Amid speculation – and even recommendation – that the 2020 Tokyo Olympics be postponed, Japanese officials have declared that there is no “Plan B” for this year’s Summer Olympics.
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Speaking to Reuters, Katsura Enyo the deputy director-general of the Tokyo 2020 Preparation Bureau at the city government stated: “There will not be one bit of change in holding the Games as planned.”
While Enyo assured that the organizers were “facing up” to the coronavirus, she guaranteed that the July 24-Aug. 9 event would push through as is.
“We are not even thinking of when or in what contingency we might decide things. There is no thought of change at all in my mind,” she said.
Having already invested time and resources – $12 billion and a few years of preparation – Japan seeks to make it clear that they have no plans whatsoever of calling off, postponing, or moving the event to a different location.
They are, however, open to ‘scaling back’ the Olympic torch relay in light of the coronavirus threat.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president and former fencing champion Thomas Bach supported Japan’s stance, saying the IOC is “fully committed” to holding the Olympics on schedule. They stated “full confidence” in Japanese authorities to take the necessary precautions.
There have been over 200 confirmed coronavirus cases and 5 deaths by it in Japan.
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