Tokyo to bid for 2020 Summer Olympics
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Xinhua, June 17, 2011
The governor of Tokyo, Shintaro Ishihara, announced Friday that Japan's capital city will once again bid to host the summer Olympics in 2020, having lost its bid for the 2016 Olympics to Rio de Janeiro.
Ishihara, central to the city's previous bid, has since failing to secure the 2016 games in November 2009 been a staunch proponent of bidding for the Games again.
"It's very meaningful to continue to light a torch. I hope Japan will be united in the bidding," Ishihara said in his policy speech.
He added that the country working in unison towards achieving this goal would be symbolic of Japan's ongoing recovery from the March 11 twin disasters that devastated northeastern regions of the country.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will announce the host city in September 2013 in Buenos Aires and Tokyo must register its bid by Sept. 1. Rome has already expressed its hope to be the host city in 2020.
In the run up to the IOC decision in October 2009, Chicago and Rio de Janeiro were both frontrunners to hold the Games, but both Chicago and Tokyo were eliminated after the first and second rounds of voting, respectively.
Rio de Janeiro and Madrid went head-to-head in the final round of voting, albeit with Rio being odds-on-favorite to win.
Rio de Janeiro was subsequently announced as the host city of the Games, making it the first city in South America to host the Olympics.
