By Tom Degun

Tokyo 2020 at IPCJanuary 8 - After handing in their Candidature file to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, the Tokyo  bid team for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games personally gave their masterplan to the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) in Bonn.


Tokyo are bidding against Istanbul and Madrid for the right to stage the 2020 Games and it is a mandatory requirement for all the Candidate Cities to give their File to the IOC at their headquarters in Lausanne.

Tokyo 2020, however, appeared to go above and beyond the call of duty as they went straight from Lausanne in Switzerland to the IPC headquarters in Bonn in Germany to personally hand their Candidature File to the Paralympic governing body, despite the fact that there was no mandatory requirement to do so.

The Tokyo 2020 delegation in Bonn was headed by bid chief executive and Masato Mizuno (pictured top centre) while it also included Paralympic swimming champion Takayuki Suzuki (top left).

The Candidature file details Tokyo 2020's plan for hosting the Olympic and Paralympic Games and its promise to embrace the Paralympic Values of courage, determination, inspiration and equality.

"Tokyo views the Olympic and Paralympic Games as one mega celebration over a 60-day span," said Mizuno, who is also Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) vice-president.

"Tokyo is a frontrunner in the barrier-free movement and I am absolutely confident that the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games plan will be an innovative one which will bring up the standard higher than ever before."

Tokyo was the only one of the three bidders to hand their Candidature File to the IPC personally at their headquarters and IPC chief executive Xavier Gonzalez (top right), who recieved the File on behalf of the organisation, expressed his appreciation.

"Thank you @tokyo2020jp for taking the time to visit IPC HQ in Bonn today to deliver your 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games bid book," Gonzalez wrote on his Twitter page.

Sir Philip Craven IPC President Sir Philip Craven is also an IOC member and will have a vote to decide where the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games are staged

The move from Tokyo 2020 is sure to impress the many Paralympic supporters in the IOC.

The IPC actually has just one IOC member in their President Sir Philip Craven.

But the relationship between the Olympics and Paralympics is stronger than ever after the IOC and IPC signed an agreement on the eve of the London 2012 Games that ensures the Paralympics will be held in the same city as the Olympics through until 2020.

The IOC will decide the host city for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics at their Session in Buenos Aires on September 7.

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