2016 Olympics: Rio de Janeiro Bags the Honors

The second of October, 2009 will be a date that will forever remain etched in the minds of most Brazilians. It will go down in history as the day when the city of Rio de Janeiro bagged the honors of hosting the 2016 Olympics and in the process, made Brazil the first South American nation to host the prestigious Olympic Games.

In a tightly fought contest in the city of Copenhagen, the Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro defeated the likes of Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid to be voted as the number one preferred choice for the 2016 Olympic Games. In a process that spanned three rounds of voting, Chicago, always considered to be one of the strongest contenders in the race, won all of 18 votes and suffered a shocking first round elimination. Even a last minute visit by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama wasn't good enough to tilt the fortunes in favor of the lakeside city of Chicago.

The second round of voting saw the Japanese city of Tokyo being eliminated with the fewest number of votes. The third and final round saw a face off between Rio de Janeiro and the Spanish city of Madrid, and the former beat the latter convincingly with a margin of 34 votes. The final result saw Rio romping home with 66 votes and the 2016 Olympics in its kitty.

The declaration of the result sparked off a massive wave of celebrations not just in Rio, but all over the football-crazy nation. Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was ecstatic and promptly declared the day as being a memorable one in the history of Brazil. As hordes of people took to the streets, waving flags, shouting, cheering and dancing, every nook and corner of Rio de Janeiro had instantly turned into a carnival, with celebrations galore and streets bathed in the national colors of blue, yellow and green. Citizens were ecstatic and everyone believed that this day would mark the beginning of a new wave of change. A wave of better development, infrastructure and employment. In short, a new wave of hope for the people of Brazil !