Tokyo & Squash in 2020...Will It Happen?
by Bob Hanscom
February 19, 2013 - Tokyo, as one of the three cities being considered for hosting the 2020 Summer Olympic Games, Sekisui Chemical Group of Japan is "Backing The Bid!"
On September 7, 2013, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tokyo, Japan, Istanbul, Turkey and Madrid, Spain will learn which of the three cities’ bids was enticing enough to convince the IOC to let it host the greatest show on earth. The smart money is on Tokyo, but the Olympics have never been easy to predict. Let's look at the pros, cons and odds of the three locations.
The bookmakers are betting (6-5 odds) that the Japanese capital of Tokyo as the favorite to host the Games - and the reasons do appear compelling, even though this is the second Olympics in a row in which they’re bidding (the Olympics were also held there in 1964).
“I think Tokyo is a pretty safe bet,” says Stefan Szymanski, the Stephen J. Galetti Professor of Sport Management in the department of Kinesiology at the University of Michigan.
“You can trust the Japanese to get everything on time and to budget. You can be sure they will run an efficient, safe Games and there will be no risks involved. You can be sure all the technology’s going to work. So I think it’s big pluses on those fronts.”
Japan is currently basking in a post-Olympic glow, much like Great Britain. The Japanese had a medal haul in London unlike any other in their history, winning 38 medals, which put them in sixth place in the standings, if you go on the total amount of medals.
Half a million people are estimated to have packed downtown Tokyo to welcome back the athletes, but reservations remain. “I remember the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 was one of the most beautiful Olympics ever,” writes veteran Japanese sports journalist Kozo Abe.
“At that time, we Japanese really needed to stage the Olympics to recover the national pride after World War II. Compared from that time, we don’t have an urgent need to stage the Tokyo Olympics now.”
Professor Szymanski sees two issues: The first is “a relatively low level of support, only 66% in favor, but that’s well behind their rivals. The IOC only wants to go places where they will be welcomed with adulation. And then the other problem is rather more imponderable: because of the earthquake last year, questions are being raised about the energy future of Tokyo.”
But the feeling still persists that it’s still Tokyo’s bid to lose, if only because it might be considered Asia’s turn to host the 2020 Games. “A very coherent, sensible bid,” argues Szymanski. “And in terms of the politics, Asia would be a good place to hold the Games this time.
I think having had the Games in London this time, Istanbul and Madrid will be seen as the European bids. I think that puts Tokyo at an advantage and the others at a disadvantage.”
Abe believes that the awarding of the Games to Tokyo is important for its people: “Japan is still poor in its economy and politicians are unreliable. We also have so many difficult issues with Korea and China. We need something that brings our nation together again - for some good reason. That must be Tokyo Olympics 2020!”
Could Istanbul pull off a shock and be the third Olympics in a row to be awarded to a city not considered the front-runner? Both Paris and Chicago were perceived to be more likely choices than eventual winners London and Rio and all involved with the Turkish bid will be hoping it’s "fifth time lucky" for a city yet to host the event. However, Istanbul’s main stumbling block could be in not receiving full support from the IOC’s executive board.
Spain's capital of Madrid is bidding for a third consecutive time. According to Szymanski, the Madrid bid is “potentially the lowest cost: they claim to have 78% of the venues built so not surprisingly they come out with a relatively small budget of just $2.4 billion … that really would be value for money. If you could do that, you would end up saying the Olympics was worthwhile in cost benefit terms rather than the economic drain it historically has been.”
So all...what will the International Olympic Committee decide as to what city and what (new) sport will be added to the 2020 Summer Olympic Games!? The answer... well, this is the IOC - and due to the fact that they've recommended that the core sport of wrestling be dropped...who knows!
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