Tokyo, Japan has been chosen over Istanbul to host the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games- 60 votes to 36 votes. Madrid had been an early contender but was eliminated in the voting , after it initially tied with Istanbul.
Tokyo managed to convince the International Olympic committee, that Fukushima posed no threats to the games. Fukushima was seriously damaged in the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami that killed more than 18,000 people. There was delight in many locations across Japan.
It will be the city’s second games. Tokyo was also the location of the Summer Olympics held in the year of my birth: 1964! Japan has also organised and hosted the Winter Games in Nagano in 1998 and Sapporo 1972. For the 1964 Tokyo Games, Japan spent an estimated 3.6% of 1964 GDP to build a massive network of highways around Tokyo and launch the bullet Train. This games is focussed on re-using and re-developing.
The Games will be held from July 24th to August 9th 2020, a mere 2509 days away! There is already a webpage for the Games!
Venues for the event will be located in an eight kilometre radius (six mile) from a waterfront Olympic village located right in the heart of downtown Tokyo, around Harumi Pier. The close proximity of venues is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions, in line with the city’s emphasis on hosting an environmentally friendly Games. Solar panels will be installed at venues and electric and fuel-cell vehicles will transport people and equipment around.
22 of the 37 venues proposed will be newly constructed for the Games- with eleven permanent and eleven temporary facilities planned.
The 44 hectare Olympic Village will house 17,000 beds. It will be converted into a residential community after the Games. The Ginza shopping and entertainment district is close by. 87,000 hotel rooms will be available in a 10 kilometre (six mile) radius. The developers of the $956 million housing complex are expected to be chosen by mid-2014 and construction work will begin later that year.
The National Olympic Stadium, used for the 1964 Summer Games will be significantly re designed by Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid. The Stadium will be a “state-of-the-art” 80,000-seat arena with a retractable roof- the first in the Olympic history.
The Imperial Palace Garden will be the starting point for Road Cycling events. Cyclists will race through historic moats, parklands and treed-line streets, leading to Tama Hills.
The Sea Forest Waterway will be a venue for Rowing and the Canoe-Kayak competition. After the Games, it will be a place to host rowing and Canoe-Kayak competitions and for Tokyo to rleax by the water.
In the meantime, Rio Olympics is just 1079 days away.
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