IOC President Thomas Bach visits Tokyo 2020 headquarters
Jul 13, 2021
Tokyo [Japan], July 14 : Addressing the staff of the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee, IOC President Thomas Bach on Tuesday praised their dedication and hard work in organising the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020.
Tokyo Olympics will go ahead from July 23-August 8. The event was slated to be held last year, but it had to be postponed due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
"You are really doing a great job in your preparations. You have managed to make Tokyo the best-ever prepared city for the Olympic Games. This is even more remarkable under the difficult circumstances we all have to face," the official website of Olympics quoted Bach as saying.
The IOC President was welcomed by the President of the Organising Committee, HASHIMOTO Seiko before he toured the offices at the Tokyo 2020 headquarters. With just 10 days to go until the Opening Ceremony, he also met senior executives, including CEO MUTO Toshiro.
"There is still a lot of work to do - the task is only completed once the athletes have left Tokyo. The stage is set, now it is time to deliver your best, which we have all been waiting for, for such a long time," said Bach.
"Let's continue to work like and for the athletes of the world to make these Olympic and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020 a resounding success, for Tokyo, Japan and the worldwide Olympic Movement. Our common target is safe and secure Games for everybody: for the athletes; for all the delegations; and most importantly for the Japanese people," Thomas Bach said in his remarks.
During his visit, he was joined by Coordination Commission Chair John Coates and IOC member in Japan WATANABE Morinari.
President Bach went on: "The Japanese people can have confidence in all the COVID countermeasures we are taking. With the strict testing regime, with the great vaccination programme we have been undertaking worldwide, all this is in solidarity with the Japanese people."
