The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced that Chicago, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and Madrid have made the shortlist of cities bidding for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Prague, Baku in Azerbaijan, and Doha in Qatar were eliminated from the final phase.

Madrid scored the highest overall for its project and legacy plan in the decision by the IOC’s Executive Board in Athens, which was based on a report by experts who assessed each city on 25 questions covering areas including venues, transport, accommodation and security.

Madrid led the applicants in the areas of government support and public opinion, general infrastructure, existing and planned sports venues, transport, and experience from past sporting events.

The city was a close second behind Tokyo in the Olympic Village and environmental impact categories, while Tokyo also led in accommodation, finance, and safety and security. Tokyo was second to Madrid in the areas of government support and public opinion, sports venues and transport, and placed second overall for its entire plan.

Rio de Janeiro placed was placed third overall, followed by Chicago. Doha was also deemed a suitable host city, however the city’s proposed dates for the Games in October 2016 fell outside the IOC’s specified period of 15 July to 31 August 2016.

Prague received low scores due to uncertainty over government support for the Games, low public opinion, and an ambitious construction programme the IOC felt would be difficult to achieve. Baku lacked sports venues which meet international standards, as well as suitable infrastructure, accommodation and telecommunications services.

The four remaining candidate cities have until 12 February 2009 to submit their candidature files to the IOC, which will make its selection on 2 October 2009 during the 121st IOC Session in Copenhagen.

Madrid’s plan focuses on environmental and urban renewal of major areas of the city, with the creation of large areas of green leisure space and the building of ten new venues to be used with existing facilities. Part of its Olympic Village would later be converted to a sports university.

Tokyo’s carbon-reduced plan would see the city use and renovate existing facilities from the 1964 Games, as well as construct new facilities on the Tokyo Bay waterfront. Chicago would host a carbon-neutral games, also with a focus on existing facilities, and on leaving legacies in sustainable technologies.

Rio de Janeiro’s bid involves new and existing venues, with legacies including a national training centre for 20 sports and an adventure sports park for high-performance training.

“All the bids were of a very high standard,” said IOC president Jacques Rogge. “It is a tribute to the health of the Olympic movement that the field was so strong. I congratulate the candidate cities and I hope that those cities which were unsuccessful this time have benefited from the process.”