This week, the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics will begin, with the opening ceremony planned for Friday, July 23. It will be a Games like none before it, with its host city, Tokyo, under a state of emergency and COVID-19 still very much a threat to the public.

In Part 1 of a two-part look at the long and tumultuous road to the Olympics, we look at Tokyo's initial bid for the Olympics in 2011, how the city won that bid in 2013, and the ups and downs that accompanied the Games until the famous handover ceremony at the Rio Olympics in 2016.

Part 2 will follow on Friday, ahead of the opening ceremony.

Twists and turns: Retracing Tokyo’s tumultuous path to the Olympics (Alex K.T. Martin, The Japan Times)

Tokyo wins bid to host 2020 Olympics (The Japan Times)

Tokyo awarded 2020 Summer Games (The Telegraph via YouTube)

The Complete Tokyo 1964 Olympics Film (Olympics via YouTube)

The handover ceremony at the Rio 2016 Closing Ceremony (Olympics via YouTube)

The troubled history of Zaha Hadid's Tokyo Olympic stadium project (Oliver Wainwright, The Guardian)

Contested Tokyo 2020 Olympic logo scrapped amid plagiarism claim (Shusuke Murai, The Japan Times)

The Japan Times' coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (The Japan Times)

Patrick St. Michel: Twitter | Articles

Oscar Boyd: Twitter | Articles | Instagram

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