The final cost of last year’s Tokyo Olympics was more than double the original estimate made by the organizers in 2013, after the event was postponed for a year due to the Corona virus pandemic.
The organizing committee said on Tuesday that the games were worth 1.42 trillion yen, or $13 billion at the time. At today’s rate, with the yen falling to its lowest level in 24 years against the dollar, that figure is almost $10.4 billion.
The Tokyo Summer Olympics were held a year later than their original date in 2020 due to the epidemic, becoming the first Olympics to be rescheduled for peacetime (rather than war), with spectators banned from nearly all events held under with strict measures.
The cost of the Games was double the 734 billion yen the organizers expected when they submitted their bid to the IOC in 2013, but less than the final budget they set ahead of the postponed Games in December 2020.
Despite declining ticket sales, organizers saved some money by streamlining events and avoiding the cost of hosting millions of fans from around the world.
The organizing committee, which dissolved at the end of June, said the final cost of the global event was 200 billion yen less than budgeted ahead of the Games in 2020, and 29 billion yen less than the final cost cut forecast for 2020. December 2021.
Last year, Tokyo saw a spike in Covid-19 cases as the Olympics approached, raising fears the event could exacerbate the outbreak in Japan and possibly the world.
The northern city of Sapporo, which hosted the marathon and some events due to the sweltering heat in the capital, is aiming to host the 2030 Winter Olympics.
Source: AFP