Japanese students to miss out on Greek leg of relay
NAGOYA: The city of Inazawa in Aichi Prefecture said yesterday it has cancelled its plan to send junior high school students to take part in the Greek leg of the Tokyo 2020 Games torch relay on March 12 due to concerns over the new coronavirus.
Eighteen students had been expected to travel to Greece as part of a cultural exchange with Olympia, a sister city of Inazawa since 1987. Students from Olympia had also been planning to take part in the Japanese leg of the relay on April 6.
According to Inazawa, Olympia sent word on Wednesday evening that cases of coronavirus infection had been confirmed in the vicinity of the Greek city, which has resulted in the closure of nearby schools, historic sites, museums and other institutions. The cities decided to cancel the exchange to prevent the spread of infection.
As concerns over the virus continue to mount, the Tokyo Games organising committee decided to reduce the size of the Japanese delegation participating in the March 12 torch-lighting ceremony in Olympia.
Greece’s Olympic Committee announced on Tuesday it will hold a scaled-down version of the flame-lighting celebration and handover ceremony on March 19.
Tokyo organisers are also considering downsizing the Japanese leg of the torch relay, set to begin on March 26 from the J-Village football training centre in Fukushima Prefecture, with procedures to vary depending on the status of infection in each location.
Inazawa sent students to participate in the relays of the Nagano Winter Olympics in 1998 and the last four Summer Games. The city was planning to send double the amount of students it sent for the torch relay at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro.