2020 Olympic Games - Tokyo selected

[Correction]

http://www.theguardian.com/sport/201...-olympic-games

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 bidders 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 capital. 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, where Tokyo triumphed comprehensively by 60 votes to 36.

The Japanese capital, which last hosted the Games in 1964, had been the favourite to win during a turbulent bidding race in which the chances of the three candidates waxed and waned at various points.

A combination of its promise to provide a safe harbour in turbulent economic times was considered a vote winner, but it was also able to demonstrate that a Tokyo Games would be a passionate and fun-filled affair in an emotional final presentation. Previous Tokyo bids had been lauded for their practicality but lacked the warmth that propelled London's legacy-centric pitch to victory in 2005 and Rio to success in 2009. On both occasions, Tokyo also bid.

[Chun Liroy]

Have fun being able to walk at all in tokyo in 2020

[Qalbert]

[Meresgi]

2021 Tokyo bankrupt and sinks into Ocean under weight of poverty

[Mazmaz]

Fucking Madrid? That country is completely bankrupt and they wanna piss away money on Olympics?

[Correction]

Madrid's a 3-time loser with this latest vote.

[BaneTheBrawler]

[Callisto]

Will be better than Brazil or Russia I guess

[Mazmaz]

Wait what's wrong with Brazil now?

[Qalbert]

Brazilians

[Callisto]

Wait what's wrong with Brazil now?

The way the government is ignoring some very major poverty issues and trying to whitewash the area by the World Cup/Olympic areas while dumping massive amounts of money on them. They've got some shit going on that's almost as bad as the Russian anti-gay laws but no one minds because it affects poors.

[Necronus]

So this came up on a random search for Brazil

Spoiler: show

http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Hue...f1_4756684.png

[archibaldcrane]

The way the government is ignoring some very major poverty issues and trying to whitewash the area by the World Cup/Olympic areas while dumping massive amounts of money on them. They've got some shit going on that's almost as bad as the Russian anti-gay laws but no one minds because it affects poors.

Sounds like Atlanta in 1996.

[archibaldcrane]

I, for one, am excited about the Neo-Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/a0e71f05c...bfuto1_500.gif

[Callisto]

lol image was taking forever to load on phone, I was dying of suspense on if it was an Akira joke or a G Gundam joke

[Priran]

why do they keep picking cities where somebody needs to personally assure the IOC that it won't be as horrific as it sounds? it's not that hard to breathe or express opinions in beijing! you aren't that likely to be kidnapped or stabbed in rio! the radiation isn't that bad in tokyo!

[Correction]

why do they keep picking cities where somebody needs to personally assure the IOC that it won't be as horrific as it sounds? it's not that hard to breathe or express opinions in beijing! you aren't that likely to be kidnapped or stabbed in rio! the radiation isn't that bad in tokyo!

Because the IOC is a corrupt organization and the 'we're not that bad' PR is part of an anti-propaganda campaign.