Tokyo To Host 2020 Olympic Games

Japanese capital beats out rival bids from Istanbul and Madrid to win right to host 2020 summer sports extravaganza.
Tokyo has been chosen to host the 2020 summer Olympic Games by the event's organising committee, beating out Istanbul and Madrid in the final vote tally.

All three cities made impassioned pleas to the International Olympic Committee during presentations on Saturday.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe emphatically promised the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant would have no negative effect on Tokyo, while his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged the IOC to choose Istanbul and help "send a strong message of peace to the whole world".

Madrid emphasised it was ready, dependable and safe, with Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy telling members "numbers don't lie".

Tokyo's win comes after two years of intense lobbying and tens of millions of dollars in campaigning by all three candidate cities.

With each city wrestling its own demons, the usual beauty parade became a "least ugly" contest, as they frantically attempted to conceal their blemishes and win the right to host the world's biggest sporting extravaganza.

Ninety-five IOC members voted in the first round, with two excused.

Madrid was initially knocked out, with Istanbul and Tokyo advancing to the second round of voting.