Of course the Japanese people are deliriously happy they beat out Istanbul for the 2020 Games since they were worried that the latest news about the earthquake damaged Fukushima nuclear reactor had damaged their chances to land the Games.
But their pitch about putting the Olympics in steady hands resonated with the IOC delegates in Buenos Aires concerned about the protests and construction delays bedeviling Rio and the negative drama surrounding the upcoming Sochi games because of the anti-gay laws passed by the Russian government triggering anti-gay violence and calls to move the Winter Games elsewhere. It also didn't hurt Tokyo's bid that they have $4.8 billion sitting in the bank that is budgeted for the 2020 Games
In the first round of voting Saturday Tokyo was the leader with 42 votes with Istanbul and Madrid tied with 26 votes. That necessitated an elimination runoff to determine which city would move on to the second round of voting, and Istanbul won that runoff 49-45. Tokyo ran away with the second round voting 60-36 to beat out Istanbul.
So in the summer of 2020, the Olympic flame will once again come back to the Land of the Rising Sun and Tokyo will become the fourth city to host the Summer Olympic Games twice.
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