Tokyo, Istanbul and Madrid were on Friday preparing to celebrate or commiserate their 2020 Olympics bids, as political leaders from all three countries make a final push to clinch the Games.
Members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote on Saturday afternoon in Buenos Aires, with bookmakers putting Tokyo just in front of Madrid as favourites and the eagerly-awaited result to be
beamed live across the world.
Questions over safety have dogged Tokyo’s bid, however, because of the meltdown at the Fukushima nuclear plant after the devastating 2011 earthquake and tsunami while Madrid has faced fears about the state of Spain’s recession-hit economy.
Istanbul, meanwhile, has been in the spotlight after a heavy-handed crackdown on anti-government protesters earlier this year and the bloody conflict in Turkey’s neighbour Syria.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayip Erdogan and Spanish premier Mariano Rajoy were all due in the Argentine capital on Saturday in a last-ditch effort to persuade IOC members of their cases.
In the bid cities themselves, though, final preparations were under way to mark the decision.
Tokyo’s super-efficient underground train system has for months been awash with posters showing the triumphant faces of Japanese athletes at the 2012 Games in London.
A countdown board has been erected near the National Training Centre for elite athletes showing the number of days left before the IOC vote.
In Madrid, workers were busy building a huge stage of scaffolding on the Plaza de la Independencia.