Press Release - International Olympic Committee - Beijing Olympics - 6/4/08

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

        FOUR CITIES TO COMPETE TO HOST THE 2016 OLYMPIC GAMES

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced today that Chicago 
(USA), Tokyo (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), and Madrid (Spain) have made 
it on to the shortlist of cities bidding to host the 2016 Olympic and 
Paralympic Games. The Candidate Cities were accepted unanimously from seven 
Applicant Cities, which also included Prague (Czech Republic), Baku 
(Azerbaijan) and Doha (Qatar)*.

"All the bids were of a very high standard," said IOC President Jacques 
Rogge. "It is a tribute to the health of the Olympic Movement that the 
field was so strong. I congratulate the Candidate Cities and I hope that 
those cities which were unsuccessful this time have benefited from the 
process."

The selection was made by the IOC's Executive Board in Athens, venue for 
this week's SportAccord conference. The decision was based on a technical 
analysis of the Applicant Cities' applications submitted earlier this year. 
The analysis and subsequent report was made by a working group of Olympic 
Games experts who assessed each Applicant City's potential for staging 
successful Olympic Games in 2016. The technical assessment was based on 25 
questions, covering a variety of areas such as venues, transport, 
accommodation and security. The full report made by the working group is 
available on the IOC website, www.olympic.org. 

Games of the XXXI Olympiad 2016 Working Group Report (PDF Download)

The four Candidate Cities now have until 12 February 2009 to submit their 
Candidature File to the IOC. These files will be analysed in detail by an 
IOC Evaluation Commission, which will also visit the Candidate Cities, 
before issuing a report one month prior to the election. The final decision 
on the host city for the Games of the XXXI Olympiad in 2016 will be made by 
the full IOC membership on 2 October 2009 during the 121st IOC Session in 
Copenhagen. 

Please note: the Candidature Procedure and Questionnaire, which outlines 
the procedures, rules and deadlines to be respected until the election of 
the host city, as well as the in-depth questionnaire which Candidate Cities 
must respond to in their Candidature File, are also available on the IOC 
website, www.olympic.org.

2016 Candidature Procedure and Questionnaire (PDF Download)

*Cities are listed in the order of drawing of lots.


                            ###