Six cities apply to host 2020 Olympics

Lausanne, Switzerland – The International Olympic Committee has announced six cities as applicants to host the 2020 Summer Games.

Baku, Azerbaijan; Doha, Qatar; Istanbul, Turkey; Madrid, Spain; Rome, Italy; and Tokyo, Japan have submitted official applications and will begin the process of evaluation from the IOC.

The United States announced last month it would not submit a bid after unsuccessful attempts for the last two Summer Olympics. New York failed in its try to land the 2012 Games that went to London, while Chicago was the first of four finalists to be eliminated in voting for the 2016 Games that were awarded to Rio de Janeiro.

An extensive evaluation process for the 2020 Games will begin with the Candidature Acceptance Procedure, which focuses on a technical review and the cities' ability to host the Games.

Next May, the IOC executive board will select cities that will become official candidates for the second phase of the evaluation. Those candidates will then submit in-depth descriptions of their Olympic projects by January 7, 2013.

An IOC evaluation commission will follow with visits to each city and a report will be delivered to the full IOC membership, which will then elect the host city on September 7, 2013 in Buenos Aires.

Tokyo and Madrid were finalists, along with Chicago and Rio de Janeiro, for the 2016 Games, while Doha and Baku were applicant cities that failed to make the final cut as official candidates.

Rome and Tokyo have previously hosted the Summer Games. Rome, which lost to Athens for the 2004 Olympics, was the site of the 1960 Games, while Tokyo was the 1964 host.

Madrid was also a finalist for 2012. The last Spanish city to host an Olympics was Barcelona for the 1992 Summer Games.

Doha's bid includes a request that the Games be staged during a time frame from late September to late October in an effort to avoid the searing summer heat in the Middle East.

Istanbul has failed in four previous bid attempts, the last coming for the 2012 Games.

In addition to the United States, South Africa and Dubai also considered bids before deciding against it.