Despite the hard lobbying made by US first lady Michelle Obama and no less the US president himself Barack Obama, the right to host the 2016 Olympiad goes to Rio de Janeiro. President Barack Obama personally appealed to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Copenhagen saying "I urge you to choose Chicago, And if you do — if we walk this path together — then I promise you this: The city of Chicago and the United States of America will make the world proud”. But as soon as the Obama’s were flying home, they were simply booted out by the committee in just the first round while Tokyo was eliminated in the second round. Rio won it by 66 votes as against Madrid with 32 votes in the final round. Madrid’s surprising feat going into the final round came after former IOC president Juan Antonio Samaranch made an unusual appeal to the IOC's members as he asked for their vote that, at age 89, "I am very near the end of my time." Apparently the IOC gave much credence to Rio’s appeal on their conscience, “the city argued that it was simply unfair that South America has never hosted the games, while Europe, Asia and North America have done so repeatedly.”
Rio is the first ever city in South America to host an Olympic games.
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