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Tokyo to host 2020 Summer Olympic Games

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, third from right, celebrates with members of the Tokyo bid committee as Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), announces Tokyo as the city to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Game during a ceremony in Buenos Aires, Sept. 7.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan, third from right, celebrates with members of the Tokyo bid committee as Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), announces Tokyo as the city to host the 2020 Summer Olympic Game during a ceremony in Buenos Aires, Sept. 7.Pool / Reuters

By Nick Zaccardi, NBC OlympicTalk on NBCSports.com

The Japanese capital won a final-round vote over Istanbul and will host an Olympics for the second time in 2020. Tokyo also held the Games in 1964. Tokyo, which billed its bid as “a safe pair of hands,” won with 60 votes to Istanbul’s 36 from International Olympic Committee members.

“The Games of the 32nd Olympiad in 2020 are awarded to the city of … ,” IOC president Jacques Rogge said as he opened the envelope in Buenos Aires, Argentina. “Tokyo.”

Japan last hosted an Olympics in 1998 when Nagano had the Winter Games. Turkey had never hosted the Olympics. Istanbul was trying for the fifth time. The other finalist, Madrid, was eliminated in the first round of voting. Read the full story.