Four cities chosen as 2016 Olympic Games candidates

Chicago, Tokyo, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro were named yesterday as candidate cities to host the 2016 Olympic Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said.

Qatar's Doha, which was rated by the IOC's working group as the third best overall bid, Azerbaijan's Baku and the Czech capital Prague fell at the first hurdle.

The shortlist was announced by the IOC's Communications Director Giselle Davies during an Executive Board meeting.

"It was an impressive list to choose from," Davies said.

The candidate cities must now compile an in-depth file of their Olympic project and submit themselves to a visit by the IOC's Evaluation Commission. The election of the host city will take place on Oct. 2 2009 in Copenhagen.

Tokyo topped the IOC working group's overall technical evaluation with Madrid second. Chicago and Doha tied for third with Rio in fourth place, the report said.