Bach says Tokyo best-ever prepared city as athletes’ village opens
Olympics chief Thomas Bach praised Tokyo yesterday as the “bestever prepared” host city, as athletes began entering the Olympic Village 10 days before the opening ceremony.
The final countdown to the Games comes with Tokyo under a coronavirus state of emergency and spectators banned from attending all Olympic events in the city and surrounding regions.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Bach, who arrived in Japan last week and spent three days in quarantine, told Tokyo 2020 chief Seiko Hashimoto that organisers were “doing a fantastic job”.
“You have managed to make Tokyo the best-ever prepared city for an Olympic Games,” he said.
“This is even more remarkable under the difficult circumstances we all have to face.
“We are sitting in one boat, and we are rowing together with full force in the same direction. Our common target is a safe and secure games for everybody.”
However, Bach misspoke when making a reference to Japanese people saying “most importantly also for the Chinese people,” before quickly correcting his mistake, but the slip-up quickly circulated on social media.
Meanwhile, Bach said in an online interview with Kyodo News that cancelling the Tokyo Olympics was not an option, despite the coronavirus pandemic, and going ahead with the Games this summer was decided in the interest of athletes preparing for the event for many years.
“We, the IOC, will never abandon the athletes, and with the cancellation, we would have lost a whole generation of athletes. So therefore, a cancellation for us was not really an option,” Bach said.
Bach also said he has supported the decision last week to bar spectators from almost all Olympic venues with a “heavy heart” as “the foremost principle is the safety and security for everybody.”
While Tokyo has been under a coronavirus state of emergency due to surging infections, the IOC president said he will “not speculate” on what could happen if the Covid-19 situation drastically worsens during the Olympics, which runs from July 23-Aug. 8.
The opening ceremony at the National Stadium will be “very emotional,” the 67-year-old said, because it will be the first time since the pandemic that “you will see the whole world in one place.”
He said the Japanese people do not have to be afraid of the safety of the Games, given that athletes and Olympic officials from overseas will be separated from the public.
In another development, the first athletes began entering the Olympic Village, which opened yesterday without any of the welcome ceremonies or media opportunities often seen at the Games.
Organisers declined to even specify which teams were entering or how many athletes were now in the village.
Strict coronavirus rules mean athletes can only enter the village five days before their events and must leave within 48 hours of winning or being eliminated.
Polls have regularly found most Japanese would prefer the Olympics to be postponed further or cancelled outright, though opposition has softened in recent weeks.