Istanbul to bid again for Olympic Games

• Source: Global Times
• [22:19 November 12 2009]
• Comments

Istanbul is to bid yet again for the right to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games, this time for the 2020 edition, a Turkish government sports official confirmed at the Sports Event Management Conference in London Thursday.

Mehmet Atalay expressed his confidence that it would be a case of "fifth time lucky" for the city after unsuccessful bids for the 2000, 2004, 2008 and 2012 renewals and who opted not to bid for the 2016 Games, which was won last month by Rio de Janeiro.

"We strongly believe that we are going to have the best bid for 2020," said Atalay. "Istanbul has changed a lot and we feel much more confident to be in a race with other cities."

"Turkey is a big country and it has much potential for hosting such events. We have the history. We have the culture. We are the bridge between Europe and Asia."

Turkey has recently hosted high profile sports events such as the 2005 European Champions League final and is set to stage the 2010 World Basketball Championships, the 2011 Winter Universiade and the 2012 World Indoor Athletics Championships.