Tokyo chief: No plans to cancel Games
TOKYO: The head of the Tokyo Olympic organising body yesterday dismissed the possibility of cancelling the postponed Games, despite a recent sharp rebound in coronavirus infections in the capital and elsewhere in Japan.
The denial from Seiko Hashimoto came a day after a powerful figure in Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party suggested that cancelling the Olympics could be an option if the surge in infections continues, fuelling speculation the government has altered its long-held stance on the upcoming global sporting event which is scheduled to start on July 23.
“I’m not thinking about cancellation. By taking measures to ensure safety and security, we are focusing on hosting the Games,” Hashimoto said at a press conference, when asked about the comments by LDP secretary-general Toshihiro Nikai.
Nikai, the No.2 ranking member of the ruling party led by Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, said on Thursday: “If it’s impossible, then it should be called off. What is the point of the Olympics if it’s responsible for spreading infections? We will have to make a decision at that point.”
Hashimoto, a seven-time Olympian, said listening to Nikai’s remarks had a “sobering effect” on her.
“With thorough safety measures, we will continue to make efforts towards staging the Games,” Hashimoto said.
The organising committee has already been forced to change the format of the Olympic torch relay in some areas in response to the spike in Covid-19 infections, less than a month after the nationwide event started in an attempt to boost enthusiasm for the Games.
Yesterday, the organising body said the relay will not run on public roads in the main island of Okinawa during the two-day leg in the southern prefecture from May 1, in response to a request from the local planning committee.
COLEMAN’S SUSPENSION CUT
World 100m champion Christian Coleman’s two-year ban for missing three doping tests has been reduced by six months to 18 months, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said yesterday.
The 25-year-old American will still miss the rescheduled Tokyo Olympics this year as his ban runs until Nov 14.
Coleman will, however, be eligible to defend his world indoor and outdoor titles next year.
CAS “partially upheld” the Athletics Integrity Unit’s ruling but found Coleman’s “degree of negligence to be lower”.
In the ruling in December last year, Coleman was suspended by the AIU for two years from May 14, 2020 after failing to turn up for tests three times in a 12-month-period.