Games tipped for July-August in 2021
Print Edition
The International Olympic Committee is working with sports bodies to arrange a July-August window for the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and hopes to confirm the schedule within a month, Japan鈥檚 Yomiuri newspaper reported yesterday.
John Coates, the IOC鈥檚 Coordination Commission chief for Tokyo, told the Yomiuri the Games would have to be held between the tennis Grand Slams of Wimbledon, slated to end in mid-July, and the US Open, which starts in late August.
鈥淲e want to more or less finalize the dates in four weeks鈥 time,鈥 the paper quoted Coates as saying.
Coates, who is also president of the Australian Olympic Committee, said the summer scheduling would be dependent on avoiding clashes with the world championships for swimming (July 16-August 1) and athletics (August 6-15).
World Athletics boss Sebastian Coe has said the world athletics championships in Eugene, Oregon, could be moved back to 2022 if necessary.
Coates told the newspaper the hope was to follow the same arrangements next year that had been planned for 2020, including holding the marathon in the northern city of Sapporo instead of Tokyo to escape the heat.
The AOC confirmed the Yomiuri report鈥檚 veracity and also said in a statement that Coates had 鈥減roffered a view but confirms a range of options are on the table for the IOC.鈥
The IOC and Japanese government succumbed to intense pressure from athletes and sporting bodies around the world on Tuesday, agreeing to push back the Games by as much as a year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Yesterday, the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee launched a taskforce to resolve issues linked to the postponement, such as reviewing dates for the Games and securing venues.
No specifics have been discussed yet on the timing of the delayed Games, but a date needs to be decided as soon as possible, Hidemasa Nakamura, a senior official at Tokyo 2020, told reporters after the taskforce鈥檚 first meeting,
IOC President Thomas Bach said on Wednesday 鈥渁ll options鈥 were on the table for rescheduling, including holding the Games before the Japanese summer.
But first, the Tokyo Olympic Games need new dates for the opening and closing ceremonies in 2021.
Nothing much can get done until those dates are worked out by the IOC, the Japanese government and Tokyo organizers.
鈥淲e must decide this soon, otherwise it will be hard to decide on other things to follow,鈥 Toshiro Muto, CEO of the organizing committee, told his 30 senior directors 鈥 members of the taskforce, all but one female 鈥 seated in a large meeting room yesterday.
Muto and the president of the organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori, each gave pep speeches. Mori, an 82-year-old former Japanese prime minister, drew on war memories from his youth to summon the resolve to redo in a few months what was seven years in the planning.
Muto also ran off a condensed string of issues to be resolved: ticketing, security, venues, merchandise, accommodation, the Athletes Village, transportation and lining up unpaid volunteers. He added he was looking at 鈥渢housands of contracts鈥 and the interests of broadcasters, sponsors, the IOC, world sports federations and national Olympic committees.
鈥淚 didn鈥檛 imagine at all we鈥檇 be tested to this degree,鈥 he acknowledged.
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