The IOC evaluation commission still needs to visit Madrid and Istanbul in the coming weeks, but IOC vice president Craig Reddie is absolutely glowing after his four day inspection of Tokyo’s bid.
“We have been hugely impressed by the quality of bid presentations by the bid committee,” Reddie said at a news conference Thursday. “Across the board, it has been excellent in every way.”
Reddie also said that he was impressed by Japan’s government support, including the presence of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe at some of this week’s presentations. Prime Minister Abe also invited the commission to a dinner where they were met by Japan’s medalists from the London Games.
“The best thing about the Games here would be exactly what happened in my own city of London,” Reedie added. “We share enthusiasm, the movement for sport, [and] the development for sport.”
Toyota chairman Fujio Cho almost met with the group and told them that his company, and a number of other large Japanese corporations, are ready to support the Olympics should they come back Tokyo for the first time since 1964. Japanese officials say the Games could have a potential $32 billion impact, as well as show how the country has recovered from the 2011 Tsunami.
Next up, the evaluation commission will visit Madrid starting on March 18.
Once the commission is finished scouting each city’s potential as an Olympics host, they’ll write up reports for the 101 IOC members to read through before a meeting this July at HQ. There they’ll hear the final pitches from all three Olympic committees. The final vote will take place September 7 in Buenos Aires.
