For Yuki Ota, who won Olympic silver for fencing in Beijing in 2008 and again in London in 2012, Tokyo's winning bid for the 2020 Summer Games and Paralympics was like receiving his first gold medal.

"I wanted to win (the vote) no matter what. I've never won the final match in the Olympics. . . . I really wanted to get the gold medal," Ota said in a recent interview with The Japan Times. "Because I could finally get the gold medal in such a great way, I am grateful to all the people who supported this bid."

Ota was one of the seven Japanese representatives who delivered Tokyo's final presentation Sept. 7 to the International Olympic Committee.