Tokyo has won the race to host the 2020 Olympic Games after the Japanese prime minister flew in to personally reassure voters that radioactive leaks from the Fukushima power plant would not create a health risk.
The intervention from Shinzo Abe helped the Japanese capital defeat Madrid and Istanbul in the race to host the Games after a campaign in which each of the three faced major economic or political challenges. A princess who rarely leaves Japan and a promise to combine fiscal responsibility with a passionate welcome also helped Tokyo win after two previous consecutive bid failures.
There was drama when Madrid and Istanbul tied in the first round of voting, forcing a tie break among the 94 voters that ended with a narrow victory for the Turkish city. That left Tokyo's "safe pair of hands" up against Istanbul's expansive vision to unite east and west on the banks of the Bosphorus in the final round of voting, with the Japanese bid winning comprehensively by 60 votes to 36.
List of Previous Host Countries:
- 1972: Munich, West Germany
- 1976: Montreal, Canada
- 1980: Moscow, Soviet Union
- 1984: Los Angeles, US
- 1988: Seoul, South Korea
- 1992: Barcelona, Spain
- 1996: Atlanta, US
- 2000: Sydney, Australia
- 2004: Athens, Greece
- 2008: Beijing, China
- 2012: London, UK
- 2016: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- 2020: Tokyo, Japan
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