They shot from their seats like fireworks. The Beijing delegation heard Mr Juan Antonio Samaranch announce that their city would host the 2008 Olympic Games and mayhem erupted.
Tracksuited volunteers turned into jumping beans. Chinese leaders stepped in from the wings grinning like drunks looking for their best pals and bid organisers locked themselves into one big hug.
Eight years ago in another hall in another city, Beijing had seen the Games awarded to Sydney by just two votes. They buttoned their blazers and their lips and went home in wounded silence. There they learned some lessons. Yesterday they came back and won the decision by a landslide.
Speculation that Toronto and Paris were closing strongly on Beijing in the final days was put to rest early when not one International Olympic Committee member asked a question about human rights at yesterday's final presentations. When the first round of votes was counted Osaka in Japan was the biggest loser with just six votes.
What was most surprising was the weak showings elsewhere, especially by Paris which had just 15 votes. Toronto had 20, Istanbul 17 and Beijing 44.
Osaka was thus eliminated but the game was over anyway. In their calculations French and Canadian delegates had depended on Beijing not getting to 40 votes until round three. Osaka votes were joined in round two by a swing away from Istanbul. The three-man overseeing committee looked at the results sheet and got up and walked across to Mr Samaranch. Istanbul 9 votes; Paris 18 votes; Toronto 22 votes; Beijing 56.
Miriam Donohoe, Asia Correspondent adds:
There were jubilant scenes in Beijing where Chinese president Jiang Zemin made a surprise appearance at a huge street party. Fireworks blazed across the city, honking cars thronged the Avenue of Eternal Peace and thousands gathered in Tiananmen Square. The vote is an important milestone for China, which is eager to achieve international respectability. It is also seen as a boost for the government's policy of social and economic liberalisation. The general secretary of the Beijing Olympic Bid Committee, Wang Wei, said the Olympics would build bridges between China and the rest of the world.
AFP writes: Irish IOC member Mr Pat Hickey received death threats in the wake of the vote. A group calling itself the Liberation Army of Tibet made the threats to Mr Hickey's Dublin office, according to the newsagency.
"I have had three death threats from a group calling themselves the Liberation Army of Tibet, and I doubt I am the only IOC member claiming I voted for Beijing," Mr Hickey said.
"The vote is secret and I am keeping mine secret. Nobody knows who I voted for. I am convinced it is nothing but a lot of hot air.