It seems the Japanese are not surrendering without a fight. Takafumi Ishomura is in Moscow to address the session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), although it’s unlikely that the city will win the 2008 Olympic bid.
Osaka’s Minister of Education and Science Atsuko Toyama and Mikako Kotani, bronze medal winner in the 1988 Olympics in Seoul in swimming, are expected to participate at the final stage of the election, along with the mayor and other Osaka officials.
Meanwhile Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov told a news conference that Moscow’s bid for the 2012 Summer Games would be premature.
Luzhkov said delegates would not discuss the venue of the 2012 Olympics. It would be on the agenda in 2005.
The mayor said Moscovites would like to host the Games, but “this is our wish, nothing more. Moscow successfully hosted the first world junior Games and has all the chances to receive the Olympic Games for adults” he said.
