Tokyo in three-way battle for 2020 Olympics
Tokyo is one of three cities competing to host the 2020 Olympics, after the list was shortened this week.
The Japanese capital is vying with Istanbul and Madrid to host the Games in eight years’ time. Bids from Qatar’s capital Doha, which will host the 2022 World Cup, and the Azerbaijani capital Baku, were rejected on Wednesday following the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive meeting in Canada.
Reporting on the Japanese bid, the IOC noted that the event would “unite the country following the Great East Japan Earthquake”. The city achieved a maximum rating of 10 in terms of its accommodation supply, with the committee recognising that Tokyo has more than 120,000 three- to five-star hotel rooms, exceeding IOC requirements. More than 80,000 of these are located within 10km of the proposed Olympic Village site.
Tokyo also scored highly (nine out of 10) for its transport infrastructure, with the IOC commenting that the city’s two airports, Narita and Haneda, “have sufficient capacity to accommodate summer Olympic Games traffic”, and that the city’s planned US$8.4 billion transport development programme will “improve connections to and within the Tokyo Bay zone, where many Olympic venues are planned”.
Tokyo’s bid is based on two main areas – a Heritage Zone comprising seven competition venues, including the main Olympic Stadium, and the Tokyo Bay Zone, which will host 21 venues, including nine in a waterfront plaza area. A total of 20 new venues will be developed. In terms of sporting facilities, Tokyo’s bid scored nine out of 10.
One factor that may work against Tokyo however, is the fact that it has hosted the Games before, back in 1964. Neither Istanbul nor Madrid has ever hosted the Olympics.
The final decision on the host city of the 2020 Olympic Games will be made in Buenos Aires on 7 September 2013.