The Summer Games left her with a double-digit slate, in billions of dollars, and plunged her into doubt and anxiety for a long time. But Tokyo can today boast of a highly coveted position on the map of the international sports movement. The Japanese capital dominates the world ranking of the most sporty cities for the year 2022.
Having become a must, the “ ranking » established annually by the international communications agency BCW, based in Lausanne, was published Tuesday July 19. For the first time in ten years of existence, an Asian city is in the lead.
Sixth in 2020, then ninth last year, Tokyo climbs to the highest step of the podium. It owes it to the 2020 Summer Games, organized in the midst of a health crisis, without spectators in the stands, with athletes masked until they entered the competition field.
Lars Haue-Pedersen, Managing Director of BCW Sports, underlines this in his analysis of the results: “ This year’s ranking once again highlights the positive role that hosting major sporting events can play in terms of the connection between sport and the image of a city. The world has changed following the pandemic, but the impact of the biggest sporting events on the image of a host city is still as strong – and seems to be getting even stronger"
The rest of the classification confirms the phenomenon. It even foreshadows the appearance that the podium could take in the years to come.
In second place, Paris seems to have already gotten a head start on its status as host city for the next Summer Games. Third in 2020, then fifth last year, the French capital could well settle at the top before or after the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2024.
London completes the podium, in third place. The English capital occupied second place in 2020 and 2021. It did not organize any major events last year, but its image as a sports city remains solid. A long-term legacy, no doubt, of the Summer Games in 2012.
Los Angeles is in fourth place. Like Paris, the Californian city has all the assets to eventually settle at the top of the podium, benefiting like Tokyo from hosting the Olympic Games in 2028.
New York, winner last year of the ranking of BCW of the 50 sportiest cities in the world, falls to fifth place. The rest of the top 10 is made up of four European cities – Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester and Lausanne – and one Australian, Melbourne.
Proof of the impact of major sporting events on the image of a world metropolis, the progress of Doha. A few months before the 2022 Football World Cup, the capital of Qatar suddenly climbs thirteen places, to reach 19th place.
In the last three places in the ranking for the year 2022, three cities will disappear in the next edition: Marseille in France, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, and Sochi in Russia. They will be replaced by three new arrivals – Cairo, Mexico and Las Vegas – the most cited during the survey as having to be included in the ranking.
Moscow, ranked in 40th place this year (24th in 2020), also seems doomed to disappear, with Russia being excluded until further notice from the international sports movement, and therefore from hosting major events.
The annual ranking BCW evaluates the 50 most sporting cities in the world according to a calculation involving three parameters: a quantitative analysis of the digital footprint of the association between sport and a city (50% of the result), a survey carried out among the leaders of sports federations international sports media (25%), and finally a survey of the main international sports media (25%), including the site FrancsJeux.
