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Olympic Stars Enhance Tokyo 2016 Games Plan After Venue Inspection In Heart Of The City


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Olympic Stars Enhance TOKYO 2016 Games Plan After Venue Inspection in Heart of the City

Elite athletes ensure TOKYO 2016 will unite world’s top competitors with greatest sporting facilities

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Tokyo, 11 July 2008 - TOKYO 2016's Candidature File preparation intensified today, after its star-studded Athletes’ Commission visited a series of proposed venues for the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with the stated aim of "uniting the world's leading athletes with the greatest sporting facilities in 2016".

Nine Olympians and Paralympians toured the heart of Tokyo on Thursday to ensure the needs of elite athletes are placed at the very centre of TOKYO 2016's exceptionally compact Games plan.

The sports experts spent the day in TOKYO 2016’s two overlapping Olympic venue zones - the Heritage and Tokyo Bay Zones. They also visited the Sea Forest Precinct - an area of environmental regeneration in Tokyo Bay that will be home to 88 hectares of new greenery by 2016. Here the athletes inspected the planned venues for the equestrian, mountain biking and aquatic events.

Feedback from the Athletes' Commission will be used by TOKYO 2016 to develop the best possible Candidature File and deliver world-class facilities totally attuned to the needs of the Olympic Family and spectators.

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The Chair of the TOKYO 2016 Athletes' Commission is Ms Mikako Kotani, medallist in synchronized swimming at the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. She said:

“Having the opportunity to compete in the Olympic and Paralympic Games at the very heart of one of the world's greatest cities will be a dream come true for athletes. As elite sportspeople, each member of the TOKYO 2016 Athletes’ Commission is committed to ensuring athletes' every need is catered for. Our work will enable the finest athletes on the planet to give their best ever performances in Tokyo in eight years time."

Mayumi Narita, Vice Chair of the TOKYO 2016 Athletes' Commission and three-time Paralympic swimming champion, said:

"We are proud to be part of Japan's unique 2016 Games Bid and we will work hard to ensure TOKYO 2016 delivers the best Games plans for the benefit of the Olympic Family. This will include helping TOKYO 2016 to be the most accessible ever Games for athletes and sports fans with disabilities, setting a benchmark for the future. We are passionate about bringing an inspirational Olympic and Paralympic Games to Tokyo in 2016 and want to be part of the incredible legacy future generations are sure to enjoy.”

Dr Ichiro Kono, Chairman and CEO of TOKYO 2016, said:

“The insights of some of Japan’s most famous Olympians will prove invaluable to TOKYO 2016 as we seek to host the Games most attuned to the needs of the world's finest athletes. The Athletes' Commission is already giving us great feedback on our proposal to hold the most compact urban Games in history with 95% of the venues sitting within an eight km area. They also like the idea that in 2016 the city will be transformed into an Olympic Park, and the Games will be brought into the heart of city life. If we can take best advice from the stars of today and the past, then we can make sure TOKYO 2016 is able to mould the successes of the future.”

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