Tokyo, Japan, July 20, 2025: The Governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, opened the Museum of World Athletics (MOWA) Heritage Athletics Exhibition Tokyo 2025.
The exhibition is being staged for 11 weeks in the Tokyo Metropolitan Government HQ building following the official opening ceremony on Sunday, July 6.
The government building is situated just three metro stations – a six-minute journey – away from the National Stadium where the World Athletics Championships Tokyo 25 will take place from September 13-21.
In addition to Governor Koike, among those actively participating in the opening ceremony were World Athletics Council member Yuko Arimori, 2004 Olympic marathon gold medallist Mizuki Noguchi and Japan’s first world champion, Hiromi Taniguchi, the Tokyo 1991 marathon winner.
The ceremony began with a welcoming address by Arimori, a two-time Olympic medallist and newly elected President of the Japan Association of Athletics Federations, who was representing World Athletics President Sebastian Coe.
In this context, World Athletics awarded the World Athletics Heritage Plaque to Tokyo in the category “City” – a lasting tribute to Tokyo’s central role in the development and celebration of athletics worldwide.
In a statement read out by Arimori, World Athletics President Coe commented: "Tokyo's credentials as a World Athletics Heritage City are beyond question.
“The host to the 1964 and 2020 Olympic Games and the 1991 and 2025 World Athletics Championships, Tokyo has historically been the stage for great competitions and has witnessed numerous world records.”
Arimori marked the opening of the exhibition by donating her Barcelona Olympic Games marathon shoes, which she wore when taking silver in 1992, to the collection of the Museum of World Athletics.
