体坛英语新闻：Tokyo 2020 stresses Olymp
tokyo, march 4 (xinhua) -- tokyo 2020 organizers stressed on wednesday that the olympic games will be held as scheduled despite the spread of covid-19.
yoshiro mori, president of the organizing committee, told reporters after reporting to the ioc executive board via teleconference from tokyo.
"we told the ioc the measures japan has taken against the virus. we also expressed our confidence that the games will be held as planned. everybody at the meeting is assured that the games will be opened as scheduled."
mori, a former prime minister, said that japan's olympic minister seiko hashimoto has called him after telling a lawmaker that the games could be put off to the end of this year under the host contract.
"she called me yesterday and that's her own opinion," he said.
"in the past six years, we have heard many different ideas. but our responsibility is to deliver the games on time. we will do our utmost to achieve this goal."
being asked when japan could decide to either delay or cancel the games should the coronavirus not be efficiently controlled, mori said, "i am not the god, so i don't know that."
体坛英语新闻：Tokyo 2020 vice president
tokyo, june 5 (xinhua) -- a top official from the tokyo olympic games' organizing committee said here on friday that he is unsure whether the postponed 2020 olympic games can be held next summer.
toshiaki endo, one of the vice presidents of tokyo 2020, was quoted by kyodo news agency as saying "selecting athletes by around next march will be a major challenge. the organizing committee will need to make some kind of a decision considering the situation at that time."
70-year-old endo, also a former olympic minister, added at a meeting of his liberal democratic party, "there are still many estimates, and it is unclear what the new coronavirus situation will be next summer. it is still too early to discuss whether to hold (the games) or not."
edo was appointed in 2015 to oversee the olympics preparations on behalf of the japanese government.
his comments were the first in public by an executive member of the organizing committee about when a decision regarding the fate of the games might be made, kyodo said.
john coates, chairman of the international olympic committee coordination commission, told the australian newspaper two weeks ago that october will be a critical period for assessing if the olympics can take place.
tokyo 2020 ceo toshiro muto told reporters that coates had denied such reports, but he admitted that many things will not become clear until autumn.
the tokyo olympics have been rescheduled from july 23 to august 8 next year and the paralympic games will be held between august 24 and september 5.
体坛英语新闻：Tokyo 2020 remains hopefu
tokyo, march 13 (xinhua) -- organizers of the tokyo 2020 olympic games said on friday that the preparation for the july 24 games will continue under mounting pressure due to the worsening global spread of covid-19.
japan's national broadcaster nhk reported that the tokyo 2020 committee issued the comment after us president donald trump had suggested delaying the games for a year.
"the committee, the ioc and the ipc hope to continue their preparations for holding safe games from july as scheduled in cooperation with the japanese government, the tokyo metropolitan government and others," nhk reported.
the committee said it will do so while "closely watching the situation and taking advice from the world health organization (who)".
trump on thursday told reporters at the white house that postponing the games for a year would be better than seeing "empty stadiums all over the place."
"i think, if you cancel it, make it a year later, that's a better alternative than doing it with no crowd," he said.
trump talked to japanese prime minister shinzo abe by telephone early on friday morning, japan time, the nhk said, but did not reveal whether they touched upon the olympic games.
japan's chief cabinet secretary and government spokesman yoshihide suga reiterated on thursday that the games will be held as scheduled after the who declared covid-19 a pandemic.
the ioc chief thomas bach also stressed in olympia, greece at the flame-lighting ceremony that the games will go ahead as planned.
体坛英语新闻：Tokyo 2020 chief says new
tokyo, march 28 (xinhua) -- tokyo 2020 chief yoshiro mori said on saturday that the new dates for the postponed olympic games could be decided by the end of next week.
the olympic games, which will be held in the summer of 2021 at the latest, is most likely to be held between june and september, mori said during a program broadcast by nippon television.
"i want to offer some conclusions by the end of next week, after we've mulled it over," mori said.
"the games are meant to be in summer, so we should be thinking of a time between june and september," kyodo news agency said.
体坛英语新闻：Tokyo 2020 to set up task
tokyo, march 25 (xinhua) -- organizers of the tokyo olympic games (tokyo 2020) will set up task force to resolve the issues arising after the postponement of the olympic and paralympic games.
tokyo 2020 said that the planning task force, which will be officially called tbd, will hold its first meeting on thursday at its headquarters, with president yoshiro mori and ceo toshiro muto participating.
japanese broadcaster nhk said that the most urgent issues to be resolved are deciding the tournament schedule and securing venue facilities.
nhk quoted muto as saying: "we would like to make the decision as soon as possible."
体坛英语新闻：Tokyo Olympics confirmed
tokyo, march 30 (xinhua) -- the tokyo olympic games has been rescheduled to july 23 to august 8, 2021, organizers of the tokyo 2020 olympic and paralympic games announced on monday.
the paralympic games will be held from august 24 to september 5 next year.
tokyo 2020 president yoshiro mori told a news conference that the decision is important for relaunching the games.
"it is essential to prepare for the games," he said. "it will accelerate our progress."
he said that they had also talked about the possibility to host the games in the spring but finally decided to choose summer.
"we thought it will take time to hold qualifications and for the athletes to prepare for them," mori said.
the ioc also announced the date in a statement on its official website, saying it is a decision jointly made by the ioc, the ipc, the tokyo organizing committee and the tokyo metropolitan government and the government of japan after talks via telephone conference earlier on monday.
the conference was attended by ioc president thomas bach, tokyo 2020 president mori yoshiro, tokyo governor koike yuriko and olympic and paralympic minister hashimoto seiko.
bach expressed his confidence that the ioc can "master this unprecedented challenge."
"humankind currently finds itself in a dark tunnel. these olympic games tokyo 2020 can be a light at the end of this tunnel," he said.
before the executive board meeting monday afternoon, tokyo 2020 chief yoshiro mori told reporters that the new dates will be in summer and he expects bach will talk to him later in the week.
the 82-year-old mori said, "i proposed that the games should be hosted between july and august 2021, and i really appreciate that president bach, having discussed this proposal with the various international sports federations and other related organisations, kindly accepted my proposal."
体坛英语新闻：Rudisha to exploit Tokyo
nairobi, march 27 (xinhua) -- world 800m record holder david rudisha has said that he will exploit the postponement of the 2020 olympic games as he pushes to return to fitness.
the tokyo game, slated from july 24 to august 9, was postponed by the international olympic committee (ioc) to summer 2021 due to the spread of coronavirus.
rudisha, who has not raced since 2017, owing to several injuries, has just returned to training and was working against the clock to be fit to defend his olympic 800m title.
the 30-year-old has gained legendary status after winning the olympic title twice and stringing together over 12 wins unchallenged in the two-lap race, which culminated with him breaking the world record a record three times to the current mark of 1:40.90.
however, with injuries and lack of competition, kenya would not offer rudisha a straight wild card to the games, and a horde of young pretenders to the throne have emerged including ferguson rotich, commonwealth games champion wycliffe kimanyal, daniel saruni and african 800m silver medalist emmanuel korir.
the 30-year-old rudisha said earlier that he is not ready yet as he is focused on losing a few kilograms after he gained weight for lack of competition.
"it is no secret his only route to tokyo is through the trials where he had to finish in the top three, which looked unlikely because the trials were very close. he is not in his best shape or close to his standards. pushing the olympics back will benefit him," said coach brother colm o'connell.
with the olympics being pushed to 2021, rudisha may be the man to watch as he will have enough time to shake off the cobwebs and return to fitness.
"rudisha injuries have exposed his underbellies. he is not the icon that would be considered for a wildcard in major competitions anymore. but don't rule him out," o'connell added.
manager michel boeting said if there is one thing that still motivates the world record holder to focus on training is the olympics, saying "if you want to see his eyes light up, mention olympics."
体坛英语新闻：Kenyan Chumba eyes Tokyo
nairobi, feb. 24 (xinhua) -- kenya runner dickson chumba hopes to be third time lucky on return to the tokyo marathon course for the seventh time on sunday.
"i always train with a focus to win. i have run every tokyo marathon since 2014 and finished among the top three podium positions. i feel it will be my turn again this time round," chumba said here on monday as he prepared to depart for tokyo.
in all the six past shows in the japanese capital, chumba has never finished below the third position. only twice did he go on to win the race in his debut in 2014 and four years later in 2018.
the organizers have restricted entry to this year's race to only elite runners owing to the risk of the coronavirus. but even that has not dampened chumba's spirit.
"i believe that was done so that they may have a limited number of athletes, whom they can control. there will be no health risks because they have covered all the avenues and put in place the right medical interventions. i am ready for the tokyo marathon," said chumba.
last year, chumba lost his title to ethiopian birhanu legese finishing third in 2:08:44 behind compatriot bedan karoki. he went on to claim the seventh spot at the chicago marathon in 2:09:11.
"my training has been hard and progressive and i am now ready for the challenge of the tokyo marathon course," chumba said.
his winning mark in 2018 of 2:05:30 is the best he has had of late, though it is almost a minute late compared to his personal best of 2:04:32 from chicago back in 2014.
kenya's wilson kipsang holds the course record with 2:03:57, being the fastest time on the asia soil.
chumba will be challenged by two other athletes led by defending champion birhanu legese (2:02:48) and karoki.
体坛英语新闻：Kipyegon eyes Tokyo gold
nairobi, jan. 2 (xinhua) -- olympic 1,500m champion faith kipyegon will be on the warpath as she prepares to defend her title at this year's games in tokyo, japan in august.
kipyegon, who lost out to the netherlands' sifan hassan at the 2019 world championships in doha, says she was happy with her performance having returned six months earlier from maternity leave.
now with a proper pre-season preparation for 2020, kipyegon has thrown down the gauntlet ahead of the duo's clash at the tokyo games.
"last year hassan was riding high in top form. she had planned her races well and she did well. she even ran a fast time to claim the world record over the mile distance," kipyegon said on thursday.
"i expect this year to be different from 2019 because i had a very short time to prepare for the world championships from a maternity break. but with a good build-up for the tokyo olympics, i know i will be stronger," the kenyan added.
in her best form prior to her maternity leave, the 25-year-old only suffered three defeats in 14 finals between 2016 and 2017. the diminutive kenyan was unquestionably the world's leading woman over 1,500m during those two seasons, a tag she is keen to reclaim in 2020.
"i have the focus and it is an olympic year. it is my main goal to retain my title in tokyo. i have already resumed my build-up exercises to make sure that i make the team because everyone is also eyeing tickets to tokyo," said kipyegon.
to make sure she hits her targets, kipyegon has switched camp from nakuru to eldoret, where she has signed up with global sports communication, the same firm that manages world marathon record holder eliud kipchoge.
kipyegon has also opted to switch coaches from bram som, the 2006 european 800m champion, to join patrick sang, former olympic silver medalist in the steeplechase.
"it made sense to join patrick because i now live in eldoret," said kipyegon. "i knew patrick before i came here and bram and patrick still talk to one another about my training. to be honest, my training now is quite similar to what it was before. i really enjoy being with patrick; he is a really nice person and a caring coach."
with eyes on edging out sifan hassan, kipyego believes with good training she will achieve her goal. the pair clashed at the 2019 world championships in doha, qatar with the in-form hassan winning out as kipyegon settled for silver.
this year's olympic games will run from july 24 to august 9.
体坛英语新闻：Tokyo Olympics to be post
tokyo, march 24 (xinhua) -- japanese prime minister shinzo abe announced here on tuesday that japan and the international olympic committee (ioc) have agreed to postpone the tokyo olympic and paralympic games by one year.
abe made the announcement after a teleconference with ioc chief thomas bach, putting an end to two months speculation of the future of the games since the outbreak of coronavirus in late january.
"i proposed to mr bach that we postpone the games for a year. he 100 per cent agrees with me," abe said in a statement.
"this will make it possible for athletes to play in the best condition, and will make the event a safe and secure one for spectators," abe added.
also attending the teleconference were tokyo governor yuriko koike, japan's chief cabinet secretary yoshihide suga, tokyo 2020 organizing committee president yoshiro mori and olympics minister seiko hashimoto.
in the ioc's side, bach was joined by john coates, the chair of the ioc coordination commission, ioc director general christophe de kepper and the ioc olympic games executive director christophe dubi.
the ioc said later in a statement that the meeting was "very friendly and constructive" and the two leaders expressed their shared concern about the worldwide covid-19 pandemic.
the ioc statement reads: "the tokyo olympics must be rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021."
the two sides agreed that "the olympic flame will stay in japan. it was also agreed that the games will keep the name olympic and paralympic games tokyo 2020."
mori, also a former japanese prime minister, told a news conference later that the tokyo olympic torch relay, scheduled to begin in fukushima on march 26, will no longer begin as originally planned.
"we will not start the torch relay," he said. "in response to the postponement of the olympics, we will draw a new plan for the relay."
the postponement of the games was a "sigh of relief" for governor koike, who has stressed numerous times that the games would be held as planned.
"now, tokyo's primary goal is to overcome the coronavirus," she said.
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