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2 sports in the Paralympics that are not played in the Olympics
The Paralympics have started in Tokyo, and it’s easy to spot sports that are both in Paralympics and Olympics, such as basketball, volleyball, weightlifting, soccer, equestrian and cycling, to name just a few, and with various adaptions.
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Mayor, governor want to cancel Osaka legs of Olympic relay
The governor of Osaka prefecture said on Thursday that he wants to cancel the Olympic torch relay legs going through Osaka later this month. (Kim Kyung-Hoon/Pool Photo via AP, File)TOKYO – The Tokyo Olympic torch relay ran into big trouble on Thursday when the governor of Osaka prefecture and the mayor of the city of Osaka asked that relay legs going through the city be canceled with the games opening in less than four months. “When I watch the torch relay elsewhere in Japan, people tend to gather and those places get crowded," Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui said Thursday. "It’s very unfortunate but I think we should call it off.”Osaka Governor Hirofumi Yoshimura echoed the mayor: "I think the torch relay through the middle of Osaka should be canceled.”Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga suggested on Thursday that the Osaka relay was off. AdThe torch relay is scheduled to arrive in Osaka prefecture on April 13 and will go through the city on April 14.
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Volunteers from abroad ruled out for Tokyo Olympics
Seiko Hashimoto, center, President of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games, talks with Kyoko Raita, right, Tokyo 2020 Executive Board member and speaker for a presentation on the Olympic Charter and Gender Equality in Tokyo, Japan, Monday, March 22, 2021. Fujio Mitarai, Honorary President of Tokyo 2020, is at left. Hashimoto said they will take all possible COVID-19 countermeasures as the torch relay opens this Thursday from northeastern Fukushima prefecture. (Kimimasa Mayama/Pool Photo via AP)TOKYO – Volunteers from abroad will not be allowed into Japan for the postponed Tokyo Olympics, organizers said Monday. Japan's Kyodo news agency, quoting “sources close to the matter,” said around 500 overseas volunteers would be given exemptions to enter Japan.
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Olympic host Japan will not take part in China vaccine offer
Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020), speaks during a news conference Thursday, March 11, 2021, after attending the International Olympic Committee (IOC) general meeting. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)TOKYO – Japan will not take part in China's offer — accepted by the International Olympic Committee — to provide vaccines for “participants" in the postponed Tokyo Games and next year's Beijing Winter Games. Olympic Minister Tamayo Marukawa said Friday that Japan had not been consulted by the IOC about the Chinese vaccines, and that Japanese athletes would not take them. “We have been taking comprehensive anti-infectious disease measures for the Tokyo Games in order to allow participation without vaccinations,” Marukawa said. AdThe IOC has indicated it is a sports body and will not meddle in domestic issues in China.
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IOC members worry about banning foreign fans from Olympics
(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, Pool)TOKYO – Several IOC members on Thursday reminded Tokyo Olympic organizers about the potential negative consequences of banning overseas fans from attending the postponed games. Tokyo organizers say a final decision about fans from abroad will be made before the torch relay starts on March 25. Many unsourced reports in Japan, citing unnamed officials, say the decision has already been made to keep fans from abroad out of the country. “So the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee is not in a position to comment.”AdRecent polls show up to 80% in Japan think the Olympics should be postponed or canceled. Reports in Japan say organizers are considering allowing some fans from abroad to attend if they have tickets from sponsors, national Olympic committees, or sports federations.
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New Tokyo Olympic president tries to assure Japan on safety
Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020), speaks before reporters after a five-party meeting at the Tokyo 2020 headquarters in Tokyo on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Du Xiaoyi/Pool Photo via AP)TOKYO – The new president of the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee has begun holding weekly news conferences hoping to win over a doubting Japanese public with the postponed games opening in just under five months. “I understand there are a lot of people in Tokyo and in Japan who have concerns about the games in Tokyo this summer. “People need to start to build confidence in the safety of the games,” Hashimoto said. “People in the world are now paying attention to gender issues, diversity issues on the organizing committee," she said.
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Report: No fans from abroad for postponed Tokyo Olympics
Seiko Hashimoto, president of the Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020), attends a news conference with Toshiro Muto, left, CEO of Tokyo 2020, after a council meeting in Tokyo on Wednesday, March 3, 2021. (Kimimasa Mayama/Pool Photo via AP)TOKYO – The postponed Tokyo Olympics look like they will take place without any fans from abroad when they open in just under five months. The report came just an hour before Tokyo organizers held “five-party” talks online with the International Olympic Committee, the International Paralympic Committee, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and the central government of Japan. The organizing committee has budgeted income of $800 million from ticket sales. Seiko Hashimoto, the new president of the organizing committee, cautioned on Tuesday of the problems that await.
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Tokyo Games offer Playbooks to assure athletes, sway public
Christophe Dubi, Olympic Games Executive Director for the International Olympic Committee (IOC), joins other representatives from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) at a Joint press briefing in Tokyo on Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021. “There are indeed a lot of questions in the public domain about how the games will take place this summer. And today is a preliminary review of how things will be done," Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi said in a video news conference with Tokyo officials. The rollout of the Playbooks is aimed at assuring athletes, and an attempt to convince the Japanese public that the Olympics should go ahead. The IOC held a similar session earlier in the week with Olympic athletes and their representatives to explain the stringent guidelines in their rule books.
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Amid cancellation talk, Tokyo Olympics `focused on hosting'
FILE - In this Nov. 16, 2020, file photo, ThomasBach, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President,speaks during the joint press conference between IOC and Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) in Tokyo, Japan. The International Olympic Committee is pushing back against reports that the postponed Tokyo Olympics will be canceled and will not open on July 23. The Tokyo Games were postponed 10 months ago at the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, and now their future appears threatened again. (DuXiaoyi/Pool Photo via AP, File)TOKYO – IOC President Thomas Bach and local organizers are pushing back against reports that the postponed Tokyo Olympics will be canceled. “There is no doubt the Tokyo 2020 Games will be very different to any previous games and that this summer’s event looks a long way off right now.
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Tokyo Olympics delay costs may reach $2.8 billion
(Kazuhiro Nogi/Pool Photo via AP)TOKYO – The cost of the postponement for the Tokyo Olympics could reach about $2.8 billion, according to figures released Friday by the Tokyo organizing committee, the Tokyo city government and Japan’s national government. “I think our biggest challenge is the additional costs,” Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said during an online news conference. Tokyo said the Olympics would cost $7.3 billion overall when it won the bid in 2013 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The operational cost for the delay is listed at 171 billion yen, or about $1.64 billion at the present exchange rate. Tokyo organizers also said they could add 27 billion yen (about $260 million) from a contingency fund to help cover added costs.
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Bach issues gentle plea for Olympians to get vaccinated
IOC President Thomas Bach wearing a protective mask talks to journalists during a visit to Olympic and Paralympic Village in Tokyo Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. (Nicolas Datiche/Pool Photo via AP)TOKYO – As he toured the Athletes Village on Tuesday, IOC President Thomas Bach issued a gentle plea to all competitors to get vaccinated before the Tokyo Olympics — if a vaccine is available. In a more private setting, Bach has spoken directly about Olympic athletes’ responsibility to consider the vaccine. In an on-line session last month with the IOC’s Athletes’ Commission, Bach was asked — among other things — if athletes would be “forced” to be vaccinated. As well as the 11,000 Olympic athletes, there could be tens of thousands of officials, judges, VIPs, and media and broadcasters traveling to Japan for the games.
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Asia Today: New Zealand imposes new mask rules as precaution
ThomasBach, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President,puts on his mask before speaking during the joint press conference between IOC and Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) in Tokyo, Japan, Nov. 16, 2020. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Virus Response Minister Chris Hipkins announced the new rules on Monday after meeting with senior lawmakers. — South Korea’s daily coronavirus tally has stayed above 200 for a third consecutive day, as authorities consider raising the country’s social distancing rules. The 223 additional cases recorded Monday by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency raised the country’s total to 28,769, including 494 deaths. The agency says 193 of them are locally transmitted cases while the rest was associated with international arrivals.
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Tokyo Olympics and IOC find mostly minor areas to 'simplify'
CEO of Tokyo 2020 Toshiro Muto and President of Tokyo 2020 Yoshiro Mori wear face masks as they leave a joint press conference between the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Tokyo Organizing Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Tokyo 2020) Friday, Sept. 25, 2020, in Tokyo. (Rodrigo Reyes Marin/Pool Photo via AP)TOKYO – Tokyo Olympic organizers announced several “simplification” changes Friday for next year’s postponed games, though with few large-scale cost savings. Simplifying the Tokyo Games has been a pledge of the International Olympic Committee and local organizers since COVID-19 forced the unprecedented delay six months ago. Tokyo organizing committee CEO Toshiro Muto was asked how much was being saved by the simplification. IOC President Thomas Bach, addressing Japanese officials on Thursday, suggested a vaccine could be ready for the Olympics, which open on July 23, 2021.
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Tokyo Olympic head says 80% of facilities lined up for 2021
FILE.- In this May 12, 2020, file photo, a lone security guard stands at one of the venues for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo. The head of the Tokyo Olympics on Friday, June 12, 2020, says that 80% of the facilities needed for next year's games have basic approvalto be used. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko, File)TOKYO About 80% of the facilities needed for next years postponed Tokyo Olympics have been lined up, the president of the organizing committee said Friday. The International Olympic Committee has said it will chip in $650 million, but has not offered specifics. The Tokyo Games are set to open on July 23, 2021.
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Q&A: State of Tokyo Olympics 2 1/2 months after postponement
TOKYO It's been 2 1/2 months since the Tokyo Olympics were postponed until next year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The IOC executive board meets on Wednesday and will hear a brief presentation from Tokyo organizers on a remote hookup, explaining where things stand. Pierre Ducrey, Olympic Games operations director, said last week that retaining the Olympic Village was problem No. A: No matter where the Olympics are held, or in what city, most Olympic venues look much the same on television. Bach earlier this year warned against using the Tokyo Olympics as a platform for highlighting political and social causes.
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Tokyo Olympics protest parody of logo that depicts COVID-19
Published: May 19, 2020, 3:41 am Updated: May 19, 2020, 5:45 amThe cover design of Number 1 Shimbun is seen in Tokyo, Tuesday, May 19, 2020. Tokyo Olympics officials are incensed that their games emblem has been used in the cover design of the local magazine that combines the logo with the novel coronavirus. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)TOKYO Tokyo Olympic officials are incensed that the games emblem has been used in the cover design of a local magazine that combines the logo with the coronavirus. "The design is clearly using the design of the Olympic emblem. We therefore consider it an infringement on our legally secured copyright to the Tokyo 2020 Olympic emblem.He said the organizing committee had not yet received a formal reply to its request.