On Saturday, the International Olympic Committee announced that Tokyo will be the host of the 2020 Summer Olympics. Tokyo was one of three finalists to give a presentation to the Committee, along with Madrid and Istanbul.
2020 Olympic Games awarded to Tokyo
Tokyo beat Istanbul in a run-off ballot after Madrid was eliminated from the running.
Ian Walton
Japan last hosted the Olympics in 1998 when the Winter Games were held in Nagano.
Tokyo’s vicotry means that the the four Olympic sites have been established: the 2016 Olympics will be held in Rio de Janeiro, while the next two Winter Games will be in Sochi, Russia (2014) and Pyeonchang, South Korea (2018).
Tokyo had been the long-time favorite, but there were concerns about the leak of toxic water from the Fukushima nuclear plant in 2012. All three bid cities had political issues, with worries about the civil war in nearby Syria and the financial crisis in Spain hurting the bids of Istanbul and Madrid, respectively.
Though multiple American cities have an interest in hosting the Winter Olympics in 2022, the United States Olympic Committee appears focused more on the 2024 Summer Olympics.
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