Japan ecstatic at Olympic victory
BY Agencies9 Sep 2013 12:19 AM GMT
Agencies9 Sep 2013 12:19 AM GMT
Thousands of Japanese erupted in joy early Sunday as they learned Tokyo would host the 2020 Olympic Games. Some had risen very early, while others had stayed up all night to hear the decision from Buenos Aires, which came at 5:20 am local time.
Several channels had live coverage of the event, with public broadcaster NHK having begun its programming at 10.30 pm on Saturday. As Olympic chief Jacques Rogge read the IOC decision, cheers and shouts rang out. Groups of ecstatic Japanese hugged each other and punched the air.
TV hosts and their guests were temporarily speechless and several were in tears, with some making reference to people living in the area affected by the earthquake-tsunami and the nuclear emergency it caused in March 2011.Â
At the Tokyo Chamber of Commerce and Industry, where around 1,200 people had gathered to watch live-streaming of the announcement in Buenos Aires, people held V signs aloft and cheerleaders hugged each other. Some shouted ‘Banzai’ (hurrah!).
At the MC’s prompting, the crowd in unison said ‘arigato’ (thank you) to Buenos Aires. At Komozawa Olympic Park in the south of Tokyo, which served as a venue for several sports at the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, golden tinsel rained down at the moment of decision.
Three-time Olympic women’s 55kg wrestling champion Saori Yoshida said she had been brought to tears by the news of Tokyo’s victory. ‘I am really pleased that Japan pulled together,’ she said.
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