Surprisingly Rio de Janeiro has won the IOC vote and will be hosting the 2016 Olympic Games. They beat out Chicago, Tokyo, and Madrid.
Nearly 50,000 people cheered in celebration when Rio de Janeiro was announced as host of the 2016 Olympics, jumping and shouting in a Carnival-like party on Copacabana beach.
A huge roar was heard at the famed beach the moment International Olympic Committee President Jacques Rogge said the words “Rio de Janeiro” to announce the winner in Copenhagen on Friday.
As popular President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and football great Pele celebrated in Denmark, the Cariocas, as Rio citizens are known, raised their arms to celebrate on Copacabana, frantically waving flags and hugging each other.
The party was expected to go well into the night, and officials said the crowd would easily surpass 100,000 people.
