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Agence France-Presse

Tokyo’s postponed Olympics will go ahead next year regardless of the coronavirus pandemic, IOC vice-president John Coates said on Monday, saying they would be the “Games that conquered Covid”.
The Olympics have never been cancelled outside the world wars and Coates, speaking in a phone interview, was adamant that the Tokyo Games will start on their revised date.
“It will take place with or without Covid. The Games will start on July 23 next year,” said Coates, who heads the International Olympic Committee’s Coordination Commission for the Tokyo Games.
“The Games were going to be, their theme, the Reconstruction Games after the devastation of the tsunami,” he added, referring to a catastrophic earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan in 2011.
Tokyo 2020: what are the chances of the Olympics happening next year? Pretty much zero
“Now very much these will be the Games that conquered Covid, the light at the end of the tunnel.”
In a historic decision, the 2020 Olympics were postponed because of the global march of the pandemic and they are now set to open on July 23, 2021.

But Japan’s borders are still largely closed to foreign visitors and a vaccine is months or even years away, feeding speculation about whether the Games are feasible at all.
Japanese officials have made clear they would not delay the Games a second time beyond 2021.
Tokyo 2020: vaccine needed to save Olympics, but will anti-vaxxer crowd and athlete hesitation prove too much?
A recent poll found just one in four people in Japan want them to go ahead next year, with most backing either another postponement or a cancellation.
Coates said the Japanese government “haven’t dropped the baton at all” following the postponement, despite the “monumental task” of putting the event back a year.
“Before Covid, (IOC president) Thomas Bach said this is the best prepared Games we’ve ever seen, the venues were almost all finished, they are now finished, the village is amazing, all the transport arrangements, everything is fine,” he said.
“Now it’s been postponed by one year, that’s presented a monumental task in terms of re-securing all the venues ... something like 43 hotels we had to get out of those contracts and renegotiate for a year later.

“Sponsorships had to be extended a year, broadcast rights.”
With much of that work under way, or accomplished, a task force has been set up to look at the different scenarios in 2021 – from how border controls will affect the movement of athletes and officials, to whether fans can pack venues.
The group, comprising Japanese and IOC officials, met for the first time last week.
“Their job now is to look at all the different countermeasures that will be required for the Games to take place,” said Coates, the long-time president of the Australian Olympic Committee.
“Some countries will have it (Covid) under control, some won’t. We’ll have athletes therefore coming from places where it’s under control and some where it is not.
“There’s 206 teams ... so there’s a massive task being undertaken on the Japanese side.”


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Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Tokyo Olympics will go ahead ‘with or without Covid’, says IOC’s John Coates

The Olympic rings and the Japanese flag outside the Olympic Museum in Tokyo. Photo: AFP

A woman wearing a face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walks in front of Tokyo 2020 sign Friday, Sept. 4, 2020, in Tokyo. The CEO of the Tokyo Olympics Toshiro Mut said Friday that having a vaccine is not a requirement for holding next year Olympics and Paralympics. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)

(FILES) This file photo taken on July 12, 2018 shows Tokyo 2020 president Yoshiro Mori (R) answering questions as International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice president and chairman of the Coordination Commission for Tokyo 2020, John Coates (L), listens during their joint press conference in Tokyo. - Tokyo's postponed Olympics will go ahead next year regardless of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, IOC vice president John Coates told AFP on September 7, 2020, saying they would be the "Games that conquered Covid". (Photo by Kazuhiro NOGI / AFP)

Beijing 2022 Games ‘pressing ahead’ despite coronavirus threat and concerns about Tokyo Olympics in 2021

Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic mascot Bing Dwen Dwen (left) and 2022 Winter Paralympic Games mascot (Shuey Rong Rong) are revealed during a ceremony in Beijing in September. Photo: AP

A view of the National Speed Skating Oval (NSSO), nick-named as Ice Ribbon, under construction for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Sep. 24, 2019. 24SEP19 SCMP/Simon Song

(200224) -- BEIJING, Feb. 24, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Zhang Jiandong (2nd R), Vice Mayor of Beijing and Executive Vice President of Beijing 2022, attends the Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) World Broadcaster Meeting (WBM) online at Shougang headquarters in Beijing, capital of China, Feb. 24, 2020. Olympic Broadcasting Services (OBS) World Broadcaster Meeting (WBM) was held in Madrid on Monday to discuss the coverage of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games, attended by 172 representatives from the International Olympic Committee, OBS and Rights Holding Broadcasters (RHB) around the world. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

(200713) -- BEIJING, July 13, 2020 (Xinhua) -- Photo taken on July 13, 2020 shows the countdown device of the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 in a building of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the 2022 Winter Olympics at Shougang's old industrial park in Beijing, capital of China. The countdown device was unveiled on Monday. (Xinhua/Ju Huanzong)

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The countdown is already on to the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. Photo: Xinhua

Tokyo 2020 ‘fake sustainability’: new Olympics report attracts heat from orangutan and rainforest activists

Endangered orangutans are victims of Tokyo’s Olympic 2020 timber procurement. Photo: AFP

The Ariake Arena exterior during its construction in 2019. Photo: The Tokyo Organising Committee of the OIympic and Paralympic Games

Excavator own by PT. Tunas Alam Nusantara waiting for next land clearing, Tanjung Perepat, Biduk-Biduk. Berau, East Kalimantan in 2019. Photo: Rainforest Action Network

Forests picked for selective logging in PT. Tunas Alam Nusantara concession in 2019. Photo: Rainforest Action Network

The  Japan National Stadium was constructed in 2019 for multipurpose use during and after the Games. Photo: The Tokyo Organising Committee of the OIympic and Paralympic Games

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games organisers' vision for sustainability in 2018. Photo: The Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games

Some Indonesian plywood used at the Ariake Arena construction site in Tokyo, Japan. Photo: Rainforest Action Network

The Japan National Stadium, then called the New National Stadium using concrete formwork plywood during construction. Photo: Rainforest Action Network

Shinzo Abe, Japan's prime minister, removes his protective face mask, as he arrives for a news conference in Tokyo, Japan, on Friday, April 17, 2020. Abe's sudden about-face on a cash handouts initiative indicates the government was no longer convinced the original plan was quick enough or big enough to support households as Japan ramps up its state of emergency. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Aerial view of log pond own in East Kalimantan, Indonesia in 2019. Photo: Rainforest Action Network

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IOC VP John Coates delivers optimistic message ahead of revised start date for Games
Japan’s borders remain closed to foreigners



IOC VP John Coates delivers optimistic message ahead of revised start date for Games, while Japan’s borders remain closed to foreigners.


Japan

Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

Tokyo Olympics will go ahead ‘with or without Covid’, says IOC’s John Coates

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} IOC VP John Coates delivers optimistic message ahead of revised start date for Games Japan’s borders remain closed to foreigners

IOC VP John Coates delivers optimistic message ahead of revised start date for Games

Japan’s borders remain closed to foreigners