The 111 members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will choose which city to choose from a shortlist of Chicago, Madrid, Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo at its Session in Copenhagen on October 2.

Chicago have have been installed as the favourites, a position that Paris held at a similar stage for the bidding for the 2012 Olympics four years ago only for them to lose out to London.

Mercedes Coghen, the chief executive of Madrid's bid, claimed that they had done the hardwork and were confident of staging a successful Games.

She said: "Four great cities are all determined to win so we must not waste a single day.

"We are not daunted that the time is passing by so quickly because we know we are ready."

Coghen, a member of the Spanish team that won the hockey gold medal at the 1992 Olympics, said: "We have prepared well.

"It is like being an athlete preparing to compete, if you do all the right work in advance then there is nothing to fear as the big day approaches. 

"I have had the privilege of winning a gold medal and understand the sheer determination and drive that success at the highest level demands.

"It also requires a great deal of hard work."   

The Madrid 2016 Bid team has done the "hard yards" to ensure that the technical bid is strong and Coghen said she was delighted that the IOC evaluation report published at Sport Accord in Athens was so positive. 

She said: "We will continue striving to improve every detail of our bid.

"Our preparation and planning of venues, our infrastructure, transport and all the tangible criteria that are vital to the success of the Games are well advanced.

"The infrastructure is ready and 70 per cent of the other work required is in place.  

"The huge support of the Spanish Government, the Mayor and the people of Madrid has made us a very safe and reliable choice for a host city which is ready to deliver in 2016."
 

In Rio, Brazilian president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva honoured athletes that took part in the Beijing Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Representing the 25 Olympic and Paralympic medal-winners present, Maurren Maggi , the Olympic long jump champion, and Antônio Tenório, a judo gold medallist in the Paralympics, participated in handing over the Rio 2016 flag to Lula.

The President recalled the emotions he felt during the opening ceremony of the Beijing Games.

He said: "It was extraordinary, fantastic.

"And that is why Brazil deserves to host the Games.

"We have London 2012 coming up, where we will be able to improve our participation and results and, God willing, Rio de Janeiro in 2016."

The ceremony was also attended by Vice President José Alencar, Sports Minister Orlando Silva Jr, Rio's bid president Carlos Arthur Nuzman, and the president of the Brazilian Paralympic Committee, Vital Severino Neto.

Nuzman, who is also a member of the IOC, said: "There is just one year left until the IOC decision, and the Brazilian Government once again is demonstrating its support to the Rio 2016 bid.

"It is unquestionable that Brazilian sport is improving in quality and this celebration recognises our athletes' efforts.

"South  America deserves to hold the Olympic Games for the first time, and Rio 2016 has much to
offer the international Olympic Movement."

Tokyo hold day of celebrations

Tokyo, meanwhile, kicked off the one-year countdown by staging an outdoor celebration at Midtown, bringing  together Tokyo Governor Shintaro Ishihara, Japanese medallists from the Beijing  Games, the all-female theatre troupe AKB48 and thousands of supporters. 

Ishihara took the stage with some of Japan's most accomplished athletes, including Masato  Uchishiba, a judo gold medallist in Athens and Beijing, fencer silver Yuki Ota, who won a silver medal in Beijing, members of the gold-medal women's softball team and  Paralympic 50-metre breaststroke champion and world record holder Takayuki  Suzuki.

Ishihara said: "Tokyo's Olympic Games will  be unique.

"Amid a compact setting in the heart of the city, we will stage an  exciting, environmentally friendly celebration that unites people from around  the world.

"We will make Tokyo 2016 the Green Games by doubling the number of  trees in the city and creating an additional 1,000 hectares of parkland.

"Underpinned by the world-renown hospitality of the Japanese people, we offer a  unique experience for the world and create a lasting legacy for the Olympic Movement." 

In another  kick-off event held on the same day, Dr Ichiro Kono, the chairman and chief executive of Tokyo 2016, and  Professor Shin-ichi Takemura, the author of Tokyo 2016's vision, hosted a press conference to explain the concepts of the Tokyo 2016 Games, including the 'Musubi Promise'
to  unite youth and sport, heritage and innovation, the Games and city life, Japan's old and new, and Green and  2016.

They also presented Tokyo ambitious plans for the year ahead, including promotion of not only the bid itself but related social issues as  well, including awareness of Olympism and its values among schoolchildren and better health through physical activity. 

Takemura said: "The Tokyo  2016 concept embraces the Olympism spirit of bringing out the best of people. 

"Through the Olympic Games, one of humanity's greatest assets, we want to show  the world the best environment, the greenest city and the most efficient  solutions to 21st-century [urban] problems.

"We wish to offer a wonderful legacy  for the Olympic Movement, for Japan and for the whole  world."

Kono said: "If Tokyo were given the honour of hosting the Games, it would herald an unprecedented urban and environmental legacy for the city, as well as produce an ideal model of sustainable  development for major cities across the world."