Tokyo flame passed to Fukushima for safekeeping

FUKUSHIMA: Tokyo 2020 organisers left the Olympic flame in the hands of Fukushima Prefecture yesterday where it will be on display in a lantern for the next month after the Games were postponed for a year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The handover took place at a subdued ceremony at the J-Village National Training Centre in Fukushima, which was originally set to be the starting point of the torch relay.

Only Tokyo 2020 COO Yukihiko Nunomura made the trip north from the organising committee.

“This is a [symbol of] hope for the world to celebrate the best of human beings through Tokyo 2020 after we overcome the serious coronavirus,” said Nunomura to start the ceremony.

He then handed the Olympic flame to Makoto Noji from the Fukushima government.

“I strongly believe that the Olympic flame departure from the J-Village next year will be a strong message that we can overcome whatever difficulty,” said Noji.

“[It is a] symbol of hope — after we overcome this coronavirus disease we are now facing, with the people, not only from Japan, but from all over the world.”

The flame will stay on display in the J-Village until April 30 before being moved to Tokyo. ‘SPECIAL SITUATION’

Beijing 2022 organisers said they face “a special situation” after the postponement of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics means less than six months between the Summer and Winter Games.

The Tokyo Olympics are now scheduled to run from July 23 to Aug 8, 2021 after they were put back a year because of the coronavirus pandemic.

However, with the Beijing Winter Games beginning on Feb 4, 2022 there is the unusual challenge of almost backto-back Olympics.

“The new dates of the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games mean we are faced with a special situation where the Summer Games and Winter Games are to be held in half-a-year,” a Beijing 2022 official told Xinhua news agency.

“We will have a detailed assessment of how the new dates of Tokyo 2020 will affect the Beijing 2022 Games.”