To state that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic organising committee has faced challenges is quite an understatement. After he resigned amidst public outrage over sexist comments, one-year postponement and a global pandemic aside, Tokyo 2020 had to remove its president. They also passed the resignation of the opening ceremony director over inappropriate remarks at a female actor.
Although, for the committee’s part, they appear to have navigated those hurdles. They hired a female president in Seiko Hashimoto. They added twelve new woman directors to the board of directors, meaning women now make up 42% of a committee initially dominated by men.
As one might anticipate from the world’s third-largest economy, stadiums and venues are ready. Although, some of the traditional preliminary test events have been affected by Covid-19 concerns.
April’s Diving World Cup was initially cancelled before being renegotiated for mid-May. Among other events scheduled for May, the swim Marathon Olympic qualifier has been shifted to Portugal, and the gymnastics test event has been postponed because of restrictions for foreign travellers.
As for plans for how the Games might look, the (IOC) International Olympic Committee has issued the first draft of its ‘playbook’ describing the many rules that must be followed to assure a “successful and safe” event this summer.
Among the rules include requesting that audiences refrain from cheering or singing and instead only clap for contestants. Physical contact between players, for example, shaking and hugging, will also be prohibited.
Countries have been requested to minimise their delegation headcount, and they will have to follow strict guidelines on social distancing, hygiene and testing. Travel within Japan for all contestants will be restricted and bound to use official transport, and only between their training and accommodation and competition venues.
Visits to shops, restaurants and tourist sites are forbidden.
