Rio de Janeiro was named host of the 2016 Olympic Games on Friday as red-hot favourite Chicago, backed by US President Barack Obama, was handed a devastating, heart-breaking snub.
Rio will be the first South American city to stage the Olympics after seeing off Madrid in the final round of voting, which followed a tense final day of lobbying of International Olympic Committee (IOC) members.
“It’s unbelievable, overwhelming, spectacular,” beamed Rio Governor Sergio Cabral after his city won the final round of voting by 66-32.
Brazilian president Luiz Inacio ‘Lula’ da Silva, whose country will also stage the 2014 football World Cup and who gave a stunning speech at Friday’s presentation, said history had been made.
“Today Rio and Brazil presented their case to the IOC and they said an overwhelming ‘yes’. It’s an historic day in the life of Brazil,” he said.
“I’m 63 and have seen many things in my life and thought I could never get emotional but suddenly I’m crying more than any other person.
“You have to understand we come from a country that was colonised and so we have a habit of thinking small with the feeling that we didn’t matter.
“So when Danish television had all these images of Obama arriving at Copenhagen airport this morning people said to me ‘oh, he’s arrived, we’re going to lose’.”
Chicago was sensationally eliminated in the first round after garnering a paltry 18 votes out of 94, quickly followed by Tokyo, the only city of the four candidates to have previously hosted the Games, in the second stage.
Chicago’s defeat came despite the intervention of Obama, who had flown in on Friday morning to appear at the city’s final presentation.
But even his powerful presence, as well as the energetic lobbying of his wife Michelle, failed to sway the members.
“We fought a good fight and I am very proud of the team and the campaign,” said Chicago bid chief Pat Ryan. “Some you win, some you lose. That’s the way it goes.
“I have no idea why we went out so early. The IOC members will have to ask themselves that question.”
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told reporters aboard Air Force One as Obama returned home: “The president is disappointed as you might imagine.”
In Rio, tens of thousands of people partied on the iconic beach of Copacabana when IOC president Jacques Rogge revealed the winner.
Brazil football legend Pele was in tears.
“I’m a very emotional guy and I have been crying ever since I heard the result. This is a great moment not only for Brazil but for South America. In terms of how it compares to a World Cup this is like another goal,” he said.
Henrique Meirelles, president of the Brazil Central Bank, said that they had managed to convince the IOC that they were sound financially.
“We were optimistic and very well prepared. This has been a lot of hard work but there is a lot more of that over the next seven years. Our economic situation played well.”
In Washington, a top White House advisor rejected the notion that Chicago’s failure represented a personal humiliation for Obama.
“Obviously, it was disappointing,” the president’s senior political advisor David Axelrod told CNN.
“The president made a very strong appeal, and it didn’t work out.
“I don’t view this as a repudiation of the President or the First Lady; there are politics everywhere and there are politics inside that room.”
Madrid bid chief Mercedes Coghen, captain of the Spain field hockey team that won gold in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, accepted a painful defeat.
“I have a very sad reaction,” said the 47-year-old. “That’s the way it has got to be. It was a very good bid.”
For Madrid the presence of 89-year-old former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch helped secure vital votes.
His plea that ‘his days on earth were numbered’ struck a chord for many of the members who owed their positions to him during his controversial but highly successful tenure.
The elimination of Chicago and Tokyo set up an intriguing head-to-head between two of the giants of sports administration – Samaranch and former FIFA President Joao Havelange, who looking far younger than his 93 years promised to invite people to a massive party in Rio in 2016 when he will be 100.
How the votes went in the race to host the 2016 Olympic Games, which was won by Rio de Janeiro here on Friday:
1st rd
Madrid 28
Rio 26
Tokyo 22
Chicago 18 – eliminated2nd rd
Rio 46
Madrid 29
Tokyo 20 – eliminated
Abstention 13rd rd
Rio 66
Madrid 32
Abstention 1
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