The final price tag for last yearB次元官网网址檚 COVID-delayed Tokyo Olympics was put at $13 billion (1.4 trillion Japanese yen), the organizing committee said Tuesday in its final act before it is dissolved at the end of the month.

The cost was twice what was forecast in 2013 when Tokyo was awarded the Games. However, the final price tag presented by organizers is lower than the $15.4 billion they predicted when the Olympics ended just under 11 months ago.

B次元官网网址淲e made an estimate, and the estimate has gone down lower than we expected,B次元官网网址� Tokyo organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto said, speaking through an interpreter at a news conference. B次元官网网址淎s a total amount, whether this is huge or not B次元官网网址� when it comes to that kind of talk it is not easy to evaluate.B次元官网网址�

Accurately tracking Olympic costs B次元官网网址� who pays, who benefits, and what are and are not GamesB次元官网网址� expenses B次元官网网址� is an ever-moving maze. The one-year delay added to the difficulty, as did recent fluctuations in the exchange rate between the U.S. dollar and the Japanese yen.

When the Olympics opened on July 23, 2021, $1 bought 110 yen. On Monday, $1 bought 135 yen, the dollarB次元官网网址檚 highest level against the yen in about 25 years. Organizers chose to use a rate of $1 to 109.89 yen to figure the dollar price, which organizers said was the average exchange rate for 2021.

Victor Matheson, a sports economist at the College of the Holy Cross who has written extensively on the Olympics, suggested by email to AP that most of B次元官网网址渢he expenses and revenues are in yen, so the exchange rate changing the dollar amounts doesnB次元官网网址檛 affect how the event B次元官网网址榝eelsB次元官网网址� to the organizers.B次元官网网址�

Matheson and fellow American Robert Baade researched Olympic costs and benefits in a study called B次元官网网址淕oing for Gold: The Economics of the Olympics.B次元官网网址� They wrote that B次元官网网址渢he overwhelming conclusion is that in most cases the Olympics are a money-losing proposition for host cities; they result in positive net benefits only under very specific and unusual circumstances.B次元官网网址�

Muto said there were savings because of the absence of fans, which cut down on security costs and venue maintenance costs. He talked vaguely about B次元官网网址渟queezingB次元官网网址� costs and B次元官网网址渟implifyingB次元官网网址� operations to reach the reductions.

However, organizers lost at least $800 million in income from ticket sales because fans were banned due to COVID. Muto called B次元官网网址渂aselessB次元官网网址� reports before and after the postponement that costs might hit $25 billion.

There is one undeniable fact: Japanese government entities, primarily the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, covered about 55% of the total expenses. This amounted to about $7.1 billion in Japanese taxpayer money.

The privately funded organizing committee budget covered about $5.9 billion. The International Olympic Committee contributed $1.3 billion to this budget, with the largest contribution of $3.4 billion coming from local sponsors. Organizers also listed $500 million in income from an unspecified B次元官网网址渋nsurance payout.B次元官网网址�

A said Tokyo was the most expensive Olympics on record.

In the several years prior to the Olympics, government audits found official costs might have been much more than stated.

ItB次元官网网址檚 impossible to assess the long-term impact of the Tokyo Olympics, particularly in a sprawling city like the Japanese capital where change is constant. The pandemic erased any short-term tourism bounce. Local sponsors, who paid $3.4 billion to be linked to the Olympics, didnB次元官网网址檛 seem very happy according to local reports.

Dentsu Inc., the giant Japanese advertising and public relations company, may have benefited. It directed marketing for Tokyo 2020, received commissions for lining up sponsors, and has been linked to an IOC vote-buying scandal that was tied to Tokyo getting the Games.

in 2019, an IOC member who also headed the Japanese Olympic Committee. He denied any wrongdoing.

The Games were hit with other scandals, including the , the president of the organizing committee who made sexist remarks about women. The former Japanese prime minister stepped down five months before the Games opened.

B次元官网网址淚 was baffled, surprised B次元官网网址� it was so unexpected,B次元官网网址� Muto said when asked about MoriB次元官网网址檚 departure. B次元官网网址淚 really had a tough time dealing with the situation.B次元官网网址�

Tokyo had billed itself as a B次元官网网址渟afe pair of handsB次元官网网址� in its bid in 2013 to get the Games.

Tokyo will also be remembered as the first Games that were postponed for a year, and then held mostly without fans in a so-called bubble.

The most important legacy is surely the $1.4 billion National Stadium designed by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. Though itB次元官网网址檚 a new venue, it blends seamlessly into its central location.

B次元官网网址淭he goal should be that the costs of hosting are matched by benefits that are shared in a way to include ordinary citizens who fund the event through their tax dollars,B次元官网网址� Matheson and Baade wrote. B次元官网网址淚n the current arrangement, it is often far easier for the athletes to achieve gold than it is for the hosts.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址擲tephen Wade, The Associated Press