TOKYO WINS AS HOST OF 2020 OLYMPICS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Mon, 09 Sep 2013
Tokyo, Japan will become the first Asian city to host the greatest show on earth twice when it was awarded as the venue for the 2020 Olympic Games. The Japanese capital was the site of the 1964 Olympic Games, the first time it was held in Asia. They were also awarded as host in 1940 but the Games were cancelled due to World War II.
The International Olympic Committee which held its 125th session in Buenos Aires, Argentina voted 60-36 in favor of Tokyo which defeated Istanbul, Turkey in the final balloting. Madrid, Spain was earlier eliminated in the first ballot.
Issues concerning the tsunami-damaged Fukushima nuclear power plant hounded the Japanese delegation. The leak was 150 miles or 240 kilometers from Tokyo.
?Tokyo can be trusted to be the safe pair of hands and much more,? IOC member Tsunekazu Takeda assured the assembly in the final presentation. ?Our case today is simple. Vote for Tokyo and you vote for guaranteed delivery. ... Tokyo is the right partner at the right time.? This was reported by BBC.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe guaranteed the IOC that the Fukushima leak was not a hazard. ?Let me assure you the situation is under control,? Abe said. ?It has never done and will never do any damage to Tokyo.?
?There are no health related problems until now, nor will there be in the future,? the Prime Minister added. ?I make the statement to you in the most emphatic and unequivocal way.?
When IOC president Jacques Rogge announced the winner, the Tokyo delegation cheered in merriment and waved the Japanese flag, some of them crying tears of jubilation. They were successful after two years of intense lobbying. Tokyo residents celebrated at home as they gathered at the Komazawa Olympic Park.
The prime minister's presentation emphasized that sport helped boost the country in the past two years and pointed out their superb discipline that no Japanese athlete ever failed a drugs test at an Olympics or Paralympics.
The progressive economy helps sponsorship which could reach record high standards. The host will construct 10 new permanent sports venues, including the new Olympic Stadium, which will be finished in 2019 when Tokyo will host the Rugby World Cup.
"I would like to thank everyone in the Olympic movement and we will host a wonderful Olympic Games," Abe acknowledged the IOC. Takeda added: "It is a great honor that Tokyo has been chosen. The first thing I will do when I return is to thank all of Japan."
Istanbul was affected by serious political unrest in the country, including the imprisonment of political opposition and journalists, several controversies surrounding the doping of some athletes, plus an armed struggle in neighboring Syria. It was the fifth time the country failed in its Olympic bid. Had they won, it would have been the first Olympics in a Muslim country.
Madrid failed in its third straight bid for the Olympics. Issues on the economic woes of the country hounded the Spanish capital's proposal.
Photo shows IOC President Jacques Rogge announcing Tokyo 2020, the winning bid.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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