The 2020 Olympic Games to Come to Tokyo

On September 7, the International Olympic Committee kicked off its 125th annual session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, by selecting Tokyo as the host city for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Tokyo beat Istanbul, Turkey, and Madrid, Spain, to win the hosting rights, bringing the summer games back to Japan for the first time since 1964.

The Tokyo Games nearly a half-century ago were the first Olympics ever hosted in Asia, as well as a symbol of the full reemergence of Japan onto the global stage following its defeat in World War II and its rapid economic growth thereafter. But what sort of symbolic meaning will the 2020 games hold seven years from now? The Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee’s campaign slogan described the proposed games as a way to “discover tomorrow”—an opportunity to experience a dynamic athletic festival in the heart of one of the world’s safest, most advanced cities. Here we present an overview of the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The Games of the XXXII Olympiad

• Friday, July 24, to Sunday, August 9, 2020
• 28 sports (In Olympic parlance, “sports” are categories of competition, such as athletics; individual events, like the long jump or marathon, take place within these categories.)

The XVI Summer Paralympics

• Tuesday, August 25, to Sunday, September 6, 2020
• 22 sports

Games concept: “Venues, values, and legacies in the heart of the city”

• Highly compact and central plan, with minimum travel
• Single central Olympic and Paralympic Village
• 85% of venues and all IOC accommodation within 8 kilometers of the Village
• New Olympic Stadium as the jewel of the “Heritage Zone,” carrying forward the legacy of the 1964 games
• Nine new permanent legacy competition venues in the “Tokyo Bay Zone,” representing the city’s development into the future

The Kasumigaoka National Stadium, site of the 1964 Olympics Opening Ceremony, will be transformed into a cutting-edge main stadium for the 2020 games (left). The Olympic and Paralympic Village planned for the Harumi Pier area of Tokyo’s waterfront, located at the intersection of the Heritage Zone and Tokyo Bay Zone (right). (Both images courtesy of the Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee.)

The cycling road races will start from the Imperial Palace Garden (left). Olympic events will also be held outside of Tokyo, including Sapporo, Yokohama, and Miyagi Stadium, which is located in an area impacted by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami (right).

Venue Map

View Tokyo 2020 Venue Plan in a larger map

(Based on the venue plan available at the Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee website.)

More information is available at the Tokyo 2020 Bid Committee website.