RIO DE JANEIRO, July 4 (Xinhua) -- A timeline of events leading up to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games:
October 2009 - Rio de Janeiro is chosen ahead of Chicago, Tokyo and Madrid to host the 2016 Olympic Games.
October 2009 - Rugby sevens is added to the Rio 2016 Olympic schedule; golf is reintroduced after a 112-year absence.
March 2010 - The mayors of Rio de Janeiro and 2010 Winter Olympics host Vancouver sign a cooperation deal to "exchange information and experiences".
January 2011 - Rio unveils its official Olympic logo.
August 2012 - Brazilian samba dancers take center stage in the final minutes of the London 2012 Olympic closing ceremony, marking the start of the road to Rio.
April 2013 - The Maracana stadium - home to the Rio 2016 opening and closing ceremonies - is reopened after nearly three years of renovations.
April 2014 - IOC vice president John Coates says Rio's Olympic preparations are the "worst" he's seen.
August 2014 - Rio stages its first official test event: a sailing regatta in Guanabara Bay.
November 2014 - Organizers announce Vinicius and Tom as the official Rio 2016 mascots. Vinicius is a hybrid of native Brazilian animals and Tom is a mix of local plants.
March 2016 - Brazil's sports minister George Hilton resigns just four months before the Games after his party, PMDB, ends its coalition alliance with the government.
April 2016 - Greek actress Katerina Lehou lights the Olympic torch in the southern Greek city of Olympia, the Games' birthplace.
May 2016 - The Olympic torch arrives in Brazil, starting a 95-day journey through 300 cities.
May 2016 - Rio de Janeiro's government reveals plans to deploy national armed forces in the city's streets to guarantee public safety during the Olympic Games.
May 2016 - Organizers say that almost two thirds of the tickets available for the Games have been sold.
June 2016 - The International Olympic Committee announces that 10 athletes have been chosen to represent the Refugee Olympic Team in Rio.
June 2016 - The Rio 2016 Olympic athletes' village is unveiled after being built at a cost of 835 million US dollars.
June 2016 - Rio de Janeiro's state government declares a state of financial emergency and warns Olympic commitments might not be honored.
June 2016 - Brazil's interim government agrees to provide the state of Rio with 850 million US dollars in emergency funds to guarantee security at the Games.
June 2016 - The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) suspends the license of a drug laboratory slated to test athletes during the Olympics.