Tokyo 2020 marks one year until delayed Paralympics
Tokyo, Tuesday
Tokyo 2020 organisers marked one year to go until the opening of the delayed Paralympic Games in a simple manner Monday amid concerns of a second wave of COVID-19 infections.
Some emblematic venues of the Paralympic Games and the landmark Skytree tower were illuminated in the Paralympic colors of red, blue and green to pay tribute to medical workers fighting against COVID-19, as well as to cheer on and support athletes preparing for the Games.
Tokyo 2020 organizing committee president Yoshiro Mori expressed his optimism that the Games would be held next year.
“Every time we hear the voices of para-athletes looking forward to next year’s Games, it gives us renewed strength to work for the Games’ success.
”We will continue to work closely with the national government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and other related organizations in all aspects of preparations, including COVID-19 countermeasures, as we work to deliver a safe and secure Games.”
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike sounded a more positive note about the Games, whose rescheduled dates run from August 24 to September 5, 2021.
“In order to respond to everyone’s hopes, we will first devote all of our efforts to winning the fight against an invisible enemy -- the novel coronavirus,” she said.”
We will work closely with all parties concerned and advance preparations to hold a successful Games brimming with hope, which will serve as a symbol of humankind bonding even more strongly as the world came together as one to overcome this difficult situation,” Koike added.
Mori said earlier that the Olympic and Paralympic Games would not necessarily take place if the pandemic cannot be fully contained by next summer.
International Paralympic Committee (IPC) president Andrew Parsons echoed this view in an interview with Agence France-Presse.
“If the situation was like it is today, if we were going to start tomorrow, we could not go ahead,” Parsons said. “We need to learn more, prepare better,” he added. - Xinhua
