TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES

Thousands of people were celebrating the city’s success in September 2012 in Tokyo when they learnt that they won the bid to host the 2020 Summer Olympics. There were three cities in the finals, which were Tokyo, Madrid and Istanbul, but The International Olympic Committee announced that Tokyo was the winner. Japanese officials worked and waited for long for that announcement. Becoming an Olympic host city is not an easy process. Countries around the world make bids to the International Olympic Commission (IOC) to host the Olympic Games. Any city that wants to host the Olympic Games puts in its name to the IOC and is considered an “Applicant City.” Once all the candidates are selected, the IOC members vote in a secret ballot. If none of the cities is chosen by most of the members, the city that received the lowest number of votes is removed from the list. Then, the members vote on the remaining cities. The committee usually conducts many rounds of voting until there is a clear winner. The IOC investigates the cities on several points and then makes its final decision.First of all the city must prove that it is big enough to handle the Olympics. Thousands of tourists, athletes, journalists, and politicians travel to that city for the games. The city must show that it can host the games in new stadiums and venues, must have enough accommodation to house all visitors and have a good transportation system that the people can use to travel from one place to the next. The city also should show that they can handle the high level of security needed at the games.

When the IOC decides that a city has fulfilled the criteria above, the city is considered a “Candidate City” and goes into the second phase of the process. After submitting an application and its fee, the IOC makes a final judging on which city is the best candidate for the coming Summer or Winter Olympic Games. The costs for bidding for the games is very high. Countries must pay an application fee (The fee for hosting the 2012 Olympics was $150,000 U.S.), to the IOC. Once they pay the fee they start large construction projects to build an “Olympic village” to house the athletes, new sports arenas and stadiums, and transportation systems. Tokyo hosted the 1964 Olympics. For the 2020 Olympics bid, Japan presented the city to the IOC as the best choice during a time of global political and economic problems. “Tokyo can be trusted to be the safe pair of hands and much more,” said bid leader and IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda. “ Vote for Tokyo, and you vote for guaranteed delivery. Tokyo is the right partner at the right time.”

Early in the bidding process, Tokyo seemed to be a strong favourite. However, the Tokyo team struggled a bit in the final days of the campaign. The IOC still had concerns over a leak of radioactive water from a nuclear plant in the city of Fukushima. In the final presentation, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the IOC that the Fukushima leak would not be a threat at the Olympic Games in Tokyo. “Let me assure you the situation is under control,” Abe said. “It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo.” Abe later added that the leak was limited to a small area and had been “completely blocked. There have been no healthrelated problems, nor will there be in the future,” he said. Now the city of Tokyo is almost ready for 2020 Summer Olympic Games.