Rio de Janeiro has been awarded the 2016 Summer Olympics in a stunning voting process that left Chicago as the first of the four finalist cities eliminated.

International Olympic Committee president Jacques Rogge made the announcement Friday in Copenhagen.

Rio de Janeiro, which becomes the first city on the continent of South America to host the Olympics, beat Madrid, 66-32, in the final vote among IOC members. Tokyo was the other finalist.

"I would like to congratulate the city of Rio de Janeiro on its election as the host of the 2016 Olympic Games," said Rogge after the vote was announced. "Rio de Janeiro presented the IOC with a very strong technical bid, built upon a vision of the Games being a celebration of the athletes and sport, as well as providing the opportunity for the city, region and country to deliver their broader long-term aspirations for the future. This call to 'live your passion' clearly struck a chord with my fellow members, and we now look forward to seeing Rio de Janeiro staging the first Olympic Games on the continent of South America."

Despite the presence of President Barack Obama, who spoke during the United States' presentation on Friday, Chicago received the fewest votes in the first round of balloting, leaving Rio de Janeiro, Madrid and Tokyo alive in the process.

Madrid led the initial balloting with 28 votes, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 26, Tokyo with 22 and Chicago with 18.

Tokyo then garnered the least support in the second round, with only 20 votes to Rio's 46 and Madrid's 29, setting up the final ballot.

Rio de Janeiro's presentation included support from its president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, and soccer legend Pele. It also featured a map of the world, marking cities that had previously hosted the Olympics. The European continent, of course, was prominently filled, as was North America, which Lula da Silva said needed to be considered in this vote.

"It is a time to address this imbalance," Lula da Silva stated during Rio's presentation. "It is time to light the Olympic cauldron in a tropical country."

The awarding of the Games to Rio de Janeiro gives the nation of Brazil a pair of global events in a two-year span, as soccer's World Cup will be held in the country in 2014. There was speculation that Brazil could not pull off such a feat, but the IOC membership clearly felt otherwise.

Friday's vote marked the second straight disappointment for the United States in its attempt to land the Summer Olympics for the first time since Atlanta hosted the 1996 Games. Four years ago, New York City campaigned to host the 2012 Olympics, but was the eliminated in the second round of a five-city bid process that was won by London.

"This was a terrific competition among four world-class cities," the United States Olympic Committee said in a statement. "While we are disappointed, we thank Mayor Daley, the City of Chicago, [Chicago 2016 chairman] Pat Ryan and Chicago 2016 for their tireless efforts and an outstanding bid. We are proud and appreciative of all of their efforts, along with that of thousands of athlete ambassadors, corporate backers, private donors, and our National Governing Bodies and Multi-Sport Organizations. We are extremely grateful to President Obama, First Lady Michelle Obama, Senior Advisor Valerie Jarrett and the entire Obama administration for their unprecedented support of the bid and the Olympic Movement."

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@