Tokyo 2020 News - General

[Quaker2001]

Re-confirming what had long been rumored..

 

IT’S HERE! THE AQUATICS SCHEDULE FOR THE 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES IN TOKYO

Finals sessions will be 10:30am-12:30pm local time (that translates to 9:30pm on the East coast, pending Japan's decision on Daylight Savings Times).  Heats will start at 7pm local, 6am on the East coast

[FYI]

Olympics: Disaster risks make 2020 planning 'more complex' - IOC's Coates

 

TOKYO (Reuters) - Planning for the Tokyo 2020 Games has been made harder because of the high disaster risks in Japan, a reality hammered home by a deadly typhoon and earthquake just last week, International Olympic Committee (IOC) member and top Tokyo planner John Coates said on Wednesday.

Western Japan last week was hit by the strongest typhoon to strike the nation in 25 years, and then just days later by an earthquake that paralyzed the northernmost main island of Hokkaido and left roughly 40 dead. 

Japan also suffered through a summer of record-breaking heat and deadly, torrential rains in July that unleashed landslides and flooding.

Coates, who is chairman of the Coordination Commission for Tokyo 2020, admitted that the two disasters just a week before had been a bit of a reality check about the planning difficulties for what are already extremely complex Games due to the largest number of sports and events ever.

"So what happened last week and what happened in Osaka certainly have hit home to me, and I know the Organising Committee, about the further complexity of planning these games," Coates told a news conference, referring to a storm surge that submerged Kansai International Airport just off the western city of Osaka.

He said he knew organizers were taking the issue seriously and factoring it into their planning and scheduling.

"In Sydney, we had a simulation exercise one week of what could go wrong, but they were all disasters that we dreamt up: a train coming off the rails out in the Blue Mountains, someone bursting through and attacking one of the marathon runners. Those sorts of things," he added.

"But you don't have to dream anything up in this country, it's very sad to say."

Coates, who was in Tokyo for a two-day IOC project review meeting, said he was pleased with how things were shaping up, including deciding the last piece of event scheduling, that of swimming.

The finals will be held in the morning and the heats in the evenings - a schedule that had been widely expected but drew protests from the Japanese Swimming Federation (JSF) in July, which expressed disappointment that local television viewers will not be able to watch finals in a prime-time slot.

Tokyo 2020 later said in a statement that swimming events will be held for nine days from July 25, with all heats being held in the evening and finals taking place the following morning.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1LS1MI

[FYI]

Cost for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at almost $25 billion — and may go higher

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/international/ct-spt-tokyo-olympics-cost-20181009-story.html

[anthonyliberatori]

On 10/12/2018 at 11:38 PM, FYI said:

Cost for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics at almost $25 billion — and may go higher

http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/international/ct-spt-tokyo-olympics-cost-20181009-story.html

Certainly not what anyone wants to be hearing right about now. The BidWeek article may have gotten it correct: The IOC must change everything. 

[Hightowerio86]

10 hours ago, anthonyliberatori said:

Certainly not what anyone wants to be hearing right about now. The BidWeek article may have gotten it correct: The IOC must change everything. 

not must change The IOC has to change in order to survive

[anthonyliberatori]

5 hours ago, Hightowerio86 said:

not must change The IOC has to change in order to survive

Did you just try to correct/one-up my statement by reiterating it? 

[FYI]

Takeda resigns from IOC and as JOC President amid bribery allegations

https://www.insidethegames.biz/index.php/articles/1076967/takeda-resigns-as-joc-president-amid-bribery-allegations

 

[zigzag]

So Tokyo 2020 will mark the return of Mario and Sonic Olympic game after missing Pyeongchang.. Other than that we'll witness the first full fledged Olympic video game since London! 

 

 

[phandrosis]

It looks like the look of the games is what they have up on their website now in terms of shapes and colors.

[Shiruba98]

10 hours ago, phandrosis said:

It looks like the look of the games is what they have up on their website now in terms of shapes and colors.

And the font they're using seems to be the official typeface of the Games too.
Looks like a custom font based on DIN.

[Ikarus360]

Since these games pretty much use the look that always end up being in the actual games, I can see the Look is quite simple and pretty much integrates the logo itself.
It somewhat reminds me of Atlanta 96 quilt but using blue and pink nstead of olive green.

Also nice detail using Yoshinobu Miyake (1964 gold medalist in weightlifting) for the ad. I wonder if he will end up being one of the final torchbearers.

[Ikarus360]

The name of the new Japanese era which begins on May 1st (after Akihito abdication) was just announced: Reiwa.

Miraitowa & Someity were also at the unveiling

 

[Quaker2001]

TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES DETAILED EVENTS SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED

Quote

GET YOUR DIARIES OUT – IT’S STARTING TO FEEL VERY REAL: TOKYO 2020 TODAY ANNOUNCED THE ORDER OF EVENTS FOR EACH SPORTING SESSION AT NEXT SUMMER’S OLYMPIC GAMES. FEATURING A RECORD 33 SPORTS AND 339 EVENTS, THERE WILL BE MORE OPPORTUNITIES THAN EVER TO GO TO THE GAMES AND WATCH WORLD-CLASS ATHLETES IN ACTION. 

 

[Sir Rols]

Olympic athletes dealt a blow as curious Tokyo bed situation revealed

Champion Aussie basketballer Andrew Bogut has raised alarm bells for athletes around the world after pointing out a problem with the beds that will be installed in the Athletes' Village for the Tokyo Olympics.

With environmental sustainability front and centre, the Tokyo Games unveiled the innovative beds made entirely of cardboard frames, causing a stir for a number of reasons.

Great gesture...until the athletes finish their said events and the 1000’s of condoms handed out all over the village are put to use........

— Andrew Bogut (@andrewbogut) January 9, 2020

While it's easy to get on board the noble intention of limiting waste, Bogut pointed out what no doubt many Olympic athletes were thinking when he discovered that the cardboard frames were only designed to support 200 kilos - plenty for one muscle-bound competitor but potentially a hazard when the weight of two combine.

"Great gesture...until the athletes finish their said events and the 1000's of condoms handed out all over the village are put to use," Bogut tweeted, finishing with two cheeky monkey emojis.

The Olympics have become notorious for being a hotbed of after dark activity between athletes that get a rare opportunity to mix between sports over a two week period.

Indeed, tales of athlete trysts during the Olympics have become even more common in the age of Tinder and other dating apps.

A whopping 450,000 condoms were ordered for the Athletes' Village at the 2016 Olympics in Rio, setting a new record with each of the 10,500 athletes theoretically allocated 42 contraceptives to use over a fortnight.

Speaking to foxsports.com.au before the Rio Games, former Olympic long-jumper David Culbert admitted athletes envied their teammates who got their events out of the way early in the competition.

"You were slightly envious of a diver or someone on the opening morning — they're done by lunchtime day one," Culbert said.

"Therefore you've got 16 days of Club Med on steroids (and I mean that in the nicest possible way). It's a ramped-up, hyped-up Club Med if you no longer have to compete."

Could the bed situation in Tokyo change that for the first time in decades? Bogut's concern may be genuine but only time will tell.

Wide world of sports

https://wwos.nine.com.au/news/olympic-athletes-dealt-blow-tokyo-bed-situation-revealed/6d0968c0-3de2-4783-ab7f-95890d770947

[Palette86]

Quote

tokyo 2020 ticket designs unveiled

The ticket designs for the Tokyo 2020 Games were unveiled by Japanese para-canoeist Monika Seryu on Wednesday as the second wave of ticket sales for the Paralympics began.

Organizers said the simple ticket designs, which feature the pictograms of each individual event and come in one of four colors, are inspired by the creation of fabrics for kimono, Japanese traditional formal wear.

The colors – red, blue, purple and green – represent each of Japan’s four seasons.

Tickets for the Olympics have been on sale since May 2019 and organizers said on Wednesday that 4.48 million had been sold so far.

Organizers are still unclear on how many tickets are available but in Tokyo 2020’s bid to host the Olympics, they detailed that 7.8 million would be available.

Tickets for the Paralympics are also a hot commodity for Japanese sports fans and the second wave of domestic sales for those events began on Wednesday.

American silver medalist para-archer Matt Stutzman was in Tokyo to rally even more support for the Paralympics.

“I think that the spectators are going to come and watch archery and watch basically the impossible,” said Stutzman, who won silver at London 2012.

“That is people with physical disabilities like myself, me without any arms, performing at the highest level of competition.”

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics run from July 24 – Aug. 9 with the Paralympics starting over two weeks later on Aug. 25.

Date:JAN.15, 2020

News source:Reuters

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-2020-tickets/olympics-tokyo-2020-ticket-designs-unveiled-idUSKBN1ZE0G8

[Palette86]

https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1089134/tokyo-2020-reveal-ticket-designs

[Ikarus360]

Okay design, simple yet elegant and mantains coherence with the brand. Though I kind of miss the colorful Rio 2016 tickets to be honest.

Also, noticed the opening/closing ceremonies tickets designs were not revealed. Will be interesting to take a look at them since they sometimes, though not always, give away details of what to expect for the show (London 2012 tickets were basically spoiling us the cauldron design).

Rio 2016....not as much, possibly a hint of the olympic ring forest?.

[Palette86]

Quote

Korakaki to become 1st woman to start Olympic torch relay

Greek Olympic shooting champion Anna Korakaki has been selected to start the torch relay for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, the first time in games history a woman is serving as the first torchbearer.

Greece's Olympic Committee said Thursday it picked Korakaki, who took gold in the women's 25-meter pistol event at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016, to receive the Olympic flame from an actress playing the role of a high priestess in a flame-lighting ceremony to be held on March 12 at Ancient Olympia.

After Korakaki runs the first part of the relay, she will pass the torch to Mizuki Noguchi, the winner of the women's marathon in the 2004 Athens Olympics. Noguchi will be the first Japanese person to carry the 2020 Olympic flame when she collects it in Olympia, western Greece.

Judoka Tadahiro Nomura and wrestler Saori Yoshida, who have both won three Olympic gold medals for Japan, will also carry the torch in Greece.

Following the eight-day Greek leg, the flame will be handed over to Tokyo organizing committee officials during a ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens. The last torchbearer on the Greek leg will also be a woman -- Greece's Katerina Stefanidi, who won the pole vault gold in Rio.

The Olympic flame will then be transported by a special aircraft from Greece to Japan.

The torch will arrive in Japan on March 20 and its journey around the country will begin from the northeastern Tohoku region, which was widely affected by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami which killed nearly 16,000 people.

Both local organizers and the International Olympic Committee want to use the upcoming Summer Games to aid the region's recovery, with Japanese authorities dubbing the games the "Reconstruction Olympics."

The flame will visit all 47 prefectures in Japan over its 121-day journey.

The torch relay formally ends with the final runners carrying the flame into the stadium and lighting the main cauldron at the opening ceremony, to be held at Tokyo's rebuilt National Stadium on July 24.

News source: KYODO NEWS

Date: Feb 7,2020

Link to this article:https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2020/02/35ea0cc19b74-olympics-korakaki-to-become-1st-woman-to-start-olympic-torch-relay.html

[Ikarus360]

Japan currently having ugly issues dealing with a infected cruise with thousands of people, stationed in Yokohama at this moment.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavirus-thousands-stranded-on-cruise-ship-as-death-toll-rises-to-636-11928035

Everything was going extremely smoothly for Japan until now. Too bad China's habit of eating anything which moves screwed what had been so far a perfect record (excluding the logo fiasco).

[Palette86]

Coronavirus is very threatening, but I don't think it will be going around like now in midsummer. Am I optimistic? I think Beijing 2022 coming in 2 years will be more difficult.

[Ikarus360]

^^ That will depend of Japan and if they can be organized enough to prevent a massive epidemic. So far all of the cases are on that cruiseship which has been locked/cuarintined. Let's hope that's all which happens.

[Palette86]

Quote

Tokyo 2020 won't be canceled over coronavirus crisis

The games will go on.

That’s the message from the International Olympic Committee at the start of a two-day meeting with organizers of the 2020 games in Tokyo.

“I would like to make it clear again that we are not considering a cancellation or postponement of the games. Let me make that clear,” organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori told top IOC officials in Tokyo on Thursday.

The declaration comes after Toshiro Muto, the CEO of the Tokyo Olympics committee, commented that he was “seriously worried that the spread of the infectious disease could throw cold water on the momentum toward the Games.” Muto changed his tune the next day.

Japan has at least 250 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

The summer Olympics are scheduled to begin in five months.

Multiple sporting events have been canceled in China, including the indoor track and field championships, Formula One Chinese Grand Prix and the Blue Bay LPGA tournament. Chinese athletes are being prohibited from traveling.

News source:Reuters

Date:February 14, 2020

Lint to this article:https://www.reuters.com/article/us-sports-olympics/ioc-tokyo-2020-wont-be-canceled-over-coronavirus-crisis-idUSKBN2072CB

[Ikarus360]

As if moving the marathon to Sapporo wasn't enough of a crappy decision, now this happened. Thanks for nothing, China

https://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/2020/02/tokyo-marathon-cancels-mass.html

Tokyo Marathon Cancels Mass Participation Race, To Go Ahead as Elite-Only Event (updated)

Update: The Mar. 8 Nagoya Women's Marathon, the world's largest women-only marathon, is now also looking at canceling its mass-participation division.

In response to the spread of the coronavirus within Japan, the Tokyo Marathon Foundation has decided to cancel the Mar. 1 Tokyo Marathon's 38,000-runner mass-participation race. Founded in 2007, the Tokyo Marathon is Japan's largest mass-participation marathon, with more than a million spectators along its course every year. A men's Olympic marathon team selection race, this year's Tokyo Marathon will be an unusual spectacle with only 200 elite runners including national record holder Suguru Osako (Nike) and previous record holder Yuta Shitara (Honda).

The Tokyo Marathon Foundation is also looking at significantly cutting back the activities of the 11,000 volunteers involved in the event's operations. On Feb. 1 the Foundation already asked roughly 1,800 participants living in China to refrain from taking part in this year's race and had announced plans to take measures such as distributing masks to participants on the day of the race. However, with the number of people infected with the virus in Tokyo continuing to increase, additional plans to mitigate risk were discussed. As a result of these discussions, the Foundation made the decision to cancel the entire mass-participation race, saying, "Preventing the spread of infection is our top priority."

The Foundation is looking at possible reimbursement of participants' entry fees and other issues. But with the decision coming less than two weeks before the race, tens of thousands of amateur runners who have already paid for transportation and accommodations are left with nothing more than questions and confusion.

Translator's note: For some context, this decision was made against a backdrop of other major public events including the Emperor's birthday celebrations also being canceled. Efforts to mitigate the spread of the virus now may impact whether Tokyo is in a position to host the Olympic Games in five months and should be interpreted at least partially in that context. At the same time, however, yesterday there were at least seven major road races with 10,000+ participants across Japan.

Details have yet to be made clear on which divisions exactly are being canceled, but given the estimate of a 200-runner race it seems likely that anyone not among the 133 men and 43 women listed in this elite field PDF or among the wheelchair field will be out of luck, including the Run as One division.

[Ikarus360]

Oh, I just re-read and its actually just the annual Tokyo Marathon which got affected. Still though, as much as the organizing comittee keeps saying the Coronavirus wont affect the games, things like these are making me have my doubts, specially considering it appears the worst is yet to come with this virus.

[Palette86]

About 2 weeks ago,there were only 10 cases from the cruise ship but by yesterday,542 cases are reported.Now the ship is little Wu Han.
3 public servants,13 people who came back from China by charter plane,12  travellers from China mainland,45 people who got the virus
by known or unknown roots(domestic)-615 cases in total.And this morning,500 passengers left the ship.It's really crazy to hold the marathon event in Tokyo in such time.