One Month to Go - 2020 Olympics Bids Hit Bell Lap

(ATR) With 30 days to the IOC vote, leaders of the three 2020 Olympic bids tell Around the Rings they are ready for the final lap.

Istanbul Ready to Write Chapter in Turkish History

For Istanbul bid chairman Hasan Arat, Aug. 7 takes on "extra significance" as it marks exactly seven years before the opening ceremony of the Turkish Olympics if the country lands the Games at its fifth attempt.

Istanbul is competing against Madrid and Tokyo to win 2020 hosting rights. The IOC vote takes place at the Session in Buenos Aires on Sept. 7.

"Today is exactly one month before perhaps the most important day in the history of the Turkish Republic," he told ATR.

"If Turkey is awarded the honor of hosting the Games in 2020, 7 September will be forever remembered as a turning point for our country – and, I firmly believe, for the Olympic Movement.

"The first ever Games in Turkey or the region; the first ever Games in a country with a majority Muslim population; the first ever Games in a nation with nearly 50 percent of the population under-25; the first ever Games staged on two continents simultaneously."

Arat said the next month of campaigning was critical for his bid team.

"We continue to receive positive feedback from the Olympic Family as we travel around the world, and we feel like we have strong momentum going into the home strait," he says.

"But now our priority must be turning positive feedback into positive votes by showing the IOC members that Istanbul is the right city at the right time for the Olympic Movement."

Istanbul and rivals Madrid and Tokyo will be in Moscow over the next week for the IAAF Athletics World Championships. It’s one of the last major international events ahead of the Buenos Aires session.

Tranquilo in Madrid

Madrid 2020 president Alejandro Blanco is in a confident mood about the bid’s chances.

"With one month to go before the election there is a sense of optimism in the air," he told ATR.

"The most important thing is for us to be relaxed. We know this is a very tough match but we also know we have a great bid."

Blanco, who heads the Spanish NOC, pointed to a "hugely successful" FINA World Championships as the latest example of his nation’s "superb organizational skills "and the people of Spain have shown their passion for sporting events and their commitment to them".

He added: "Everything has been done and yet we still have everything to do. The entire bid team is doing a fantastic job, one that the IOC has described as ‘extraordinary’, and in the run-up to 7 September we will be explaining the project again and looking for collaboration and support. All we can do in the countdown to the big day is to keep on working."

Tokyo Pushes Toward Goal Line

Tokyo 2020 claims to be gathering momentum in the push to get over the line ahead of its opponents.

Bid president Tsunekazu Takeda described the month-to-go milestone as "the final sprint in this exciting journey towards hosting the greatest prize of all".

The Japanese IOC member, who also heads his country’s Olympic committee, said the Tokyo bid team was"fully united under one cohesive team".

"In the last two years, Japan has rediscovered the significant role sport and athletes can play in our lives," said Takeda.

"Now, we want to inspire the world through the power of sport and secure the place for athletes and Olympism in this challenging and fast-changing era of sport. The credibility of the Olympic Movement is dependent on the integrity of sport, and Tokyo 2020 offers certainty in these uncertain times," he said.

Takeda drove home the appeal to the IOC of taking the Summer Games back to Asia. "We are committed to becoming the right partners for the IOC at the right time, and are proud to represent the vast young continent of Asia, home to over 4 billion people and one billion young people – a global market size which is unmatched," he added.

Reported by Mark Bisson.

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