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North Korea has announced it will not take part in the Tokyo Olympics this year, saying the decision is to protect its athletes from Covid-19. The decision puts an end to South Korea’s hopes of using the Games to engage with the North amid stalled cross-border talks. In 2018, both sides entered a joint team at the Winter Olympics which led to a series of historic summits.
The torch relay for the postponed Tokyo Olympics began its 121-day journey across Japan on Thursday and is headed toward the opening ceremony in Tokyo on July 23. The relay began in northeastern Fukushima prefecture, the area that was devastated by the 2011 earthquake, tsunami and meltdown of three nuclear reactors. The first runner with the torch was Azusa Iwashimizu, a key player in the Japan team that won the Women’s World Cup in 2011.
In yet another setback for the postponed Tokyo Olympics — and another involving comments about women — games’ creative director Hiroshi Sasaki resigned on Thursday after making demeaning comments about a well-known female celebrity in Japan. Sasaki’s resignation is the latest blow. Last year he suggested to planning staff members in online “brainstorming exchanges” that well-known entertainer Naomi Watanabe could perform in the ceremony as an “Olympig.”
Japanese athlete-turned-politician Seiko Hashimoto has been chosen as president of the Tokyo 2020 Organising committee, replacing a man who resigned after setting off a furor with sexist remarks. She must ensure athletes and officials are kept safe from the coronavirus, while also facing strong public opposition to the Games being held amid the pandemic.
The head of the Tokyo Olympics has announced his resignation over sexist comments. Yoshiro Mori had said women talk too much during an online meeting of the committee’s board of trustees earlier this month, where he also said women are driven by a “strong sense of rivalry”. The former Japanese prime minister, 83, had previously refused to step down.
The president of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics organizing committee, Yoshiro Mori, is expected to resign after derogatory comments he made about women caused an international uproar less than six months before the Games are due to open. Mori, who has led the organizing committee since 2014, will step down after insisting for days that he would not resign, the Fuji News Network reported on Thursday.
The International Olympic Committee is working on ways to get athletes the coronavirus jab in the second or third wave so that the Tokyo Games can go ahead safely in July, the Guardian has been told. While insisting that we “do not want to queue jump”, IOC sources are hoping athletes from around the globe will be high up on the vaccination list, once key workers and the vulnerable are given the jab.
The 2018 Olympic games ended with North and South Korea marching in the closing ceremony with different uniforms, as Norway took home the most wins, with 14 gold medals. US intelligence revealed that hacks in the Opening Ceremony of the Olympics were performed by Russian military spies who tried to blame North Korea.
After security concerns about the Winter Olympics in South Korea, American United Nations ambassador, Nikki Haley, said, Wednesday, it is an ‘open question’ whether American athletes will attend, due to Korean Peninsula tensions. White House Press Secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, commented, Thursday, ‘The US looks forward to participating in the Winter Olympics in South Korea.’
Yesterday afternoon it was announced that Los Angeles will be hosting the 2028 Summer Olympic Games. After deliberating with Paris as to whether to take the 2024 or 2028 games, the LA Officials expressed their flexibility and were happy to take the 2028 slot. Paris and LA were the last two cities left for the Olympic bid. According to LA officials, the IOC will advance $1.8 billion to the city in preparation for the games.