Brazil (from left to right): Campos, Branco, Villas-Boas, Chagas		China (from left to right): Xu, Hu, Wang, Zhuang, Shi, Dai

After one of the most dramatic finals in the history of bridge, Brazil and China tied in the Grand Prix competition organised by the International Olympic Committee.

The Grand Prix started on Monday 7 September 1998 with 6 countries participating: the Bridge Olympiad winners France, Italy, USA, Poland, Brazil and Far East winners China. The format was a simple Round Robin of 24-board matches which was concluded in 3 days. The top two teams, Brazil and China, advanced to the 72-board final.

In June 1995 the World Bridge Federation became a member of the Olympic family as a recognized international organization.

The Olympic Museum in Lausanne

Since then, following succesive visits by Marc Hodler, the IOC First Vice President, to the World Championships in Beijing, Rhodes and Hammamet, a lot has been achieved towards WBF's acceptance as an international sports federation.

Bridge is planned to be part of the Winter Olympic Games. An important step forward in this direction was the organization of the International Olympic Committee Grand Prix which was requested, and presided over, by Juan Antonio Samaranch, President of the International Olympic Committee.