Team spirit evident in delivery of Tokyo 2020 in 2021

The EB was informed that since the postponement of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, a Joint Steering Committee has been formed under the leadership of IOC Coordination Commission Chair John Coates and Tokyo 2020 President Yoshiro Mori. It was agreed at the time that the Committee would, as much as possible, aim to replicate the planning for the venues and the competition schedule based on the existing plan for 2020.

With this objective, the Japanese side, including Tokyo 2020, committed to requesting that each of the 42 planned venue owners organise the Games according to the 2020 schedule on the new dates in 2021. The plans for next year’s Games will also incorporate a number of measures addressing the potential impact of COVID-19 into the Games Delivery Plan.

In addition, the IOC’s “Here We Go” Task Force is working with the Tokyo 2020 Organising Committee on adapting the plans for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad in 2021, in order to minimise the financial impact of the postponement for all partners involved. On the basis of Olympic Agenda 2020, opportunities are being explored to optimise and streamline the scope and service levels at the Games, and to reduce the impacts that have been caused by the postponement.

A mission of such magnitude naturally requires the support of all the parties involved in the organisation and operations of the Games. The EB was told that there has been very regular contact by both the IOC and Tokyo 2020 with the Games stakeholders, including the athletes, the Japanese Government, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG), the National Olympic Committees, the International Federations, the TOP Partners and the Rights-Holding Broadcasters, to understand how they see the Games operations in the future. The Games partners are fully committed to next year’s Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and have reaffirmed their unwavering support.

Nowhere has this partnership been more evident than in the All-Partner Task Force, which brings together the World Health Organization, Tokyo 2020, the Japanese Government, the TMG, the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on the Games and their reorganisation. The team spirit created between the event organisers on one side and the health authorities on the other will be crucial to the ongoing practical discussions around scenario planning for the organisation of test events, the Olympic Village operations and the venues. 

The EB trusts that the close collaboration between all the parties involved in the Games will ensure that the delivery of Tokyo 2020 is optimised and that the Olympic experience next year will create memories for a lifetime.