Tokyo Bid Strong for 2016 Olympic Host
It’s been 4 months since my first post about Tokyo’s 2016 Olympic Bid and since then a lot has happened in relation to the race to host the games after London in 2012. The four cities competing are Rio de Janeiro, Madrid, Chicago and Tokyo. At first the race seemed to be between Madrid and Tokyo but in a recent update Chicago has come on strong and now seems to be the favourite.
Madrid seems unlikely (but not impossible) to win the bid due to the fact that London would be hosting the 2012 games and it wouldn”t go well the global theme of the games. Tokyo may also suffer from the Beijing factor as the games were hosting in Asia in 2008. Rio de Janeiro is not expected to win but Brazil is the leading South American nation and no stranger to hosting major sporting events. Chicago may be benefiting from Obamamania , it has the necessary infrastructure, monetary investment and the last Olympic Games held in the United States was in 1996.
The International Olympic Committee will vote to decide the host city for the 2016 Olympics and it will be announced in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 2 October.
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Rooting for Tokyo, but I think Chicago will win this time :/
I might possibly go to the olympics that year. Tokyo is close to me (if I’m in Japan, of course, but if I’m in Australia it’s close too and it would be a great excuse to go to Japan). Chicago is nearish to my mum, so it’s be a great excuse to go see her. I’m not a big sports person, but I’d probably go to the gymnastics and the swimming.
I personally hope Tokyo wins the bid. As a former Chicagoan, I don’t think the city is ready for such a huge event, though they are actively preparing for it and the reaction from the Obama victory showed how “ready” they are. But if either Tokyo or Chicago (if they improve) wins, I would like to go (especially Tokyo, hehe). ^^
Not sure if I’ll still be in Tokyo in 2016, but I’m thinking I’d rather not see the olympics here. I love the town, but it’s typically not tourist-friendly and doesn’t deserve to host the world at this point. I mean, a high-level government official in charge of tourism here actually said recently that Japanese don’t like foreigners. Japan may lead the world in electronics and automobiles, but in so many other respects it’s practically third-world.
In addition to what Billy said above, Tokyo is packed as it is. Imagine the congestion the Olympics would bring.
i like their pitch that they will have the most compact games with more than 95% of venues being located less than 8 kilometres from the main stadium.
I know you are in full support of Tokyo!
It’d be great if Tokyo could get it, especially seeing as it’d be my country doing the handover to a country in which I love being in.
I do think that lots of problems will arise with Olympics in Tokyo as most people wrote. However, that aside, I would love Tokyo to host the Olympics since I am a big fan of both Japan and Olympics.
I’m a big fan of Japan, and thus I think the Olympics in Tokyo would be the worst thing to ever happen to it – I’d be willing to protest even. They want to ruin Yoyogi Park to make way for Olympic facilities! For this reason, I say Rio in ‘16!
http://ddurgee.blogspot.com/2009/02/rio-for-olympics-in-2016.html
I live in Chicago, and I do not want the city to win the bid either! I am actually supporting Tokyo. I bought an official lapel pin from the shop on the 45th Floor of the Municipal Building in Shinjuku (the floor with the free observation deck) back in December 2008.
Let me tell you the most glaring fault facing Chicago, especially compared to Tokyo. We have a reasonably good public transit system. But it hasn’t been maintained well. And, its proximity to the facilities the games would use is horrid.
There are two stadia which would be used for Soccer (Football) matches. One is the new, overblown Soldier Field (if you have any old videos of World Cup 1994 matches from Chicago [featuring Germany] – it now looks nothing like that); and the other is the new, soccer-specific stadium in Bridgeview, a near southwestern suburb. Guess who bought the naming rights for it?
That’s correct: It is called Toyota Park. I guess Nissan blew its budget on Yokohama.
Neither of these stadia are within walking distance of the city’s rail or subway systems! There would have to be shuttle buses picking up spectators from the closest train stations (½-mile for Soldier Field; 4½ miles for Toyota Park).
I’ve walked to both National Stadium, and Yokohama International Stadium from the nearest subway station [E-25 on the Toei Oedo line; Kozukue on the JR Yokohama line]. That was manageable.
Finally, let me throw one more ingredient into the pot. We both know that the culture of other countries, including those bidding for the 2016 games, includes not-so-secret attitudes towards bribe-taking.
If Madrid or Rio De Janiero decides to go the direct route and scarf up some money to give to the committee’s members, well, guess who will win?
There is something to be said for history though. In 1964, the U.S. city which lost out to Tokyo was Detroit.
I’m against the Tokyo Olympic bid. Here’s why
http://www.theothereast.net/?p=517