Election of the 2016 Host City
On 2 October 2009, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Jacques Rogge, announced Rio de Janeiro as the host city for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad to be held in 2016. This announcement was the culmination of a two-year process, which the IOC has developed over a number of years to ensure that the city that is elected is capable of hosting the Games and that the process is transparent for all involved. Here is a brief recap of how the decision was reached.
Applicant Cities
A total of seven cities endorsed by their National Olympic Committees (NOCs) submitted their applications to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016. These cities, in order of the drawing of lots, were: Chicago (USA), Prague (CZE), Tokyo (JPN), Rio de Janeiro (BRA), Baku (AZE), Doha (QAT) and Madrid (ESP) . These cities all responded to the IOC’s Applicant City Questionnaire, which was then studied by an IOC working group before a report was submitted to the IOC Executive Board.
Candidate Cities
On 4 June 2008, the IOC Executive Board accepted the following cities as Candidate Cities to host the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016 (in order of the drawing of lots): Chicago (United States), Tokyo (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Madrid (Spain) . The Candidate Cities had until 12 February 2009 to submit their Candidature File to the IOC. The Candidature Files were analysed in detail by the IOC Evaluation Commission and followed up by the visits of the Commission to all the Candidate Cities.
Evaluation Commission
In September 2008, President Rogge announced the composition of the IOC Evaluation Commission for the 2016 Games. Led by Nawal El Moutawakel (MAR), IOC Executive Board member, the Commission was composed of representatives of the Olympic Movement and a number of technical advisors. The Commission visited each of the Candidate Cities on the following dates:
Chicago: 4-7 April 2009
Tokyo: 16-19 April 2009
Rio de Janeiro: 29 April - 2 May 2009
Madrid: 5-8 May 2009.
Following these visits, the Commission produced the IOC Evaluation Commission report, which is a technical appraisal of each city’s bid. The report was made public and distributed to the IOC members in May 2009.
Briefing for IOC Members
For the first time, a technical briefing for IOC members with the Candidate Cities was held in Lausanne in May 2009. This meeting gave the cities and the IOC members the opportunity to discuss the technical elements of their bids over a two-day period. The 2016 meeting involved a technical briefing from each city, followed by a second day for members to ask any follow-up questions they may have had and visit an exhibition room set up by each city.
121st IOC Session in Copenhagen
The culmination of the bid process was the meeting of the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen. The cities had 45 minutes to deliver a presentation to the Session, followed by 15 minutes for questions. Following the presentations by the cities, the Chair of the Evaluation Commission, Nawal El Moutawakel, addressed the Session on behalf of the Commission. The IOC members then proceeded with the vote and elected Rio de Janeiro as the host city for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad. The National Olympic Committee of Brazil and the city of Rio de Janeiro then signed the Host City Contract with the IOC.
The Vote Regulations
All eligible IOC members are asked to vote in the host city election. In each round, each participating IOC member may vote for only one city. As per the voting regulations, only those IOC members who are not nationals of countries for which there is a candidate city in a round are permitted to vote. The votes of members not taking part in a round of voting or who abstain, as well as invalid electronic voting entries, are not taken into account in the calculation of the required majority. If, after the first round of voting, no city obtains the absolute majority of the votes cast, as many rounds are held as necessary for a city to obtain such majority. The city receiving the least number of votes leaves the competition. The name of this city is made public straight away and the vote continues. If only two cities remain in contention, the one that obtains the greatest number of votes is elected. The winning city is then announced by the IOC President at the Announcement Ceremony, following which the newly elected NOC and city will sign the Host City Contract.
Election Results
Round 1
Chicago: 18 / Tokyo: 22 / Rio de Janeiro: 26 / Madrid: 28
Round 2
Tokyo: 20 / Rio de Janeiro: 46 / Madrid: 29
Round 3
Rio de Janeiro: 66 / Madrid: 32