Saturday, September 7, 2013

2020 Olympics in Tokyo

Today I learned the IOC awarded the 2020 Olympics to Tokyo! This is so awesome. I know the last Summer Olympics in Japan was 1964, so it has been a looongggg time, too long. It's great because first timers to Japan will get to enjoy the perfect blend of old and new Japan, and their famous hospitality. I found old video clips from 1964 on Youtube, and it's interesting to see how much has and has not changed since then.

(Associated Press)


Some interesting facts from Tokyo 1964 Games according to Olympics.org:

- Due to the grueling schedule, the Captain of the Japanese volleyball team couldn't find a husband, so after hearing about it the Prime Minister of Japan hooked her up with her future husband.
http://www.olympic.org/news/japan-s-women-s-volleyball/193505
- First Olympics in Asia
-  The Tokyo Games was also the last occasion that hand timing by stopwatch was used for official timing.

My favorite photo from the 1964 Games:

(Olympics.org)