The International Olympic Committee (IOC) awarded the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2020 to Tokyo, which won over competing cities Istanbul and Madrid.
The IOC reports Tokyo received 60 votes to Istanbul’s 36 in the final round, with Madrid having been eliminated in the first round after losing a tie-breaker with Istanbul. Tokyo, which also bid for the 2016 Olympic Games, previously hosted the Games in 1964.
“Congratulations to the city of Tokyo on its election as host of the 2020 Olympic Games,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge. “Tokyo presented a very strong technical bid from the outset – and it needed to in competition with two such high-calibre bids from Istanbul and Madrid."
"All three cities were capable of staging excellent Games in 2020, but in the end it was Tokyo’s bid that resonated the most with the IOC membership, inviting us to “discover tomorrow” by delivering a well-organised and safe Games that will reinforce the Olympic values while demonstrating the benefits of sport to a new generation," Rogge said.
The most recent public polls revealed that 92 percent of the Japanese population supported Tokyo's hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Japan's Olympic Committee said.
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