Tokyo 2020 President Seiko Hashimoto has confirmed that the Olympics will hold.
Gatekeepers News reports that Tokyo 2020 President, Seiko Hashimoto has given 100% assurance that the Olympics Games will go on irrespective of the COVID-19 emergency state of the host country, Japan.
Hashimoto confirmed this on Wednesday, which was exactly 50 days before the scheduled opening ceremony of the Games.
Meanwhile, Japan’s capital, Tokyo’s regulations to curtail its coronavirus state of emergency will be in place until at least June 20, even as the country struggles to deal with rising cases and a slow start to its vaccination programme.
Although reports and some surveys showed that the Japanese public has low support for the Games, Hashimoto said it was up to organisers to ensure that all measures are put in place to keep residents – and teams travelling from abroad – as safe as possible.
“I believe that the possibility of these Games going on is 100% that we will do this.
“The question right now is how are we going to have an even more safe and secure Games.
“The Japanese people are feeling very insecure and at the same time probably feel some frustration at us talking about the Olympics and I think that is giving rise to more voices opposing having the Games in Tokyo.
“The biggest challenge will be how we can control and manage the flow of people. if an outbreak should happen during the game’s time that amounts to a crisis or an emergency situation then I believe we must be prepared to have these games without any spectators.
“We are trying to create as complete a bubble situation as possible so we can create a safe and secure space for people who come in from overseas as well as people who are in Japan, the residents and citizens of Japan.”
Hashimoto hinted that the situation is fluid and crowds may need to be shut out if cases escalate.
The Tokyo 2020 chief who is a former speed skater and track cyclist – admitted that it has caused her “pain” to make that decision, as athletes may miss out on a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity” for their family and friends to watch them compete at an Olympics in person.
Hashimoto said, “at this point, I am very confident we will have these Games.
“We are doing everything we can, we are being very thorough about that.
“I know we have very limited time to deal with anything that might come up but we will do everything we can to improve the situation and we will see these things through.
“If the pandemic once again accelerates across the world, and so it should happen that no country can come to Japan, then, of course, we cannot have those Games.
“But I think we have to be very careful in reviewing the current situation and deciding what to do depending on what we consider to be right.”
