Tokyo Olympic marathon set; 3 loops on course in Sapporo
Olympic document hits $8.8m auction record for sports item
TOKYO, Dec 19, (AP): The marathon courses are set for the Tokyo Olympics.
The races were moved out of Tokyo over a month ago to the northern city of Sapporo to avoid the capital’s summer heat. Organizers finalized the course plans on Thursday.
Both the men’s and women’s courses will start and finish in the city’s Odori Park. The course for both a 7.3-magnitude earthquake in neighboring Tokyo Bay.
Just over 100 firefighters, police, and Japan Self-Defense Force personnel took part. Japan is hit regularly by earthquakes and takes preparedness seriously. The threat of quakes and the summer Tokyo heat are the major worries as organizers prepare to open the Olympics on July 24, 2020.
“I think we were able to achieve our primary objective, which was to make sure of smooth cooperation between the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee,” Hiroya Yarimizu, director of security for the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, told reporters.
Members of the Japan soccer team that won the Women’s World Cup in 2011 will be the first to carry the torch for the Tokyo Olympics when the relay opens its Japanese leg on March 26, 2020.
The relay is to begin in J-Village in Fukushima prefecture, located about 250 kilometers (150 miles) north of Tokyo. The area was devastated on March 11, 2011, by an earthquake, tsunami, and the subsequent meltdown of three nuclear reactors.
Organizers made the announcement on Tuesday but did not say which player – or players – would be the first to carry the torch. The torch will go to all 47 Japanese prefectures.
Former coach Norio Sasaki has also been asked to be part of the relay.