Tokyo Olympics CEO continues to plan for Games in 2021

Just two months after the unprecedented Olympic postponement, organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto was asked Thursday about progress toward rescheduling next year’s Tokyo Games.

“If you ask, are we just around the first corner of the 400-meter race, I cannot answer that question,” said Muto, speaking through an interpreter during an online news conference. “But I can tell you this much. I do not feel we are late in our preparations. I do not feel we are being delayed in any way.”

But from listening to the limited details Muto provided, preparations seem to be barely out of the starting blocks.

A former deputy governor of the Bank of Japan, Muto has spoken cautiously ever since the coronavirus pandemic caused the postponement and says little about progress. He said not to expect much solid news until planning reaches the “second phase” in the fall.

This includes who pays for the delay, which is estimated in Japan at $2 billion to $6 billion; how to keep fans, staff and athletes safe from the coronavirus; and dealmaking to secure the same 43 venues and the same competition schedule.

“Right now we don’t have any details or specific items that we can talk about,“he said.“We all agree that in addition to heat countermeasures, we will have to have coronavirus measures.“

In the last week, International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach and IOC member John Coates, who oversees preparations for Tokyo, have speculated more openly on how the games might be held.