Tokyo [Japan], February 2 (ANI): Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori on Tuesday said that the Olympic games will go ahead no matter how the coronavirus pandemic situation evolves.
“We will make sure the Games will be held no matter how the COVID-19 situation will be. We go beyond the discussion of whether we hold (the Games) or not hold. We are to come up with ‘new’ Olympics,” CNN quoted Mori as saying in a news conference.
The Tokyo Olympics were postponed last year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The Games are now scheduled to be held from July 23 to August 8 while the Paralympics will take place from August 24 to September 5.
Earlier, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach had put all speculations to rest, asserting that they are “fully concentrated on and committed” to stage the Tokyo Olympics.
“We are fully concentrated on and committed to the successful and safe delivery of the Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020, starting on 23 July with the Olympic Games and 24 August with the Paralympic Games,” IOC’s official website had quoted Bach as saying.
“In the last couple of days, we had consultation calls with the International Federations and the National Olympic Committees, also getting reports from the athlete representatives. We could experience there today, again, that all of them are fully united and committed; all 206 National Olympic Committees, all the International Federations and the athletes are standing behind these Olympic Games. We see the same commitment on the Japanese side with the Japanese government, the Organising Committee and the Japanese Olympic Committee,” he had added. (ANI)