On your marks, get set, go Tokyo 2020!
Thursday, 1 July, marked three weeks to go until the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. It was also the first day of the implementation of the Playbooks, the comprehensive guidelines to ensure safe and healthy Games, and saw the first athletes, team officials and Games participants, whose arrival is managed based on the Playbooks, land in the host country.
More than 500 Games participants were tested for COVID-19 at Tokyo’s airports yesterday, with no positive cases reported by the health authorities. Along with other strict “safety-first” measures and rules, a screening test system has been implemented to protect all Games participants and the people of Japan.
Tokyo 2020 President HASHIMOTO Seiko said: “As of yesterday, 1 July, the Playbook started to be effective. The number of Games-related personnel, including athletes, has been increasing, and both Haneda and Narita airports are in full operation now. There were approximately 540 Games-related personnel who arrived in Japan yesterday.”
Along with the newcomers, the first of 3,000 COVID-19 Liaison Officers (CLOs) have also arrived in Japan. The CLOs, appointed for each Olympic and Paralympic delegation, are overseeing all administrative matters related to COVID-19 before and during the Games. They are responsible for ensuring that every Games participant is fully informed of and adheres to the rules outlined in the Playbooks, and manage the implementation of countermeasures for their respective organisations.
With the Games in full operational delivery mode, the Main Press Centre (MPC), the home of the accredited media representatives who will cover the Games, is now in soft opening mode. Located in the Tokyo Big Sight, the largest convention and exhibition centre in Japan, the MPC is expected to host around 5,000 media professionals.
The Tokyo Big Sight is also the location of the International Broadcast Centre (IBC), which is also well into its soft opening, with technicians working to deliver the studios and systems that will deliver to the world the inspiring images of the athletes during their competitions.
Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) Chief Executive Yiannis Exarchos said: “The International Broadcasting Centre is practically ready. We have already welcomed most of the big broadcasters that will be covering the Games.” He continued: “We have established special rules and special access zones for the athletes so that we keep a very safe level of distancing, and safety protocols with the athletes when they visit the IBC. I am very confident that it is going to be a very safe operation.”
While the state-of-the-art competition venues that will stage the Tokyo 2020 events are set, the Olympic Village is getting ready to house more than 11,000 athletes. Located on the picturesque Harumi waterfront district of Tokyo and surrounded by the sea, the Olympic Village has been adapted to ensure the health and safety of its residents.
As the countdown continues, Tokyo 2020 is ready to deliver safe and secure Games for everyone participating and for the Japanese people.