Istanbul bid for the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic Stadium. Turkey has yet to host an Olympic Games. Istanbul has made four previous bids for the Summer Games. The city was a candidate for the 2000 Games which were awarded to Sydney. It bid again for 2004, which were held in Athens, but failed to become a candidate city. It became a candidate for 2008 but lost to Beijing. The Turkish city's most recent bid was for the 2012 Games but it failed to become a candidate. London was awarded the 2012 Games. Istanbul lost to Tokyo for 2020. Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Games. Istanbul hosted the
Summer Olympic Games Eastern Bloc that did attend the 1984 Olympics. These games were perhaps the first games of a new era to make a profit. Although a boycott led by the Soviet Union depleted the field in certain sports, 140 National Olympic Committees took part, which was a record at the time. Again, without the participation of the Eastern European countries, the 1984 Games were dominated by their host country. The Games were also the first time mainland China (People's Republic) participated. According to British journalist Andrew Jennings, a KGB colonel stated that the agency's officers had posed as anti-doping authorities from