When preparing an evaluation report, based on the criteria mentioned above, the IOC eliminated Baku, Doha and Prague on June 5, 2008. The evaluation report was published on September 2, 2009 and the final date of the offer was set in October. 2, 2009, in Copenhagen, Denmark,

On the day of the bidding, only 97 members out of 106 IOC members had to choose the host by voting from the candidate cities.

Voting of IOC members:

In the voting process, IOC members, whose country participated in the bid, are not eligible to vote. A candidate city that gets more than 50 votes will be chosen as the host. If no candidate city gets more than 50 votes, the candidate city with the fewest number of votes will be eliminated. Then again there will be a second round of voting. In the second round of voting, if no candidate gets 50+ votes, the candidate with the fewest number of votes will be eliminated; In the third and final round of elections, the candidate city that obtains more than 50 votes or the highest number of votes will be declared the winner.

However, prior to the voting process and the final decision, each city will make a 45-minute presentation followed by a 15-minute debriefing session. Consequently, the US made its presentation at 8:45 a.m., Japan at 10:30 a.m., Brazil at 1,200 p.m. and Spain at 2:50 p.m.

In the election carried out, in the first round Madrid obtained 28 votes, Rio 26, Tokyo 22 and the United States 18; having gotten the fewest number of votes, the US had to exit after the first round.

In the second round of the elections, Rio got 46 votes, Madrid 29 and Tokyo 20. Therefore, Japan had to make its exit, once the second round was over. Since no candidate city had obtained more than 50 votes in the second round of voting, a third and final round of voting was needed.

In the third round of voting, the contest was reduced between Brazil and Spain, in which Brazil obtained 66 votes and Spain only 32 votes; therefore, Rio de Janeiro became the winning candidate.

The historical announcement:

On October 2, 2009, at 6.30 pm; IOC President Jacques Rogge made the historic announcement that Rio de Janeiro would host the 2016 Summer Olympics, creating a sensation around the world and enthralling the people of Brazil. A city in Brazil, a South American country has been chosen to host the 2016 Summer Olympics.

Factors that could have worked against the choice of Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo: –

Despite the fact that the United States made his offer with sincerity and a prominent personality such as President Obama made his presence in Copenhagen before the members of the IOC and gave a speech; Despite having other credentials such as infrastructure, as well as previous experience in holding such events, etc., they were not lacking; Still, the United States was unable to win over IOC members because: The United States had already hosted a number of Olympic Games, the most recent being the 1996 Olympic Games in Lanta. However, the United States has one consolation: the next 2010 Winter Olympics will be held in Vancouver, Canada. Spain already had the honor of celebrating the Barcelona Olympic Games, in 1992, more recently; Similarly, Japan had already hosted the Olympic Games in 1964. These factors could have greatly influenced the IOC members not to vote in their favor.

Factors that tipped the balance in favor of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil:

The most decisive factor that tipped the balance in Rio de Janeiro’s favor was that no South American country had a chance to host the Olympics and Brazil was applying for the first time to host the Summer Olympics. However, Brazil was not far behind in other positive factors. The city of Rio de Janeiro had budgeted $ 14.4 billion for the effort, the largest amount of any of the four finalists, according to IOC reports. It shows the growing and rapidly recovering economy of Brazil under the dynamic leadership of its President Lula. Brazil also had the honor of holding the Pan American Games most recently in 2007. Brazil’s bidding process began on July 28, 2006 and the bid was recognized by the IOC on September 14, 2007. And above all, the Rio de Janeiro city was fully equipped to host all Olympic Games events except football.

Having secured the bid for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the people of Brazil are undoubtedly in good spirits and brimming with confidence. It is very appropriate to conclude with the words of President Lula, who through tears spoke these words:

“All those people who thought we didn’t have the ability to rule this country will now learn that we can host the Olympics!”

“The world has recognized that the time for Brazil has come!”