Beijing has won the race to stage the 2008 Olympics.
The Chinese capital beat four other bidding cities, including Toronto and Paris,
to secure the country's first-ever Olympics.

Osaka was the first city to be eliminated in the International Olympic Committee
election held in Moscow on Friday.

But surprisingly, it only took one more round for Beijing to be confirmed as the
preferred host.

It polled 56 votes, defeating Toronto (22), Paris (18) and Istanbul (9).

The announcement, read out by outgoing Olympic president Juan Antonio Samaranch,
was greeted with wild scenes of jubilation from the Chinese delegation in
Moscow, and with fireworks in Beijing itself.

Beijing had lost the race for the 2000 Games by just two votes to Sydney - but
there were no such dramas this time round.

Despite criticism of its record on human rights, Beijing had been the front
runner in the race from the start.

Toronto and Paris were expected to pose more of a challenge, but ultimately
failed to even take the Chinese capital past the second round.

The first reaction to China's victory came from the International Amateur
Athletic Foundation, who welcomed the decision.

IAAF president Lamine Diack said he was convinced Beijing would organise a
"magnificent Olympic Games".

"By choosing Beijing, the International Olympic Committee has made a decision of
great significance because now 1.3 billion people will feel completely
integrated into the world sports movement."

Conceding defeat, Toronto's bid chief Paul Henderson said: "We did a great job
but the odds were against us.

"We knew Beijing had a lot of strengths, it was theirs all along.

"We were fighting an uphill battle. I think Beijing had to make a major
mistake and they didn't."


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