Lausanne, Switzerland, March 10, 2021: IOC President Thomas Bach is confident that a safe and successful Olympic and Paralympic Games can be held in Tokyo this summer.
In his opening address at the 137th IOC Session on Wednesday, he also spoke of the widespread support Tokyo 2020 has received from the United Nations and the G20 and G7 Leaders.
The IOC President voiced the many reasons for optimism, including the excellent work of the International Federations, which have organised over 270 major sporting events, World Championships or World Cups, since September 2020.
Cumulatively, these events have involved over 30,000 athletes. All of them had rigorous health and safety protocols in place, including extensive testing regimes, which far exceeded 200,000 tests.
President Bach stated: “Not a single one of these events turned into a virus-spreader, so we have clear and obvious proof that very big international sports events with a large number of international participants can be organised while safeguarding the health of everyone.”
He went on to say that Tokyo remains the best prepared Olympic city ever and that, at this moment, there is no doubt that the Opening Ceremony will take place on July 23, 2021.
On the exceptional nature of this Olympic year – preparing for two editions of the Olympic Games in parallel – President Bach highlighted the excellent state of preparations for the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing in February 2022.
“All the venues are completed,” he said. “In fact, the test events for the mountain cluster just took place a few days ago. Despite the many challenges of the coronavirus pandemic, we can say already now with great confidence that the Organising Committee is ready: ready to welcome the world’s best winter sport athletes for this global celebration of sport.”
Source: www.olympic.org