The 121st International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session was held on October 1–9, 2009 in Copenhagen, Denmark, during which Rio de Janeiro was selected as the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The city of Copenhagen was chosen on February 8, 2006 by the 118th IOC Session held in Turin, Italy to stage the 13th Olympic Congress, together with the meetings of the Executive Board and the 121st IOC Session. The other candidates were Athens (Greece), Busan (South Korea), Cairo (Egypt), Riga (Latvia), Singapore (Singapore), Taipei (Chinese Taipei). Convened on the initiative of President Jacques Rogge, the 13th Olympic Congress brought together all the constituent parties of the Olympic Movement to study and discuss the current functioning of the Movement and define the main development axes for the future.
The programme for the meeting was:[1]
On October 2, 2009, the IOC voted to elect the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympics. Rio de Janeiro was elected host city after three rounds of voting. This was Rio's fourth bid for the Olympic Games. Jacques Rogge, former president of International Olympic Committee said, "I have the honor to announce that the games of the 31st Olympiad are awarded to the city of Rio de Janeiro."[2]
| Election of the Host City of the 2016 Summer Olympics — ballot results | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Country (NOC) | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | |
| Rio de Janeiro | 26 (27.66%) | 46 (48.42%) | 66 (67.35%) | ||
| Madrid | 28 (29.79%) | 29 (30.53%) | 32 (32.65%) | ||
| Tokyo | 22 (23.40%) | 20 (21.05%) | — | ||
| Chicago | 18 (19.15%) | — | — | ||
| 121st IOC Session | Vote details | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | |
| Copenhagen - Denmark | Eligible | 95 | 97 | 99 | |
| Participants | 94 | 96 | 98 | ||
| Abstentions | 0 | 1 | 0 | ||
| Valid ballots | 94 | 95 | 98 | ||
| Members unable to vote | |||||
| Members from countries with candidate cities | Other members | ||||
 Anita L. Defrantz James L. Easton  Chiharu Igaya Shun-Ichiro Okano  João Havelange Carlos Arthur Nuzman  Juan Antonio Samaranch Jr. |  Jacques Rogge (IOC president)  Lee Kun-hee (suspended) Alpha Ibrahim Diallo (absent)  Saku Koivu (absent) | ||||
The Session decided to add Rugby Sevens and Golf to the Rio 2016 program.[3] The tally for rugby was 81 in favor, with 8 against,[4] and golf was approved 63–26.[5] Neither sport is new to the Olympics — rugby was last featured at the Olympics in 1924, and golf in 1904.