Tokyo 2020 Exultant Over IOC Report

(ATR) Leaders of the bid from Tokyo for the 2020 Olympics say a positive report from the IOC means new motivation as they head to a crucial presentation next week in Lausanne.

The section on Tokyo in the 110-page report of the IOC Evaluation Commission praises the bid roundly, from its compact venue plan to the $4 billion development fund already set aside for the Games, to the city’s hotel capacity.

"Everybody’s motivation is being strengthened, that is going to be the key to the bid," said Tokyo Metropolitan Governor Naoki Inose at a press conference following the release of the report. The report is the result of visits the 15-member panel made in March to Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid.

Veering into hyperbole, the governor said Tokyo 2020 "is the embodiment of the dream of mankind."

Tsunekazu Takeda, bid president, IOC member and Japanese NOC president said that the report indicates that there is no need for Tokyo to adjust the presentation it will make next week to members of the IOC.

"There are no major findings," Takeda noted. "We will go ahead with what we are preparing,"he said.

"We improved and all IOC concerns were addressed," he said of the experience gained from Tokyo’s unsuccessful bid for 2016.

The three bids will make hour-long presentations to the IOC July 3 in Lausanne. The so-called technical briefing is meant to inform the members of the plans of each city for the Games. The IOC votes for the 2020 host Sep.7 inBuenos Aires.

Takeda, Inose and bid CEO Masato Mizuno spent only about 10 minutes taking questions from the Japanese press.

Expressing his satisfaction with the findings of the IOC commission, Takeda said "we are not going to introduce anything new" in these final months to the IOC vote.

But he did say "passion is needed" for Tokyo to rise above the competition.

Inose said it will be important to show "Japanese have a spirit of hospitality".

Reported by Ed Hula

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