Olympic organizers reveal plans for scaled-down Tokyo event
Tokyo 2020 organizers are proposing to cut the number of officials at next year’s Olympics by 10 to 15% as part of a wider package of cost-reduction proposals, it was announced on Friday.
The Games, which were supposed to get underway in July, are now scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8 in 2021 after they were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Over 50 measures to simplify the Games have been proposed by the IOC’s coordination commission, which Tokyo 2020 CEO Toshiro Muto said would provide an example of how future Olympics could be streamlined in a post-Covid-19 world.
Other proposed measures include reduced invitations for both the opening and closing ceremonies, removal of team welcome ceremonies at the Olympic Village, a shorter opening period for training venues and fewer officials having access to official bus services, instead having to rely on public transport.
Although the length of the 121-day torch relay will not be shortened, the number of staff present and use of official vehicles will be reviewed.
“These optimizations and simplifications mark an important step towards delivering a safe and successful Games in 2021,” said John Coates, chairman of the Tokyo 2020 coordination commission.
“We owe it to the public to enact these measures during these challenging times, that’s why we’ve left no stone unturned and will continue to look for further opportunities over the coming months.
“The unique task of reorganizing an Olympic Games has called for the Olympic movement to be stronger together — this milestone illustrates our collective commitment. The ‘Tokyo model’ will not only deliver a Games fit for a post-corona world, it will become a blueprint that will benefit future organizing committees for many years to come.”
Coates added that the cost-cutting measures took into account the Games’ stakeholders and infrastructure, among others.
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He added that organizers planned to report the amount of costs to be cut at the next virtual IOC executive board meeting which is scheduled to take place on October 7.
