MINSK, 20 March (BelTA) – A special aircraft “Tokyo 2020 Go” has delivered the Olympic Flame to Miyagi Prefecture on Honshu Island, BelTA has learned from the press service of Belarus' National Olympic Committee.
Triple Olympic judo gold medalist Tadahiro Nomura and triple Olympic wrestling champion Saori Yoshida welcomed the symbol of the Olympic Games. The ceremony was attended by Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee Chairman Yoshiro Mori and President of the Japanese Olympic Committee and Japan Judo Federation President Yasuhiro Yamashita.
“We will do our best to make sure the Olympic Games are safe and secure,” Yoshiro Mori said. He also apologized for the reduced ceremonies programs in Athens and in Japan because of coronavirus and asked to treat the situation with understanding.
After the Olympic Flame welcome ceremony, Saori Yoshida and Tadahiro Nomura lit the Celebration Cauldron resembling a cherry blossom. During the ceremony, the “Blue Impulse” aerobatic demonstration team flew in the sky over the Matsushima Air Field and endeavored to draw the Olympic rings in the air with colored smoke. Before the start of the touch relay through the Japanese cities the Olympic Flame will be displayed in the prefectures of Miyagi, Iwate and Fukushima.
President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach commented on the current situation with the Olympic Games. “It is difficult to predict how the situation will develop. The International Olympic Committee is considering different scenarios. Leading professional leagues and international federations have postponed their events until the end of April-May. The Olympic Games will be held only at the end of July,” Thomas Bach said.
The Olympic Torch Relay starts on 26 March and will see the flame carried around to 858 cities and villages in Japan. The Olympic Games Flame was lit on 12 March in Olympia and handed over to the representatives of Tokyo on 19 March. The IOC allowed the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee to light the Olympic flame not 100 days before the start of the Olympic Games, as is customary, but well in advance to highlight reconstruction following the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Fukushima.
The Olympic Games are scheduled to be held from 24 July to 9 August in 2020. Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike rule out holding the Olympic Games without spectators or canceling them due to COVID-19.
