Tokyo Olympic 2020
The 2020 Summer Olympics(Hepburn: Nisen Nijū-nen Kaki Orinpikku),[b] officially the Games of the XXXII Olympiad[c] and commonly known as Tokyo 2020 (Tōkyō ni-zero-ni-zero),[1] is an upcoming international multi-sport event to be held in Tokyo, Japan. Originally scheduled to take place between 24 July and 9 August 2020, the Games have been rescheduled for 23 July to 8 August 2021 as a result of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic.[2] Despite being held in 2021, the Games of the XXXII Olympiad will keep the name Tokyo 2020 for marketing and branding purposes.[3] This marks the first time that the Olympic Games have been postponed, rather than cancelled.[4]
Tokyo was selected as the host cityduring the 125th IOC Session in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on 7 September 2013.[5] This will be the second time that Japan—and specifically Tokyo—has hosted the Summer Olympic Games, the first being in 1964, making it the first city in Asia to host the summer Games twice. Overall, these will be the fourth Olympic Games to be held in Japan, which also hosted the Winter Olympics in 1972 (Sapporo) and 1998 (Nagano). The 2020 Games will be the second of three consecutive Olympics to be held in East Asia, the first being the 2018 Winter Olympicsin Pyeongchang County, South Korea, and the next being the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, China.
These Games will see the introduction of new competitions at the Summer Olympics, including 3x3 basketball, freestyle BMX, and Madison cycling, as well as further mixed events. Under new IOC policies that allow the host organizing committee to add sports to the Olympic program to augment the permanent core Olympic events, these Games will see karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding make their Olympic debuts, as well as the return of baseball and softball for the first time since 2008.
Bidding process
Tokyo, Istanbul, and Madrid were the three candidate cities. The applicant cities of Baku (Azerbaijan) and Doha (Qatar) were not promoted to candidate status. A bid from Romewas withdrawn.
Host city selection
The IOC voted to select the host city of the 2020 Summer Olympics on 7 September 2013 at the 125th IOC Session at the Buenos Aires Hilton in Buenos Aires, Argentina. An exhaustive ballot system was used. No city won over 50% of the votes in the first round, and Madrid and Istanbul were tied for second place. A run-off vote between these two cities was held to determine which would be eliminated. In the final vote, a head-to-head contest between Tokyo and Istanbul, Tokyo was selected by 60 votes to 36, as it got at least 49 votes needed for a majority.
In January 2020, concerns were raised about the potential impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on athletes and visitors to the Olympic Games.[7]The Tokyo organizers insisted that they were monitoring the outbreak to minimise its effects on preparations for the Olympics.[8] Unlike the case of Zika virus during the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be transmitted between humans, posing tougher challenges for the organizers to counteract the infectious disease and host a safe and secure Games.[7] In a February 2020 interview with City A.M., the Conservative London mayoral candidate Shaun Baileyargued that London would be able to host the Olympic Games at the former London 2012 Olympic venues, should the Games need to be moved because of the coronavirus outbreak.[9] Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike criticized Bailey's comment as inappropriate.[10]
Qualifying event cancellation and postponement
Concerns about the pandemic began to affect qualifying events in early 2020. Some that were due to take place in February were moved to alternative locations to address concerns about travelling to the worst-affected areas, particularly China. For example, the women's basketball qualification was played in Belgrade, Serbia, instead of Foshan, China.[11] The boxing qualification tournament was originally planned to be held in Wuhan, China, the centre of the coronavirus outbreak, from 3 to 14 February, but instead took place in Amman, Jordan, at the beginning of March.[12] The third round of the women's football qualification tournament was also affected, as the group matches originally scheduled to be held in China were moved to Australia.[13] Qualifying events that were due to take place in March or April 2020 began to be postponed until later in the year, part of a wider suspension of international sporting competitions in response to the pandemic. A multitude of Olympic sports were affected, including archery, baseball, cycling, handball, judo, rowing, sailing, volleyball, and water polo.
Effect on doping tests
Mandatory doping tests were being severely restricted by the coronavirus pandemic in early 2020. European anti-doping organizations raised concerns that blood and urine tests could not be performed, and that mobilizing the staff necessary to do so before the end of the pandemic would be a health risk. Despite the need for extensive testing to take place in advance of the Games, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) stated that public health and safety was their topmost priority.[14] The Chinese anti-doping agency temporarily ceased testing on 3 February 2020, with a planned resumption of "phased" testing towards the end of the month,[15] and the anti-doping organizations in the United States, France, Great Britain and Germany had reduced their testing activities by the end of March.[14]
Postponement of Tokyo Olympics until summer 2021
On 2 March 2020, the Tokyo Organizing Committee (TOCOG) released a statement saying that preparations for the upcoming Tokyo Olympics were "continuing as planned".[16] The following day, a spokesperson for the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that the Games would proceed according to schedule.[17] On 18 March, the IOC repeated its opposition to a delay or cancellation.[18][19] On 23 March, three countries—Canada, Australia, and Great Britain—said they would withdraw from the Games if they were not postponed by a year.[20][21] On the same day, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe stated that he would support a proposed postponement, citing that ensuring athlete safety was "paramount".[22] That same day, veteran IOC member and former vice president Dick Pound told USA Todaythat he expected the Games to be postponed.[23]
On 24 March 2020, the IOC and TOCOG announced that the 2020 Summer Olympics and Paralympics would be "rescheduled to a date beyond 2020 but not later than summer 2021". They stated that the Games "could stand as a beacon of hope to the world during these troubled times and that the Olympic flame could become the light at the end of the tunnel in which the world finds itself at present."[24] Prime Minister Abe stated that IOC president Thomas Bach "responded with 100% agreement" to his proposal to delay the Games. For continuity and marketing purposes, the Games will still be branded as Tokyo 2020, despite the change in scheduling. Although several Olympics have been outright cancelled by world wars, including the 1940 Summer Olympics(which were originally awarded to Tokyo, moved to Helsinki after the onset of the Second Sino-Japanese War, and ultimately called off amid the wider onset of World War II), this marks the first Olympics to ever be postponed to a later date instead.[25][26][27]
On 30 March 2020, the IOC and TOCOG announced that they had reached an agreement on the new dates for the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics, which would now open on 23 July 2021 with the Closing Ceremony to take place on 8 August.[2][28] The subsequent Winter Olympics in Beijing are due to open on 4 February 2022, less than six months later. Shortly before the postponement was confirmed, the IOC and Tokyo 2020 organizers formed a task force named "Here We Go" with the remit to address any issues arising from postponing the Games, such as sponsorship and accommodation. The organizers have confirmed that all athletes who have already qualified for Tokyo 2020 will keep their qualification slots.[29]
According to an estimate conducted by professor emeritus Katsuhiro Miyamoto of Kansai University, and reported by the NHK, the cost of delaying the 2020 Olympics by one year will be 640.8 billion yen (US$5.8 billion), taking into account maintenance expenditures for the unused facilities. Complete cancellation would have cost Japan 4.52 trillion yen (US$41.5 billion), based on operating expenses and loss of tourism activity.[30]
Development and preparation
New National Stadium
Ariake Arena
Aquatics Centre
Yokohama Stadium – Baseball, softball
The Tokyo Metropolitan Governmenthas set aside a fund of JP¥400 billion (more than 3.67 billion USD) to cover the cost of hosting the Games. The Japanese government is considering easing airspace restrictions to allow an increased slot capacity at both Haneda and Narita airports. A new railway line is planned to link both airports through an expansion of Tokyo Station, cutting travel time from Tokyo Station to Haneda from 30 minutes to 18 minutes, and from Tokyo Station to Narita from 55 minutes to 36 minutes; funded primarily by private investors, the line would cost ¥400 billion. The East Japan Railway Company (JR East) is also planning a new route near Tamachi to Haneda Airport.[31] There are plans to fund the accelerated completion of the Central Circular Route, Tokyo Gaikan Expressway, and Ken-Ō Expressway, and the refurbishment of other major expressways in the area.[32] The Yurikamome automated transit line is also to be extended from its existing terminal at Toyosu Station to a new terminal at Kachidoki Station, passing the site of the Olympic Village, although the line is not expected to have adequate capacity to serve major events in the Odaiba area on its own.[33]
The Tokyo Organizing Committee is headed by former Japanese prime minister Yoshirō Mori.[34] Minister for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, Seiko Hashimoto, is overseeing the preparations on behalf of the Japanese government.[35]
Venues and infrastructure
In February 2012, it was revealed that Tokyo's National Stadium, the central venue for the 1964 Summer Olympics, was to undergo a ¥100 billion renovation for the 2019 Rugby World Cup and the 2020 Summer Olympics.[36] In November 2012, the Japan Sport Council announced that it was taking bids for proposed stadium designs. Of the 46 finalists, Zaha Hadid Architectswas awarded the project, which would replace the old stadium with a new 80,000-seat stadium. There was criticism of the Zaha Hadid design—which was compared to a bicycle helmet, and regarded as clashing with the surrounding Meiji Shrine—and widespread disapproval of the costs, even with attempts to revise and "optimise" the design.[37]
In June 2015, the government announced that as a further cost-saving measure, it was planning to reduce the new stadium's permanent capacity to 65,000 in its athletics configuration (although with the option to add up to 15,000 temporary seats for football).[38][39] The original plans to build a retractable roof were also scrapped.[40] As a result of the public's opposition to the increasing costs of the stadium, which reached ¥252 billion, the government ultimately chose to reject the Zaha Hadid design entirely, and selected a new design by Japanese architect Kengo Kuma. Inspired by traditional temples and with a lower profile, Kuma's design has a budget of ¥149 billion. Changes in plans prevented the new stadium from being completed in time for the 2019 Rugby World Cup as originally intended.[41]
In October 2018, the Board of Auditissued a report stating that the total cost of the venues could exceed US$25 billion.[42]
Of the 33 competition venues in Tokyo, 28 are within 8 kilometers (4.97 miles) of the Olympic Village. Eleven new venues are to be constructed.[43] On 16 October 2019, the IOC announced that there were plans to re-locate the marathon and racewalking events to Sapporo for heat concerns.[44] The plans were made official on 1 November 2019 after Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koikeaccepted the IOC's decision, despite her belief that the events should have remained in Tokyo.[45]
Heritage Zone
Seven venues for nine sports are located within the central business area of Tokyo, northwest of the Olympic Village. Some of these venues were originally constructed for the 1964 Summer Olympics.
Tokyo Bay Zone
There are 13 venues planned for 15 sports located in the vicinity of Tokyo Bay, southeast of the Olympic Village, predominantly on Ariake, Odaiba and the surrounding artificial islands.
Outlying venues
Twelve venues for 16 sports are situated farther than 8 kilometers (5 miles) from the Olympic Village.
Football venues
Non-competition venues
The Tokyo Big Sight Conference Tower will be used as the IBC/MPC complex.
Security
In December 2018, the Japanese government chose to ban drones from flying over venues being used for the Olympic and Paralympic Games. A ban was also imposed for the 2019 Rugby World Cup, which Japan also hosted.[64]
Volunteers
Applications for volunteering at the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games were accepted from 26 September 2018. By 18 January 2019, a total of 204,680 applications had been received by the Tokyo Organizing Committee.[65] Interviews to select the requisite number of volunteers began in February 2019, with training scheduled to take place in October 2019.[66] The volunteers at the venues are to be known as "Field Cast" and the volunteers in the city are to be known as "City Cast". These names were chosen from a shortlistof four from an original 150 pairs of names; the other three shortlisted names were "Shining Blue" & "Shining Blue Tokyo", "Games Anchor" & "City Anchor", and "Games Force" & "City Force". The names were chosen by the people who had applied to be volunteers at the Games.[67]
Medals
In February 2017, the Tokyo Organizing Committee announced an electronics recycling program in partnership with Japan Environmental Sanitation Center and NTT Docomo, soliciting donations of electronics (such as mobile phones) to be reclaimed as materials for the medals. Aiming to collect 8 tonnes of metals to produce the medals for the Olympic and Paralympic Games, collection boxes were deployed at public locations and NTT Docomo retail shops in April 2017.[68][69] A design competition for the medals launched in December of the same year.[70]
In May 2018, the organizing committee reported that they had obtained half the required 2,700 kilograms of bronze, but that they were struggling to obtain the required amount of silver; although bronze and silver medals purely utilize their respective materials, IOC requirements mandate that gold medals utilize silver as a base.[71] The collection of bronze was completed in November 2018, with the remainder estimated to have been completed by March 2019.[72]
On 24 July 2019, the designs of the medals were unveiled.[73][74] The medals for the Olympic and Paralympic Games were designed by Junichi Kawanishi following a nationwide competition.[75]
Torch relay
As determined by an IOC ruling in 2009 that banned international torch relays for any future Olympic Games,[78] the 2020 Summer Olympics torch is scheduled to only visit the two countries of Greece and the host nation Japan. The first phase of the relay began on 12 March 2020 with the traditional flame lighting ceremony at the Temple of Hera in Olympia, Greece. The torch then travelled to Athens, where the Greek leg of the relay culminated in a handover ceremony at the Panathenaic Stadium on 19 March, during which the torch was transferred to the Japanese contingent.[76] The flame was placed inside a special lantern and transported from Athens International Airport on a chartered flight to Higashimatsushima in Japan. The torch was then expected to begin the second phase of its journey on 20 March, as it travels for one week around the three most affected areas of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami—Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima—where it would go on display under the heading "Flame of Recovery". After leaving Naraha on 26 March, the torch would commence its main relay around Japan, incorporating all 47 prefecturalcapitals.[77] The relay is scheduled to end at Tokyo's New National Stadium, where the torch is to be used to light the Olympic cauldron at the finale of the 2020 Summer Olympics opening ceremony.[79]
After the decision to postpone the Games, the Olympic flame is to be displayed for a month in Fukushima before moving to Tokyo to exhibit the flame in a lantern until 2021.[80]
Ticketing
The opening ceremony tickets are expected to range from ¥12,000 to ¥300,000, with a maximum price of ¥130,000 for the finals of the athletics track and field events.[81]The average ticket price is ¥7,700, with half the tickets being sold for up to ¥8,000. A symbolic ticket price of ¥2,020 is expected for families, groups resident in Japan, and in conjunction with a school program.[81] Tickets will be sold through 40,000 shops in Japan and by mail order to Japanese addresses through the Internet.[82] International guests will need to visit Japan during the sales period, or arrange to buy tickets through a third party such as a travel agent.[83]
Tickets went on general sale in Japan in the autumn of 2019 and were expected to be sold globally from June 2020, but this plan was suspended when the Games were postponed on 24 March 2020. The Tokyo Organizing Committee confirmed that tickets already purchased would remain valid for the same sessions according to the new schedule, and that refunds were also being offered.[84]
The Games
Sports
The official program for the 2020 Summer Olympics was approved by the IOC executive board on 9 June 2017. The president of the IOC, Thomas Bach, stated that the goal for the Tokyo Summer Olympics was to give them a more "youthful" and "urban" appeal, and to increase the number of female participants.[85][86]
The Games will feature 339 events in 33 different sports, encompassing a total of 50 disciplines. Alongside the five new sports that are expected to be introduced in Tokyo, fifteen new events within existing sports are also planned, including 3x3 basketball, freestyle BMX and Madison cycling, as well as new mixed events in several sports.
In the list below, the number of events in each discipline is noted in parentheses.
- Aquatics
Artistic swimming (2)
Diving (8)
Swimming (37)
Water polo (2)
Archery (5)
Athletics (48)
Badminton (5)- Baseball
Basketball- Basketball (2)
- 3x3 basketball (2)
Boxing (13)
Canoeing- Slalom (4)
- Sprint (12)
Cycling- BMX freestyle (2)
- BMX racing (2)
- Mountain biking (2)
- Road cycling (4)
- Track cycling (12)
Equestrian- Dressage (2)
- Eventing (2)
- Jumping (2)
Fencing (12)
Field hockey (2)
Football (2)
Golf (2)
Gymnastics- Artistic (14)
- Rhythmic (2)
- Trampoline (2)
Handball (2)
Judo (15)
Karate- Kata (2)
- Kumite (6)
Modern pentathlon (2)
Rowing (14)
Rugby sevens (2)
Sailing (10)
Shooting (15)
Skateboarding (4)
Sport climbing (2)
Surfing (2)
Table tennis (5)
Taekwondo (8)
Tennis (5)
Triathlon (3)
Volleyball- Volleyball (2)
- Beach volleyball (2)
Weightlifting (14)
Wrestling- Freestyle (12)
- Greco-Roman (6)
- New sports
As part of a goal to control costs and ensure that the Olympics remain "relevant to sports fans of all generations", the IOC assessed the 26 sports contested at the 2012 Olympics, with the remit of dropping one sport and thus retaining 25 "core" sports to join new entrants golf and rugby sevens at the 2020 Games. This move would bring the total number of sports to 27, one less than the requirement of 28 for the 2020 Olympics program, thus leaving a single vacancy that the IOC would seek to fill from a shortlist containing seven unrepresented sports as well as the sport that had been dropped from the 2012 Olympics program.
On 12 February 2013, IOC leaders voted to drop wrestling from the "core" program for the 2020 Games; this was a surprising decision to news outlets given that wrestling is from the ancient Olympic Games and was included in the original program for the modern Games. The New York Times felt that the decision was based on the shortage of well-known talent and the absence of women's events in the sport.[87][88][89]Wrestling was duly added to the shortlist of applicants for inclusion in the 2020 Games, alongside the seven new sports that were put forward for consideration.[87]
On 29 May 2013, it was announced that three of the eight sports under consideration had made the final shortlist: baseball/softball, squashand wrestling.[90] The other five sports were rejected at this point: karate, roller sports, sport climbing, wakeboarding, and wushu.[91] On 8 September 2013, at the 125th IOC Session, wrestling was chosen to be included in the Olympic program for 2020 and 2024. Wrestling secured 49 votes, while baseball/softball and squash received 24 votes and 22 votes respectively.[92]
Under new IOC policies that shift the Games to use an "event-based" program rather than a "sport-based" program, the host organizing committee can now also propose the addition of sports to the program. This rule is designed to allow sports that are popular in the host country to be added to the program, in order to improve local interest.[93] As a result of these changes, a list of eight sports was unveiled on 22 June 2015, consisting of: baseball/softball, bowling, karate, roller sports, sport climbing, squash, surfing, and wushu.[94] On 28 September 2015, the organizers submitted their shortlist of five proposed sports to the IOC: baseball/softball, karate, sport climbing, surfing, and skateboarding.[95] These five new sports were approved on 3 August 2016 by the IOC during the 129th IOC Session in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and are to be included in the sports program for 2020 only, bringing the total number of sports at the 2020 Olympics to 33.[96][97]
Test events
A total of 56 test events are scheduled to take place in the run-up to the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics. Two of the events were held in late 2018, but the main test event schedule commenced in June 2019 and was originally due to be completed in May 2020, prior to the start of the Olympics. Several of the events were incorporated into pre-existing championships, but some have been newly created specifically to serve as Olympic test events for the 2020 Summer Games.[98][99]
It was announced in February 2019 that the test events would be branded under the banner "Ready, Steady, Tokyo". The Tokyo Organizing Committee is responsible for 22 of the test events, with the remaining events being arranged by national and international sports federations. The first test event was World Sailing's World Cup Series held at Enoshima in September 2018, and the last scheduled event is the Tokyo Challenge Track Meet which was originally due to take place at the Olympic Stadium in May 2020.[100]
The Olympic test event schedule was interrupted in February 2020 as international sporting events began to be affected by the spread of COVID-19. All test events originally scheduled to take place from mid-March 2020 onwards were postponed, with the test event calendar to be reviewed during the preparations for the rescheduled Games.[101]
Cultural festival and exhibition sumo tournament
A related cultural festival, dubbed the Nippon Festival, was initially announced in late 2019. This is expected to feature art and performances that are modern yet tied to Japanese culture, including a hybrid kabuki-opera production.[102]On 5 February 2020, the Japan Sumo Association confirmed that it would participate in the Nippon Festival, with plans to host a special two-day exhibition sumo tournament at the Ryōgoku Kokugikan shortly after the conclusion of the Olympic Games but before the start of the Paralympic Games.[d][103] The length and format of the exhibition sumo tournament is expected to differ significantly from sumo's traditional 15-day tournaments, which are held six times a year. There are plans to provide simultaneous commentary in Englishand Japanese to help explain to visitors the customs and traditions of professional sumo, which are deeply rooted in the Shinto religion.[104][105]
Participating National Olympic Committees
Macedonia has competed under the provisional name "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia" in every Summer and Winter Games since its debut in 1996 because of the disputed status of its official name. The naming disputes with Greece ended in 2018 with the signing of the Prespa agreement, and the country was officially renamed North Macedonia in February 2019. The new name was immediately recognized by the IOC, although the Olympic Committee of North Macedonia (NMOC) was not officially adopted until February 2020. The NMOC sent a delegation to the 2020 Winter Youth Olympics in January 2020, but the Tokyo Games will be North Macedonia's first appearance at the Summer Olympics under its new name.[106]
On 9 December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russia from all international sport for a period of four years, after the Russian government was found to have tampered with lab data that it provided to WADA in January 2019 as a condition of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency being reinstated. As a result of the ban, WADA plans to allow individually cleared Russian athletesto take part in the 2020 Summer Olympics under a neutral banner, as instigated at the 2018 Winter Olympics, but they will not be permitted to compete in team sports. The title of the neutral banner has yet to be determined; WADA Compliance Review Committee head Jonathan Taylor stated that the IOC would not be able to use "Olympic Athletes from Russia" (OAR) as it did in 2018, emphasizing that neutral athletes cannot be portrayed as representing a specific country.[107][108][109] Russia later filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the WADA decision.[110]
As of 12 March 2020, the following 153 National Olympic Committeeshave qualified (other than through universality places in athletics and swimming, under which all 206 NOCs may send competitors regardless of qualification).
Calendar
The 2020 schedule by session was approved by the IOC Executive Board on 18 July 2018, with the exception of swimming, diving, and artistic swimming. A more detailed schedule by event was released on 16 April 2019, still omitting a detailed schedule for the boxing events.[111][112] A detailed boxing schedule was released in late 2019.[113]
The original schedule was from 22 July to 9 August 2020. To postpone the Olympics until 2021, all events were delayed by 364 days (one day less than a full year to preserve the same days of the week), giving a new schedule of 21 July to 8 August 2021.[114]
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Event scheduling
Per the historical precedent of swimming at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing and figure skating at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, swimming finals are scheduled to be held in the morning to allow live primetime broadcasts in the Americas. NBC paid substantial fees for rights to the Olympics, so the IOC has allowed NBC to influence event scheduling to maximize U.S. television ratings when possible. On 7 May 2014, NBC agreed to a US$7.75 billion contract extension to air the Olympics through the 2032 games,[115] which is one of the IOC's major sources of revenue.[116]Japanese broadcasters were said to have criticized the decision, as swimming is one of the most popular Olympic events in the country.[117][118]
Marketing
Miraitowa (left), the official mascot of the 2020 Summer Olympics, and Someity (right), the official mascot of the 2020 Summer Paralympics
The official emblems for the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics were unveiled on 25 April 2016; designed by Asao Tokolo, who won a nationwide design contest, it takes the form of a ring in an indigo-colored checkerboard pattern. The design is meant to "express a refined elegance and sophistication that exemplifies Japan".[119] The designs replaced a previous emblem which had been scrapped after allegations that it plagiarized the logo of the Théâtre de Liège in Belgium. The Games' bid slogan is Discover Tomorrow(Japanese: 未来 をつかもう, romanized: Ashita o tsukamō). While ashita literally means 'tomorrow', it is intentionally spelled as mirai'future'.[120] The official slogan United by Emotion (Japanese: 感動 で、私 たちはひとつになる, romanized: Kandō de, watashi-tachi wa hitotsu ni naru) was unveiled on 17 February 2020.[121]
The official mascot of the 2020 Summer Olympics is Miraitowa, a figure with blue-checkered patterns inspired by the Games' official emblem. Its fictional characteristics include the ability to teleport.[122]Created by Japanese artist Ryo Taniguchi, the mascots were selected from a competition process which took place in late 2017 and early 2018. A total of 2,042 candidate designs were submitted to the Tokyo Organizing Committee, which selected three pairs of unnamed mascot designs to present to Japanese elementary school students for the final decision.[123][124] The results of the selection were announced on 28 February 2018, and the mascots were named on 22 July 2018. Miraitowa is named after the Japanese words for "future" and "eternity",[122] and Someity is named after someiyoshino, a type of cherry blossom.[125] Someity's name also refers to the English phrase "so mighty".[126] The mascots are expected to help finance the Tokyo Games through merchandising and licensing deals.[127]
Colours
Kurenai Red, A.I. Blue, Sakura Pink, Fuji Purple, and Matsuba Green are "traditional" Japanese colours which are the primary colours in the branding of the games. Each colour represents an important part of Japanese culture. This colour scheme is significantly darker than those used in past branding of Olympic Games, such as the bright blues greens and yellows used for Rio 2016, or the lime green and blue used for Vancouver 2010.
Concerns and controversies
On 10 December 2018, the French financial crimes office began an investigation of Tsunekazu Takeda, the president of the Japanese Olympic Committee, about a 2013 scheme to obtain votes from International Olympic Committee (IOC) members from Africa in support of Tokyo as host for the 2020 Olympics instead of Istanbul or Madrid.[128][129] In March 2020, a Japanese businessman has admitted giving gifts, including cameras and watches, to officials at the IOC in order to lobby for their support of Tokyo's bid to host the Olympic games.[130]
South Korea asked the International Olympic Committee to ban the Japanese Rising Sun Flag from the 2020 Summer Olympics,[131] because the flag is a symbol of Japan's imperialist past and recalls "historic scars and pain" for people of Korea just as the swastika "reminds Europeans of the nightmare of World War II".[132][133]
Russian and South Korean officials took issue with a map of the torch relay on the Games' official website, which depicted the disputed Liancourt Rocks (territory governed by South Korea) and Kuril Islands(territory governed by Russia since 1945) as part of Japan.[134]
The Olympics torch relay was planned to begin in Fukushima, the site of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster,[135] and the Olympic baseball and softball matches are scheduled to be played at Fukushima Stadium, while some football matches are planned to be played in Rifu—an outskirt of Sendai, an area impacted by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. The hosting of events there have been promoted as a means of furthering recovery in the regions, with the Games as a whole sometimes being promoted as the "Recovery Olympics" (Fukkō Gorin (復興五輪)).[136] The organization of events in these regions has faced criticism; Fukushima is considered safe by the World Health Organizationand the United Nations, although scientific studies on the safety of the area are currently in great dispute.[137] Some Tōhoku residents have questioned the decision to use the region as a host site, arguing that preparations for the Games have slowed recovery efforts, and that the region has lost workers to projects associated with the Games.[138]
Broadcasting
Sony and Panasonic are partnering with NHK to develop broadcasting standards for 8K resolution television, with a goal to release 8K television sets in time for the 2020 Summer Olympics.[139][140] In early 2019, Italian broadcaster RAI announced its intention to deploy 8K broadcasting for the Games.[141] Telecom company NTT Docomo signed a deal with Finland's Nokia to provide 5G-ready baseband networks in Japan in time for the Games.[142][143]
The Tokyo Olympics are scheduled to be broadcast in the United States by NBCUniversal, as part of a US$4.38 billion agreement that began at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.[144]
In Europe, this will be the first Summer Olympics under the IOC's exclusive pan-European rights deal with Eurosport, which began at the 2018 Winter Olympics and is contracted to run through 2024. The rights for the 2020 Summer Olympics cover almost all of Europe; a pre-existing deal with a marketer excludes Russia.[145] Eurosport plans to sub-license coverage to free-to-airnetworks in each territory, and other channels owned by Discovery, Inc.subsidiaries. In the United Kingdom, these are set to be the last Games with rights owned primarily by the BBC, although as a condition of a sub-licensing agreement due to carry into the 2022 and 2024 Games, Eurosport holds exclusive pay television rights.[146][147][148] In France, these will be the last Games whose rights are primarily owned by France Télévisions. Eurosport is scheduled to debut as pay television rightsholder, after Canal+ elected to sell its pay television rights as a cost-saving measure.[149]
In Canada, the 2020 Games are scheduled to be shown on CBC/Radio-Canada, Sportsnet, TSNand TLN.[150][151][152] In Australia, they will be aired by the Seven Network.
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