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Tag Olympic Games

  • Mar, Mon, 2020
Sport

Japan, IOC set July 23 next year for start of delayed Tokyo Olympics

Dates
Tokyo, March 30, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) The postponed Olympic Games will now begin on July 23 next year and run until Aug. 8, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee said on Monday.

Yoshiro Mori, the head of the Tokyo 2020 organising committee, said this was inevitable as the coronavirus pandemic has made it impossible to plan for them properly this year.

The Games were postponed last week and the delay is the first in the 124-year history of the modern Olympics.

The postponement represents a huge blow for Japan, which invested 13 billion dollars in the run-up to the event, and raised three billion dollars from domestic sponsors.

Mori confirmed the new dates after he made the decision with the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

He also said the Paralympic Games would run from Aug. 24 to Sept. 5.

Earlier on Monday, the Games’ chief executive, Toshiro Muto, had said the committee was moving “in the direction” of honouring tickets bought for the 2020 Games at the rescheduled event.

He had said the committee could also provide refunds in case of scheduling changes.

“We want to honour the hopes of all those who purchased the tickets amid high demand,” Muto told a news conference.

But it was too early to say what the additional costs of the delay would be, Muto said.

The IOC and Japanese government succumbed to intense pressure from athletes and sports bodies around the world last Tuesday by agreeing to push back the Games because of the coronavirus pandemic.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Olawale Alabi)

  • Mar, Wed, 2020
Sport

Japan says not preparing for postponement of Olympic Games

Preparation
Tokyo, March 18, 2020 (Reuters/NAN) Japan is not making any preparations to postpone the 2020 Olympics, the government’s top spokesman said on Wednesday in Tokyo.

The statement underlined Tokyo’s resolve to host the event as scheduled, in spite of the global spread of coronavirus.

Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said government would continue with preparations to hold the July 24 to Aug. 9 Games as scheduled, working closely with organisations such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“We’re not making any adjustments to postpone the Games,” Suga told parliament when asked by a lawmaker whether the government was making plans to cancel or postpone the event.

His comments come amid mounting concerns about whether the Games can proceed as planned.

The rapidly spreading virus has sent panic into the financial markets and brought business and social activity around the world to a standstill.

Many sports events have been cancelled or postponed.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday that Group of Seven leaders had agreed to support a “complete” Olympics.

But he dodged questions about whether any of the leaders had brought up the possibility of postponement.

The IOC has remained committed to staging the Tokyo Games as planned, saying on Tuesday after a meeting with international sports federations that measures against the virus were delivering results.

Tokyo 2020 organisers on Wednesday repeated that the Games were on as planned.

“Yesterday, we spoke to the IOC (executive) committee and we confirmed that we will have the Olympics and Paralympics as planned,” Toshiro Muto, chief executive of the organising committee told a briefing in Tokyo.

“That decision has been agreed upon with all international federations.”

But the IOC is facing growing voices of dissent from top athletes worried about their health.

The new coronavirus has so far killed more than 8,200 people and infected over 200,000 worldwide.

A plane sporting Tokyo 2020 livery left Japan to collect the Olympic flame from Athens without a high-level delegation onboard, reflecting the disruption the virus is causing to preparations for the Games.

Most Japanese firms trust the Tokyo Games will go ahead as planned, a Reuters poll found.

But two-thirds are already bracing for the domestic economy to contract by at least one percent if the epidemic triggers a cancellation.

The Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported that Olympics tickets might not be refundable, leading to successful applicants taking to social media with fears they might be left out of pocket.

Even if Japan can contain the coronavirus outbreak, the Summer Olympic Games “would not make sense” if other countries cannot send their athletes, Japanese Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso said on Wednesday.

“As the prime minister said, it’s desirable to hold the Olympics in an environment where everyone feels safe and happy. But that’s not something Japan alone can decide,” Aso, who is also Japan’s finance minister, told parliament.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara and Olawale Alabi)

Sport

Tokyo 2020 Olympic venues on track for completion, organisers say

Venues
Tokyo, Feb. 12, 2019 (Reuters/NAN) Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic venues remain on track to be completed in time for test events scheduled for later this year, the Games organisers said on Tuesday.

Test events for sailing and water polo have already been held, but the main bulk of testing is due to begin this summer, including at venues purpose-built for the Games.

Other than the Olympic Stadium and the Olympic and Paralympic athletes’ village, Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) is building eight new competition venues for the Games.

Many of the events are scheduled to be held at pre-existing venues in a bid to keep costs down.

During a media venue tour on Tuesday, organisers from the TMG said construction goals were being met.

“Each arena is preparing for the test events scheduled for around summer and construction is proceeding smoothly,” Tomohiro Terasawa, director for the Ariake Arena, told Reuters.

“We’re working hard to ensure everything is on time.”

The Ariake Arena, which will host volleyball and wheelchair basketball, is 51 per cent completed as at January 2019, the organisers informed.

The Tokyo Aquatics Centre, which will host swimming and diving, is also over half completed.

The Sea Forest Waterway, due to hold a rowing test event as early as August, is almost 80 percent finished.

There have been fears over the venue for tennis at the Tokyo 2020 Games, after the contractor hired to renovate parts of the Ariake Tennis Park went bankrupt in October.

However, the TMG has found a new contractor to work on re-building 17 outdoor courts that should be ready in time for the Olympics.

“For tennis, one part of the construction was delayed,” said Terasawa. “One company’s business was doing badly and it went under. The site reviewed its order and currently a new company is doing the construction.”

The All -Japan Tennis Championships, to be held in October, will serve as the test event for tennis.

Organisers are confident that renovations to the show court at Ariake, which usually hosts the annual Japan Open, will be ready by that time.

This will be with minor delays only impacting the outdoor courts.(Reuters/NAN)
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(Edited by Emmanuel Okara and Olawale Alabi)