Boris Johnson sends 'huge congratulations' to Tokyo after city wins race for 2020 Olympic Games

 
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Staff|Agency8 September 2013

Boris Johnson has sent "huge congratulations" to Tokyo after the Japanese city was named as host of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

In a tight race Tokyo was named as hosts by the International Olympic Committee meeting in Buenos Aires, ahead of rivals Istanbul and Madrid.

Still with the glow of the success of hosting the London 2012 Games, the Mayor of London said that Tokyo had a lot of work to do but masses to look forward to.

He said: "Huge congratulations to Tokyo for winning the honour of hosting the greatest sporting spectacular on the planet.

"I am sure that, like London, your great city will put on an extraordinary event. This is a magical moment of celebration to savour before the years of hard work ahead.

"Staging the Olympic and Paralympic Games is a tremendous privilege that unleashes golden opportunities for the host city.

"London has seen its transformative effect having embedded from the outset a long lasting legacy that reaches far beyond the weeks of sporting drama."

British Olympic Association spokesman Darryl Seibel said: "We congratulate our friends in Tokyo and are confident that they will do a excellent job hosting the Olympic and Paralympic games in 2020.

"We also congratulate our colleagues and friends in Madrid and Istanbul on the quality of their bids.

"It is a reflection of the importance of hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games to have three world class cities compete for this honour."

Tokyo, who hosted the Games in 1964, had campaigned with the message that "the Olympics will be safe in our hands".

It was heartbreak for Spanish sports fans as Madrid, who had failed in its bids to host the last two Olympic Games, was knocked out in the first round of voting.

This left Tokyo and Istanbul in the final head-to-head.

Istanbul, for a long time the front-runner in the race, has suffered a series of blows in recent months - beginning with the political protests in Istanbul earlier this summer, some of them on proposed Olympic venues, followed by a doping scandal, the jailing of political opponents and journalists, and now the looming war in neighbouring Syria.

Istanbul had almost the perfect sales pitch until then, talking of the first Games in a predominantly Muslim country and a meeting of east and west.

Its bid team took a leaf out of London's book with 50 young ambassadors from sporting backgrounds as part of its final presentation.

Both Tokyo and Madrid pledged to spend a fraction of the cost of the London 2012 Games.

Financial concerns have become the background to this race, especially with worries over the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro and next year's winter games in Sochi being the most expensive ever.

Madrid 2020 boasted 80% of its venues are already in place and a construction budget of just £1.3 billion - London's comparable cost was £9 billion.

The 2020 Games may be held thousands of miles away but it could create a boon for small British businesses.

On the back of their links with London's successful staging of the 2012 Games, many of them will be urged to try and sell their services and win contracts for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics.

The selection of the 2020 Olympic host is set to be one of the last major public announcements for IOC president Jacques Rogge who is stepping down after 12 years at the helm.

Tokyo won by 60 votes to 36 in the final round of voting - a comprehensive victory which came despite some IOC members expressing concern over leaks at the Fukushima nuclear plant, which is 150 miles from the capital.

Tokyo's cause was helped in no small way by the presence of Cambridge-educated Princess Hisako of Takamado, and a bravura performance in its final presentation by Paralympic athlete Mima Sato.

Princess Hisako, the first member of the Japanese Imperial family to have ever addressed the IOC, delivered Tokyo's opening speech of the presentation and pushed all the right buttons.

Dame Zaha Hadid, who designed the Aquatics Centre at London 2012, has already been earmarked to redesign the Kasumigaoka National Stadium, which is set to be the main stadium for the 2020 Games.

Athletes including Ann Packer, Ken Matthews and long jumpers Lynn Davies and Mary Rand were among the British stars who came home with gold medals in 1964, the last time that Tokyo staged the Games.

International Paralympic Committee president Sir Philip Craven said the pledges made by Tokyo 2020 bid "has the potential to take the Paralympic Movement to new levels".

He said: "Having staged the second ever Paralympic Games in 1964 when the Movement was still in its infancy, it will be brilliant for us to go back in 2020 now that the Games have grown up and matured into the world's third biggest sporting event.

"The 2020 Paralympics will send a strong message of inclusion not just to Japan but to the rest of Asia building on previous successful Games in the continent."

As Britain staged its first National Paralympic Day, Sir Philip said: "London 2012 raised the bar last year in terms of delivering the best ever Paralympics and we are confident that both Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 can raise the bar even higher in coming years."

Philippa Roe, leader of Westminster City Council which helped stage several events in London 2012, said: "My sincere congratulations go to the people of Tokyo. This will be such an exciting time for them.

"I remember the jubilant scenes in Trafalgar Square when London was chosen as the host city in 2005, and what followed was one of the most uplifting and inspiring summers our city has ever seen."

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