IOC begins inspection of Tokyo’s 2020 plans

TOKYO – Prime Minister Shinzo Abe welcomed IOC inspectors to Tokyo on Monday and said the Japanese capital’s bid to host the 2020 Olympics was “second to none.”

Bid organizers are hoping to win over the International Olympic Committee after Tokyo failed in its bid for the 2016 Games, which went to Rio de Janeiro.

The IOC’s evaluation commission began a fourday inspection of Tokyo’s bid on Monday. IOC vice president Craig Reedie is leading the visit, which will be followed by trips later this month to Madrid and Istanbul, the other two cities vying to host the Olympics.

Abe, Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose and bid leader Tsunekazu Takeda all welcomed the IOC panel at an official reception.

Abe offered the full sup- port of the central government to host the games and recalled the powerful impact the 1964 Tokyo Olympics had on Japan and the region.

“The Olympic spirit was the same spirit with which Japan grew to its height,” he said in remarks to the visitors. “For the Japanese, the Olympic spirit became a mission that we must help the rest of Asia to grow.”

Abe said it was time for the Olympic torch to return to Tokyo.

“You will hear a lot about our infrastructure,” he said. “Yes, our preparedness is second to none.”

As Japan now faces the challenges that other countries will face – how to rejuvenate an aging society and keep the air clean – hosting the Olympics in 2020 will “inspire many others, just as Tokyo did before in 1964,” he said.