The International Olympic Committee (IOC) today elected Nanjing, People’s Republic of China, as the host city of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games in 2014 during the 122nd IOC Session in Vancouver, Canada. Nanjing received 47 votes to edge out runner-up Poznan, Poland, which received 42 votes.

“We had two outstanding candidatures from two fantastic cities. Both expressed the spirit of the Youth Olympic Games and both were capable of staging the event,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge. “We are looking forward to working with Nanjing, and are confident the Youth Olympic Games in 2014 will be a success.”

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Nagasaki has abandoned its ambitions to host the 2020 Olympics after the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) rejected a joint bid with Hiroshima.

Nagasaki Mayor Tomihisa Taue informed the city’s local assembly of the decision on Friday but offered full cooperation to Hiroshima should the city table a solo bid.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – A proposal by Hiroshima and Nagasaki to table a joint bid for the 2020 Olympics has been rejected by the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC).

The mayors of both cities were informed of the decision by Japanese Olympic boss Tsunekazu Takeda and advised to consider individual bids.

“JOC president Takeda conveyed to them we must uphold the Olympic charter so co-hosting is not possible,” the JOC’s Olympic cooperation director Yasuhiro Nakamori told Reuters on Friday.

“It’s possible Hiroshima could make a solo bid. The city staged the 1994 Asian Games. But it would be a bit difficult for Nagasaki to stage such a big international event.”

Takeda held talks with the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki — the only cities to have suffered a nuclear attack — in Tokyo earlier on Friday and refused to rule either venue out.

“Hiroshima and Nagasaki both have a very good chance of staging an Olympics on their own,” Takeda told reporters.

Tokyo, which lost out to Rio de Janeiro in October’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote for the 2016 Games, is also in contention to become Japan’s 2020 bid city.

The identity of Japan’s bid city for the 2020 Summer Games could remain a mystery until 2011, Nakamori said.

TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo has a civic duty to dust itself down from the failed 2016 Olympic bid and reapply to host the 2020 Games, the city’s governor said on Friday.

The Japanese capital lost out to Rio de Janeiro in last month’s 2016 vote but Shintaro Ishihara insisted Tokyo had the motivation and funds to try again.

“We did spend money on the (2016) bid but we have the finances set aside for such big projects,” Ishihara told a news conference.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo officials say they have not been informed of city governor Shintaro Ishihara’s desire to bid for the 2020 Olympics.

Tokyo lost out to Rio de Janeiro in last month’s International Olympic Committee (IOC) vote to decide the hosts for the 2016 Games, but Ishihara is reportedly keen for another shot.

“There’s been no formal announcement,” the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s international affairs officer Noriko Hachiya told Reuters on Wednesday.

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TOKYO (Reuters) – The mayor of Hiroshima says 70 percent of the city’s citizens support the proposal to bid for the 2020 Olympics along with Nagasaki, Japanese media reported on Thursday.

The only cities to have suffered nuclear attacks announced they were considering a bid earlier this month following Tokyo’s defeat in the race to stage the 2016 Games.

“We plan to examine the possibility with the utmost care in order to reach a conclusion as many people as possible will agree with,” Hiroshima mayor Tadatoshi Akiba said.

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BEIJING (Reuters) – The Chinese city of Harbin has given up on its plan to bid for the 2018 Winter Olympics after the central government said it was “premature”, local officials said on Wednesday.

The application by the northern metropolis was declined by China’s General Administration of Sport (GAS) late last month, an official in the city’s sports bureau said.

“GAS suggested Harbin not launch the bid for the 2018 Winter Games because there was very little chance of success,” Li Chunlei, told Reuters by telephone.

“The timing is premature. Beijing just hosted a Summer Olympics last year.”

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COPENHAGEN (Reuters) – The decision to elect Rio de Janeiro as the host of the 2016 Olympics was not driven by money, otherwise the International Olympic Committee (IOC) would have picked Chicago, IOC chief Jacques Rogge said on Monday.

“It is clear that the IOC in its choice has not chosen for the big money,” Rogge said, speaking at the end of the IOC Congress in the Danish capital.

Rio triumphed over Madrid in the final round of voting on Friday after Chicago were surprisingly eliminated in the first round and Tokyo in the second.

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MILAN (Reuters) – Italy is ready to bid for the 2020 Olympic Games after Madrid lost out to Rio de Janeiro in the race to host the 2016 edition, the Italian Olympic Committee said on Friday.

The Venice mayor immediately put his city’s name forward while Rome officials are also interested in a bid.

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COPENHAGEN – The International Olympic Committee members announced today the winner of the 2016 Olympic  Games. Rio de Janeiro were selected to host the 2016 Olympics after winning 66 votes to 32 for Madrid in the final round of voting.

Following are results of the ballots for the 2016 Olympic bid as published bynternational Olympic Committee.

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