Copenhagen: Rio de Janeiro, rank outsiders a year ago, on Friday became the first South American city to be awarded the Olympics, winning the 2016 Games thanks to the eloquence of President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva and some new-found economic muscle.
A year ago Rio looked a most unlikely winner.
Weak bids for the 2004 and 2012 Games meant quick elimination and the Brazilian metropolis looked set to drop out early yet again, when it was ranked a lowly fifth in the International Olympic Committee's technical report last year.
Frontrunners Chicago, Madrid and Tokyo all looked solid -- even Qatar's Doha was ranked above Rio.
The IOC though somehow picked it over Qatar, just allowing Rio to squeeze through as a questionable fourth short-listed bidder.
"We learned from those failed bids. I told (IOC) President Jacques Rogge a day after the defeat (for the 2012 Games) that we would be back," Carlos Nuzman, IOC member and bid leader told reporters after Rio's victory on Friday.
Questions over security, violence and funding for a major event like the Olympics -- the biggest multi-sports event in the world -- had peaked after a Pan American Games in Rio in 2007 that organisers said went smoothly but its competitors insisted were a disaster.
By June this year the tables had turned. The global recession had hit countries, including the United States and Japan, harder than Brazil.
Central banker
During a presentation at the IOC headquarters in Lausanne that month, Rio came out even stronger with central banker Henrique Meirelles putting in a persuasive performance for their bid.
He assured IOC members the country's economy had weathered the credit crunch well and was growing.
For the first time, the possibility that Rio could carry the financial burden of hosting the Games was taken seriously.
At the same time the World Bank was predicting Brazil's economy would be the fifth biggest in the world by 2016.
Meanwhile, Chicago's all-private funds budget was a source of concern for Olympic leaders and on-going rows between the U.S. Olympic Committee and the IOC were taking their toll.
Tokyo looked to pack little punch and Madrid, bidders also for the 2012 Games, had yet to gather any pace.
The solid backing of Brazilian President Lula throughout the campaign and his vocal backing of the bid at every international event he attended further reinforced the perception that Rio was ready this time.
Lula and Meirelles both turned on the magic again before the IOC on Friday as Rio produced a uniquely compelling presentation.
Even the presence of U.S. President Barack Obama in the Danish capital, the first sitting president to attend an IOC session, did not stop Rio from charging to victory .
"I have special relations with President Obama. But I told him 'if you don't go I will go and we will win'. I told him and then he came," Lula said.
So it was the former steel worker, enjoying a high popularity rating deep in his second term, who would shed tears of joy in the end as Rio beat Madrid in the final round of voting with a huge majority.
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