The final price tag for last year’s Tokyo Olympics was more than double the city’s original 2013 estimate, adding to an already hefty bill following a year-long coronavirus postponement.
The organizing committee said on Tuesday that the cost of the Games was 1.42 trillion yen, the equivalent of $13 billion at the time. At today’s rates, the yen is at a 24-year low against the dollar, a figure that would be $10.4 billion.
Tokyo 2020 was held a year later than planned due to the pandemic – the first Olympics were postponed in peacetime – and spectators were banned from almost all events under strict COVID-19 countermeasures. were organized.
The Games cost more than double the 734 billion yen that Tokyo Games organizers predicted in their bid for the International Olympic Committee in 2013, but less than the final pre-game budget unveiled in December 2020.
Despite declining ticket sales, organizers saved some cash by simplifying the event and avoiding the cost of hosting millions of fans.
The organizing committee, which is disbanded at the end of June, said the event’s final cost was less than the 200 billion yen projected in its pre-game budget in 2020 and 29 billion yen compared to the final slimmed-down cost forecast in December 2021. The yen was low.
“It is up to everyone involved in this event to pass on the legacy of the Tokyo Olympics to the next generation,” said Tokyo 2020 chief Seiko Hashimoto.
Tokyo experienced a Covid-19 surge last year as the Olympics approached, sparking fears that the event could worsen the outbreak in Japan and possibly the world.
The northern Japanese city of Sapporo is bidding to host the Winter Olympics in 2030.
A March survey of Sapporo and the surrounding area showed that the majority of the public was in favor of the event.
Officials have ruled out holding a public referendum on the 2030 bid.
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