Vying to be the Olympic host
(From The Japan Times June 16 issue)

2016年夏季五輪開催を目指して

Tokyo, Chicago, Madrid and Rio de Janeiro have been chosen final candidates for the 2016 Olympic Games. Japan's capital city has received the top rating in the International Olympic Committee's preliminary selection round, but this only marks the start of a long race. The climax comes Oct. 2, 2009, when the winner will be chosen in Copenhagen. If Tokyo wants to host the 2016 Olympics, it will need to equip itself with ingenuity and a well-worked strategy.

Tokyo ranked first, ahead of Madrid, in an IOC evaluation of the overall technical merits of candidate cities. Factors such as infrastructure, sports venues, safety and security, and environmental conditions were assessed. Chicago and Doha came in third and fourth. Rio de Janeiro, Prague and Baku were fifth, sixth and seventh. Tokyo proposed to host "the world's most compact Olympics" with most sports sites concentrated within an 8-km radius and 75,000 hotel rooms within a 10-km radius.

The IOC made a hard decision not to put Doha on the shortlist. Doha was eager to host the first Olympics in the Middle East. Although it hosted the 2006 Asian Games, there was a fear within the IOC that it would be difficult for the Qatar city to host the Summer Olympic Games. The IOC eventually left Doha out on the grounds that its proposal to hold the games in October, rather than in July or August, was unacceptable.

Past experience shows that a preliminary ranking has little to do with the IOC's final decision. Nagoya, a strong candidate for the 1988 Olympics, was beaten by Seoul. London, which ranked third early on, won the bid for the 2012 Olympics. Sochi came from behind to be chosen the venue for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.

Finalists must submit detailed plans to the IOC by Feb. 12, 2009. IOC experts will visit the cities and sites, and meet with local officials. Tokyo must not only carry out fierce lobbying activities but also earn the trust of IOC members. It also needs to rouse local residents' interest in the games. Only 59 percent of those polled support the bid for the games.

国際オリンピック委員会がアテネで開いた2016年五輪開催地の第1次選考で、東京都がトップ通過を果たした。来年10月の最終選考に向けて、創意工夫と綿密な戦略構築が必要だ。

都はインフラや警備体制、環境などでほかの3都市よりも高い評価を得た。しかし１次選考は開催都市の決定には直結しない。

立候補都市は来年2月12日までに詳細な開催計画を提出し、IOC評価委による各都市訪問を経て最終投票に臨む。都は招致活動に励み、IOC委員の信頼を得ることが必要だ。また、世論を喚起し、59 % と他都市より低い住民の五輪招致支持率を上げなくてはならない。