The 2016 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXXI Olympiad, are a major international multi-sport event to be celebrated in the tradition of the Olympic Games, as governed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The host city of the Games will be Rio de Janeiro, Brazil as announced at the 121st IOC Session (which is also the 13th Olympic Congress) held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 2, 2009. They are scheduled to be held from August 5 to 21, 2016. The 2016 Summer Paralympics will be held in the same city and organized by the same committee, September 7 to 18. The Rio 2016 Summer Olympic Games will be the second edition held in Latin America after Mexico City 1968, the first edition held in South America, the third edition held in the Southern hemisphere (the first of those three outside of Australia), and the first games in a Portuguese-speaking country. 
Bidding:The bidding process for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games was officially launched on May 16, 2007. The first step for each city was to submit an initial application to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) by September 13, 2007, confirming their intention to bid. Completed official bid files, containing answers to a 25-question IOC form, were to be submitted by each applicant city by January 14, 2008. Four candidate cities were chosen for the shortlist on June 4, 2008: Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, and Tokyo (which hosted the 1964 Summer Olympics). The IOC did not promote Doha to the Candidature phase, despite scoring higher than selected candidate city Rio de Janeiro due to their intent of hosting the Olympics in October, outside of the IOC's sporting calendar. Prague and Baku also failed to make the cut.
Nawal El Moutawakel of Morocco headed the 10 member Evaluation Commission, having also chaired the evaluation commission for the 2012 Summer Olympics bids. The commission made on-site inspections in the second quarter of 2009. They issued a comprehensive technical appraisal for IOC members on September 2, one month before elections.
There are many restrictions barring the bidding cities from communicating with or influencing directly the 115 voting members. Cities can't invite any IOC members to visit them and they can't send them anything that can be construed as a gift. However, bidding cities invest large sums in their PR and media programs in an attempt to indirectly influence the IOC members by garnering domestic support, support from sports media and general international media. Jon Tibbs, a consultant on the Tokyo bid, was recently quoted as saying “Ultimately, you are communicating with just 115 people and each one has influencers and pressure groups but you are still speaking to no more than about 1,500 people, perhaps 5,000 in the broadest sense. It is not just about getting ads out there but it is about a targeted and very carefully planned campaign.”The final voting was held on October 2, 2009, in Copenhagen with Chicago and Rio de Janeiro perceived as favorites to land the games. Chicago and Tokyo were eliminated after the first and second rounds of voting, respectively, while Rio de Janeiro took a significant lead over Madrid heading into the final round. The lead held and Rio de Janeiro was announced as host, becoming the first city in South America to host an Olympic games.
Venues and infrastructure:All venues of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016 will be located in four zones: Copacabana Beach, Maracanã, Deodoro and Barra da Tijuca; the latter will also house the Olympic Village.
Besides the Maracanã Stadium, the football matches will also take place in Salvador (Fonte Nova Stadium), São Paulo (Morumbi Stadium), Belo Horizonte (Mineirão Stadium) and Brasília (National Brasília Stadium). All these stadiums will also be used in the FIFA World Cup 2014.
.jpg)
Blackout of November 2009:Local leaders were defending the reliability of Brazil's power grid after a huge blackout left nearly 60 million people in the dark and raised concerns about its ability to guarantee electricity for a surging economy. The blackout cut electricity to 18 of Brazil's 26 states and left them without power for up to four hours. About 7 million people also lost water service in Sao Paulo.
Analysts said the blackout shows Brazil's lack of investment in the power system at a time when Latin America's largest economy is booming and the country is preparing to host the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.
The Brazilian Olympic Committee did not comment on the power failure. But among guarantees made to the International Olympic Committee is that Rio, as the host city in 2016, will be isolated from the nation's power system — to avoid problems like this. The city will have its own direct energy feed during the Games.
Later it was stated that heavy rains and strong winds caused three transformers on a key high-voltage transmission line to short circuit, cutting the line and automatically causing the complete shutdown of the Itaipu Dam for the first time in its 25-year history. The power cut, which Brazilian officials said affected 18 of the country's 26 states, brought chaos to cities including São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Belo Horizonte, Campo Grande and Vitória. The government highlighted the fact that the country produces more energy than it consumes and that it could support the growing demand until 2013 without any major investment in the sector, but that important ones are being made.
Sports:The 2016 Summer Olympic program is scheduled to feature 28 sports and a total of 38 disciplines. There were two open spots for sports and initially seven sports began the bidding for inclusion in the 2016 program. Baseball and softball, which were dropped from the program in 2005, karate, squash, golf, roller sports (inline speed skating) and rugby sevens all applied to be included. Leaders of the seven sports held presentations in front of the IOC executive board in June 2009.
In August, the executive board initially gave its approval to rugby sevens—a seven-man version of rugby union—by a majority vote, thus removing baseball, roller sports, and squash from contention. Among the remaining three—golf, karate, and softball—the board approved golf as a result of consultation. A decision regarding the remaining two sports was made on 9 October 2009, the final day of the 121st IOC Session at which Rio de Janeiro was named as host. A new system was in place at this Session; a sport now needs only a simple majority from the full IOC for approval rather than the two-thirds majority previously required.
On October 9, 2009 the IOC voted to include rugby sevens and golf on the program for the Games in Rio. The other 26 sports were also confirmed with a big majority of the votes.
Security concerns:Since the award of the 2016 Olympics to Rio de Janeiro, the city's crime problems have gotten more attention. A police helicopter was shot down over a favela during one of many of the city's drug wars, and 12 people were killed in the incident. Rio's mayor has admitted that there are "big issues" facing the city in securing the games from violence, however, he also states that such concerns and issues were presented to the IOC throughout the bidding process. The governor of the state of Rio de Janeiro also highlighted the fact that London faced security problems with a terrorist attack in the following day of the IOC session that chose the city to host the 2012 Olympic Games.
The IOC, however, has expressed optimism with allowing the city and the nation of Brazil to address these concerns. Seven years is enough time for Rio de Janeiro to clean up its crime problem the IOC says. IOC spokesman Mark Adams told The Associated Press "we have confidence in their capacity to deliver a safe Games in seven years." "Security is of course a very important aspect of any Olympic Games no matter where it is in the world. This is of course entirely under the national, regional and city authorities." Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, president of Brazil, has noted that the city has hosted other high-profile events without major incident, for example the 2007 Pan American Games.
