Copenhagen: Chicago and Tokyo were the first cities to be eliminated from the running to host the 2016 Summer Olympic Games, with the US city raising more than a few eyebrows around the world as it received the fewest number of votes.
The International Olympic Committee gathered at Denmark's modern Bella Center convention hall in Copenhagen were left with Rio de Janeiro -- representing a continent that has never hosted the spectacle -- and Madrid.
Chicago was widely seen as the front-runner, even without US President Barack Obama's late appearance in the Danish city to sell his hometown.
The presence of Obama -- the first US president to attend an IOC vote -- was the talk of the town. His wife, first lady Michelle Obama, promised, half jokingly, that the "gloves were off" ahead of the vote.
But it just wasn't to be.
"There's a sense of disbelief, no one was expecting this," CNN's Pedro Pinto said. "Chicago was the favorite and to be knocked out in the first round, everyone had their jaws dropping down to the floor."
CNN's Ali Velshi in Chicago said there was an acceptance the city might not get the Olympics but absolute shock that it would fall at the first round.
People, Velshi said, were dumbfounded. "No one knew what was going on. They thought they must have misheard. There's some very hurt people around here."
With Tokyo -- who hosted the summer games in 1964 -- leaving Madrid and Rio to battle it out.
For many the bid from the Brazilian city represents the biggest risk, with security being one of the main concerns.
"The South American pitch was an extremely sentimental one, they were trying to persuade the IOC that South America deserves to be given a chance," said Pinto.
All four cities have already had more than a year in the spotlight. They were whittled down from seven possible contenders in June 2008 and have been fiercely promoting their bids ever since.
After the cities make their presentations, the IOC members will sit down to cast their votes in a secret ballot. Ninety-seven of the IOC's 106 members are eligible to vote in the first round; seven must sit out that round because they represent one of the countries bidding for the Games. One other member is currently suspended, and IOC President Jacques Rogge has chosen not to vote.
A city must receive a majority of votes in order to win. If no city receives a majority, voting moves on to a second round, with the city receiving the lowest number of votes being eliminated, an IOC spokeswoman said.
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In the run up to the vote all four cities were viewed as strong contenders, experts said.
"It's difficult to say who the front-runner is, but we feel that Chicago and Rio are neck and neck," said Ed Hula, editor of the Olympics Web site Around the Rings. "The influence of President Barack Obama coming to Copenhagen is considered something that could put Chicago ahead. It certainly has given them a lot more attention and a lot more sway."
Not to be outdone, Spain's King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofia and Spanish President Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero are planning to push the case for Madrid, according to the Madrid 2016 bid committee.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and soccer legend Pele were expected to join forces to advertise the benefits of a Rio Games.
And Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, just two weeks into the job, also planned to be at the vote to demonstrate the government's full backing of the Tokyo bid, the bid committee said.
"It's not a requirement for heads of state to come to our session," said the IOC spokeswoman, who asked not to be named. "We are obviously very honored if they decide to come, but there's no particular requirement."
Chicago's disappointment will be felt by Obama in particular -- he was born in Hawaii but spent much of his life in the city.
Many experts agreed it presented a superior technical bid.
The Windy City has better hotels and a better venue lineup than Rio, Hula said. Almost half its proposed 31 venues already exist, and most would be located along the city's famous lakefront, close to the city center.
A Chicago Olympics would also have been advantageous to US broadcasters, who provide big revenue streams for the Olympics, said Stephen Samuelson, the head of online sports at the Sydney Morning Herald in Australia.
"An American Games will produce a higher return for the IOC," said Samuelson.
For Rio, the major appeal is in bringing the Olympics to South America for the first time.
"It's certainly the sentimental bid of the four," Samuelson said.
He speculated that IOC members may want to wait on giving Rio the Games until after Brazil hosts the 2014 football World Cup, so they can see how well the country deals with a major international sporting event.
But Hula pointed out that Rio's success in hosting the 2007 Pan American Games gave the city a level of experience that Chicago doesn't have.
Madrid's chances could be hampered, however, by a recent tradition that consecutive Olympics aren't staged on the same continent. The London 2012 Olympics will have happened just four years before 2016.
"Although there's no rule against it," Hula said, "the IOC has yet to award consecutive Summer Games to the same continent since 1952 in Helsinki."
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