Tokyo to host 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games
Japanese capital beats Madrid and Istanbul in election and will host the Games for the second time
Tokyo 2020 reacts to winning the Bid for the Olympics in 2020 (IOC/Juilliart)
Tokyo has been elected as host city for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The Japanese capital – which beat Madrid (Spain) and Istanbul (Turkey) in the election on Saturday – made Olympic history in 1964 when it hosted the first edition of the Games in Asia. Five decades later, Tokyo is preparing to once again stage the world’s greatest sporting event. The city was elected during the 125th International Olympic Committee (IOC) Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
"As demonstrated in their outstanding presentation today, Tokyo is a vibrant city with a true passion for sport, and I am sure they will organise wonderful Games in 2020. Tokyo will always hold a very special place in my heart, as it is the city in which I began my own Olympic journey, competing in the 1964 Games as a volleyball athlete.My colleagues and I look forward to working closely together with our friends in Tokyo", said Carlos Nuzman, president of Rio 2016 Organising Committee, who has also congratulated Madrid and Istanbul:
"We also know from our experience how much effort and dedication goes in to bidding for the Games and we applaud Madrid and Istanbul on their excellent campaigns."
Japan has a tradition of hosting major sporting events. Besides the 1964 Summer Games in Tokyo, the cities of Sapporo and Nagano have already hosted winter editions, in 1972 and 1998 respectively, while Japan hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup jointly with South Korea. However, Japan’s latest Olympic challenge will be even greater: the 2020 edition of the Games will be twice the size of 1964, which featured 5,151 athletes from 93 countries.The proposed dates for the Olympic Games are 24 July-9 August 2020. The Paralympic athletes will arrive soon afterwards, competingin the period 25 August - 6 September.
After being defeated in the race to host the 2016 Games, Tokyo passed from the status of 2020 applicant city to candidate city in May 2012, when along with Madrid and Istanbul it left behind Baku (Azerbaijan) and Doha (Qatar). Rome (Italy) had withdrawn during the first phase.
After the publication of the IOC Evaluation Commission Report for each city, the three candidates presented their bids for the 2020 Games at an Extraordinary IOC Session in July this year. The long process of choosing the host city had begun two years earlier (nine years before the Games themselves) with the nomination by National Olympic Committees (NOCs) of their potential host cities for the Games. (Find out more about the host city selection process here).
International Olympic Committee to elect new president
The choice of the host city for the 2020 Games is not the only important decision that IOC Members must make during the meeting in Buenos Aires. On the last day of the event (10 September) a new president of the organisation will be elected, the ninth in the history of the Olympic Movement. Thomas Bach, Sergey Bubka, Richard Carrión, Ser MiangNg, Denis Oswald, and Ching-Kuo Wu are the candidates to succeed Jacques Rogge.
