TOKYO REBOOT
IOC chief calls for sacrifices to reorganise Games
Lausanne, March 25: International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach said Wednesday that the postponed Tokyo Games would require “sacrifices and compromises” from all sides to make them work.
“These postponed Olympic Games will need sacrifices, will need compromises from all stakeholders,” Bach told reporters in a conference call the day after the IOC decided to delay the 2020 Games because of the coronavirus pandemic.
The IOC’s role, Bach said, was “to make the Olympic dreams of athletes come true”.
He admitted that cancelling the Tokyo Games was “discussed and considered” but said: “It was very clear from the beginning that cancellation was not something the IOC would in any way favour.”
It is the first Olympic Games in peacetime to be postponed.
TOKYO TO REORGANISE GAMES
Japan set about the unprecedented task of reorganising the Tokyo
2020 Olympics Wednesday after making the tough decision to postpone the Games by a year as the coronavirus pandemic locks down one third of the planet.
The dramatic step to shift the Olympics, never before seen in peacetime, upends every aspect of the organisation — including venues, security, ticketing and accommodation.
In a move symbolic of the difficulties now facing Tokyo, Olympic countdown clocks in the city switched from displaying the number of days to go, instead simply showing today’s date and the time.
It is not even clear exactly when the rescheduled Games will take place, with the International Olympic Committee saying the new date would be “beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021”.
Japan has framed Tokyo
2020 as the “Recovery Games” — a chance to show the world it has bounced back from the “triple disaster” in 2011 when a massive earthquake sparked a tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear meltdown. —
These postponed Olympic Games will need sacrifices, will need compromises from all stakeholders. It was very clear from the beginning that cancellation was not something the IOC would in any way favour.
— THOMAS BACH president of International Olympic Committee