2020 Bid Leaders on Next Steps

(ATR) Leaders of the 2020 Olympics analyze their bids and talk with Around the Rings about what’s next, along with links to the 2020 bid books.

Interviews were condensed for clarity and length.

The responses are presented in order of IOC protocol for the bid cities.

Masato Mizuno, Tokyo 2020 CEO

The big difference between this, and previous Tokyo Olympic bids:

"This file is the earnest effort to formulate a better plan under our slogan ‘Discover Tomorrow’. Two new icons. One is the Olympic Village which is much wider than last time, and we have a new Olympic Stadium, the same site as last time but a capacity of 80,000."

On the new Tokyo and Japanese governments:

"[Shintaro Ishihara] was a very strong leader. Now we have a younger, and an aggressive fighter as governor, Naoki Inose. He is a very cooperative and strong leader. We are really looking forward to his participation. The new government of Prime Minsiter Shinzo Abe is very cooperative. We are very satisfied."

Ramping up international promotion before the IOC Session in September:

"We are planning to make a large amount of international communications. We would like to send out all kinds of articles and publications to IOC members."

Whether Tokyo would be a safe choice to organize an Olympics:

"We call it a ‘safe pair of hands’. You can rely on us to organize and deliver the dynamic celebration with the guaranteed quality and maximum benefits. We have everything, well-equipped cities. We don’t have any risk here in Tokyo.

To see the Tokyo 2020 candidate file, click here for Volume 1, here for Volume 2 and here for Volume 3.

Hasan Arat, Bid Leader for Istanbul 2020

Is Istanbul’s multi-cluster proposal too complex?

"We don’t think its complex. We think most of the venues are at the heart of Istanbul. When you look at the plan you feel different but when you are here during the Evaluation Commission, you can better understand what is our combination for the technical plan. I don’t think that it is more than 30 minutes for spectators to get to venues. There is a lot of infrastructure. We can go into details when the Evaluation Commission is here."

Will traffic, which is known to choke Istanbul streets, be problematic?

"The Games will be in August. The schools are not open. The most important thing is we want to have the participation of all Istanbul people. In our country, when there is something like this, people respect it. We don’t expect it to be a big problem. I am living in the city every day and it is getting better and better. Of course in this big metropolis there can be problems but we can do better.

On Istanbul’s unique proposal for an opening ceremony along the Bosporus Strait:

"The opening ceremony will always affect people, and our opening ceremony planning is fantastic. Beside the Olympic Stadium, along the Bosporus we are going to have the largest live audience in Olympic history. When you sit in the stadium you will see all the architectural landmarks. This will be the people’s Games. We are expecting more than 500,000 people spread out throughout the Bosporus.

To see the Istanbul 2020 candidate file, click here for Volume 1, here for Volume 2 and here for Volume 3.

Theresa Zabell, International Relations CEO for Madrid 2020

What is different for Madrid 2020 compared to previous bids?

"Considering this is the third bid in a row, there aren’t that many differences as opposed to if you were going into it for the first time. Obviously there are some new venues and we’re incorporating historical venues like London did with Horse Guards Parade and beach volleyball. Beach volleyball would be done in Retiro Park, one of the main parks in Madrid, which has a small lake that needs to be emptied each year to be cleaned. It would be emptied and the beach volleyball arena would be put inside the lake."

What sort of impact will the economy have on the bid?

"Practically 80 percent of all sports venues are already built. Just one-and-a-half million Euros of investment in sport infrastructure is needed. That really is peanuts compared to the national budget."

Is it easier for a bid city to have fewer opportunities to present its bid?

"It makes it cheaper because we travel with less people to meetings and we don’t have to spend money on videos. It makes it easier – you don’t have to work so much on presentations, rehearsing, but here we have to work on how we’re going to talk to the members. You just have to focus on different angles."

To see the Madrid 2020 candidate file, click here for Volume 1, here for Volume 2 and here for Volume 3.

Written by Ed Hula III.

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.