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Chinese news agency: Istanbul will host 2020 Olympics!

Whoops.

The announcement of the next host city for an Olympic Games is not something that creeps up on you by surprise. Precisely seven years before each Olympics, there is a very carefully choreographed announcement, during which the IOC President reveals the winning city. It’s very hard to confuse which city has won. The IOC broadcasts this live. If you don’t hear the announcement, then the President holds up the name of the city, and the director cuts to shots of the winning delegation and host city for immediate reaction and celebration.

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Wait – who won again?

So how on earth did China’s official news agency Xinhua put out a statement that Istanbul, not Tokyo, would host the 2020 Olympics? Continue reading Chinese news agency: Istanbul will host 2020 Olympics!

Asian sweep at the Olympics?

Japan is having a very, very good time on the Olympic stage right now. Firstly, Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 Olympics. They had always been the favorite, but had to allay growing fears that Fukushima’s ongoing nuclear nightmare would not have any long-lasting effects for the country (though, in truth, they may have been helped more by a combination of Spain’s dreadful employment record and Turkey’s heavy-handed government). It also means Asia will host back-to-back Olympic Games, following Pyeongchang in 2018.

Secondly, wrestling has been reinstated into the Olympic schedule. Much has changed since February when wrestling looked set to lose out, but Japan will benefit hugely from this. Not only do they sit fourth in the all-time medal table for Olympic wrestling (third if you take out the now-defunct Soviet team), but they won four gold medals in London last year, a total matched only by Russia.

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IOC Presidential hopefuls (clockwise from top left) Wu Ching-kuo (Taiwan), Denis Oswald (Switzerland), Sergei Bubka (Ukraine), Richard CarriĆ³n (Puerto Rico), Ng Ser Miang (Singapore), Thomas Bach (Germany). Photo credit: New York Times

Continue reading Asian sweep at the Olympics?