Vice President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) John Coates said the plan to organize the Tokyo Olympics, which had been postponed, would continue next year despite the coronavirus pandemic.
History records that the 1940 Tokyo Olympics was canceled due to world war.
But International Olympic Committee (IOC) Vice President John Coates is adamant that the quadrennial sporting event will start on the date they previously revised.
The 2020 Olympics were postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, a decision has been made to ensure the Tokyo Olympics will take place on July 23, 2021.
Speculation is growing about whether the Olympics is worth holding or not, given the large part of Japan’s borders still closed for foreign visits and the availability of vaccines that are months or years away.
Japanese officials have made it clear that they will not postpone the Olympics for a second time after 2021.
A recent poll found only one in four people in Japan want the Olympics to be held next year. The rest, for the most part, supported delays or cancellations.
Coates said the Japanese government “did not let go of its baton at all” following the delay. Despite the “monumental task” they had done by postponing the 2020 Olympics a year later.
“Before the pandemic, (IOC President) Thomas Bach said this was a match with the best preparation we’ve ever seen, almost all areas are finished, now it’s finished, the area is amazing, all the transportation arrangements, everything is fine,” he added.
With most of the work underway, or getting done, task forces have been set up to look at different scenarios in 2021, from how border controls will affect athletes and team movements, to whether fans can watch matches live.
The group, made up of Japanese officials and the IOC, met for the first time last week.
