The three cities bidding to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Games – Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid – submitted their Candidature Files Monday to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Tokyo 2020 delegation included Masato Mizuno, Tokyo 2020 CEO and Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) Vice President; Katsura Enyo, Senior Director for Planning of Tokyo 2020 and Paralympic Bid Promotion Division, Bureau of Sports; and Yasuhiro Nakamori, Tokyo 2020 Executive Board Member.
Tsunkazu Takeda, IOC member and President of both the Japanese Olympic Committee and Tokyo 2020 said, “with tremendous support from people in Tokyo and across Japan, we have celebrated a memorable milestone today with the submission of the Candidature File. Based on lessons from our bid for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, we have retained the best of that bid plan while adding important new strengths. Now that our Candidature File is complete, Tokyo is one step closer to implementing an innovative and inspiring Games plan. The Games in 2020 in Tokyo will offer athletes, spectators and Olympic and Paralympic Family members a true once-in-a-lifetime experience”.
Istanbul’s Mayor Kadir Topbas, along with Hasan Arat, leader of Istanbul 2020, and Professor Ugur Erdener, IOC member and President of the Turkish NOC, submitted Istanbul 2020’s Candidature File to the IOC Monday.
Mayor Topbas emphasized the unprecedented level of stakeholder unity that enabled Istanbul 2020 to create a bid concept perfectly aligned with the city and country’s long-term development, calling it “a historic moment for Istanbul and the Turkish nation”.
He said, “Istanbul 2020 is the first sports bid in Turkish history to have been officially launched by the Prime Minister, and it has been identified as a strategic national priority. As such, this bid has the unequivocal backing of every level of government”. He added, “hosting the Games for the first time would be the defining achievement in nearly 100 years of the Republic of Turkey”.
Arat said, “for the very first time, our desire to host the Games is matched by our capacity. We have been learning and evolving every step of the way, and today we are submitting a brand new and dramatically enhanced Games concept. Istanbul 2020 has a technically outstanding master plan and delivery structure, and we would grab the world’s attention with a breathtaking setting and a series of groundbreaking firsts, such as being the first every Games held in two continents simultaneously. Now is the time for Istanbul, now we are ready to deliver”.
The files will be released to the public by the three bid cities on Tuesday.
The IOC’s evaluation commission, headed by Sir Craig Reedie of Britain, will visit the three cities in March and then prepare a report for IOC members before meeting with the bid cities in Lausanne in July.
The IOC will then select the host city for the 2020 Summer Olympic Games by secret ballot in Buenos Aires on September 7.
