TOKYO – The Worldwide Olympic Committee (IOC) is working with sports activities our bodies to rearrange a July-August window for the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021 and hopes to substantiate the schedule inside a month, Japan’s Yomiuri newspaper reported on Thursday.
John Coates, the IOC’s Coordination Fee chief for Tokyo, informed the Yomiuri the Video games must be held between the tennis Grand Slams of Wimbledon, slated to finish in mid-July, and the U.S. Open, which begins in late August. “We want to more or less finalise the dates in four weeks’ time,” the paper quoted Coates as saying.
Coates, who can be president of the Australian Olympic Committee (AOC), mentioned the summer season scheduling can be depending on avoiding clashes with the world championships for swimming (July 16-Aug. 1) and athletics (Aug. 6-15). World Athletics boss Sebastian Coe has mentioned the world athletics championships in Eugene, Oregon could possibly be moved again to 2022 if essential.
Coates informed the newspaper the hope was to comply with the identical preparations subsequent yr that had been deliberate for 2020, together with holding the marathon within the northern metropolis of Sapporo as an alternative of Tokyo to flee the warmth. The AOC confirmed the Yomiuri report’s veracity and likewise informed Reuters in an announcement that Coates had “proffered a view but confirms a range of options are on the table for the IOC”.
The IOC and Japanese authorities succumbed to intense strain from athletes and sporting our bodies world wide on Tuesday, agreeing to push again the Video games by as a lot as a yr due to the coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, the Tokyo 2020 organising committee launched a taskforce to resolve points linked to the postponement, corresponding to reviewing dates for the Video games and securing venues.
No specifics have been mentioned but on the timing of the delayed Video games, however a date must be determined as quickly as doable, Hidemasa Nakamura, a senior official at Tokyo 2020, informed reporters after the taskforce’s first assembly. IOC President Thomas Bach mentioned on Wednesday “all options” had been on the desk for rescheduling, together with holding the Video games earlier than the Japanese summer season.
