TOKYO (Reuters) – Tokyo Olympics organizers say the torch relay would begin on March 25 from the J-Village training center in Fukushima, as planned, launching the build-up to the start of the Games in July during and continue to work on COVID -19 countermeasures.
The Grand Start concert and the first part of the relay on the first day will not be open to the public as organizers reduce the number of participants and simplify the program to prevent dissemination. coronation, they said in a statement Monday.
Tokyo 2020 is “committed to ensuring the safety and security of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay by taking side effects to prevent the spread of disease among spectators, torchbearers, employees, and com other relay partners, as well as local residents, ”the statement said. .
The torch relay is expected to begin on March 25 but it is nonetheless a major milestone after the Games were postponed last year and after profiteering on whether to delay. on them again or even put it off because of the pandemic.
Tokyo organizers have also said they want to decide before the start of the relay whether to allow foreign observers into the country amid fears of a resurgence in coronavirus diseases.
Monitoring the difficulties in preparing for the Games in the wake of the pandemic, Tokyo 2020 also said Monday that test events for skating and shooting have been postponed until May due to its impact on registration from the COVID-19 setting.
Members of the Japanese women’s national football team will use the Olympic flame to light the torch to officially start the relay from J-Village.
The facility was chosen as the starting point of the 121-day relay as it symbolizes the reconstruction of Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.
The Olympics will take place from 23 July to 8 August and the Paralympics from 24 August to 5 September.
Reporting by Chris Gallagher; Edited by Catherine Evans and Ed Osmond