The 121st session of the International Olympic Committee meets at the Bella Centre, Copenhagen, to decide which city - Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro, or Tokyo - will host the 2016 Olympic Games
President Barack Obama will be among those arguing the case for Chicago and makes an unavoidably impressive entrance as Air Force One touches down on the Kastrup airstrip, just outside Copenhagen
Although brought up in Hawaii, much of President Obama's early public service experience was in the poorer districts of Chicago and he makes the case for the city, already the bookmakers' favourite
Chicago native Michelle Obama, however, upstages her husband with a heartfelt plea for the Windy City to host the Games, alongside the city's mayor Richard Daley and bid chairman Pat Ryan
Governor of Tokyo Shintaro Ishihara and Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama must follow the Chicago bid and claim that their city will deliver both the most high-tech and environmentally-friendly Games
Mr Hatoyama, part of the family who founded Bridgestone tyres, may be seen as a latecomer, only becoming Prime Minister this September, long after Tokyo's successful initial bid, but is known in Japan as a quiet reformist
After the passion of the Chicago bid and the cool pragmatics of Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro offers the sunshine of Copacabana and the chance for the Olympics to be held in South America for the first time
Among Rio's champions are former footballing legend Pele and firebrand President Luiz Inacio Lula de Silva, together with Carlos Osorio, bid chairman, and ex-FIFA president Joao Havelange
The Brazilians also put forward a heart-felt appeal, surpassing Chicago, as Olympian athlete Barbara Leoncio weeps during President Da Silva's presentation, and the Rio team leave the stage punching the air with emotion
Among the many statesmen, only Madrid can boast royalty on their side as King Juan Carlos of Spain (with Prime Minister Jose Luis Zapatero and Mayor Alberto Ruiz Gallardon) implores the IOC to endorse his capital
Madrid, who failed in a bid for 2012, have the same problem as Chicago - a city from the same nation (Barcelona, Atlanta, respectively) may be considered too recent a host of the Games
After the speeches and press conferences, attention turns to the people but the crowds in Daley Plaza, Chicago, are the first to be disappointed as the favourites are gone in the first round of voting
Tokyo's bid follows soon after in the second round, and the crowds in Madrid hope that, after the disappointing 2012 decision, this might be their time to emulate their compatriots and rivals of Barcelona, 1992
Cariocas along the Copacabana, Rio, are likewise anticipating, by means of a beach party, the showdown between them and the Spanish capital as the last round of voting begins
As IOC President Jacques Rogge opens the envelope, as he did in July 2005 to announce London's name, so the magic words "Rio De Janeiro" trigger a happy bedlam on the Brazilian east coast
Inside the Bella Centre, the Rio team, still on a high from their presentation and surviving two knock-out voting rounds, celebrate as Brazil will now host the 2014 World Cup and the Olympic Games two years later
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