Tokyo Cuts Against Athletes Attending Open Olympics

Illustration - Olympic flame on a lantern seen after a video message at the opening ceremony "One Step Forward + 1 Message - Tokyo 2020" (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Organizers of the Tokyo Olympics said Monday that they will cut the number of athletes at the opening and closing ceremonies of this year's Olympics which have been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as stated in a report that the attendance would be thousands less.

More than 11,000 athletes are expected to compete at the Tokyo Olympics, but anti-viral measures limit their time at the Olympic Village meaning not all will be able to attend the opening and closing celebrations.

Organizers said they would also "reconsider" how many athletes could take part in the ceremony, and how to get them into the stadium safely.

"To ensure the safety and security of athletes and streamline operations at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, we believe we need to reconsider the number of participants at the opening and closing ceremonies and how they will enter the stadium," the organizing committee said in a statement.

A report in Japan's Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper on Monday said the International Olympic Committee (IOC) estimated that only 6,000 athletes took part in the opening ceremony on July 23, citing unnamed sources.

Tokyo 2020 organizers said details were still being worked out in discussions with the IOC and other organizations, and "a specific approach has yet to be decided.

Anything can happen

The organizing committee insisted the Olympics could take place even if the virus was not under control, and launched a series of anti-virus measures in a 53-page interim report in December.

Athletes cannot enter the Olympic Village - which can accommodate 18,000 people - more than five days before their event, and must leave two days after completing their competition.

The surge in infections in Japan and elsewhere around the world has raised new doubts about the Olympics, just over six months before the opening ceremony.

A Japanese cabinet minister last week acknowledged "anything can happen" with the Olympics, while reports at the weekend said the former IOC vice president suggested the United Nations could be consulted on whether the event should take place.

Public support for the Olympics has plummeted in Japan, with a poll earlier this month finding that more than 80 percent believed the event should be canceled or postponed again.

Japanese government spokesman Katsunobu Kato said on Monday that Japan was committed to holding the Olympics on schedule.

"There is no change in the government's attitude towards the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics," he said.

"The people in charge of the Olympics are united in preparing them for success and the government will take appropriate action to support them."

In late December, the Tokyo 2020 chairperson selected a new creative director to redesign a "simpler and more restrained" opening and closing ceremony.

Organizers said the decision to replace the previous seven-person creative team would increase efficiency and reshape the usually lavish ceremony to "fit the situation".