The Olympic torch arrived in Japan. (Image via JAPAN Forward)

Olympic torch arrives in Japan

Alfonsus Adi Putra
Sports & Culture
More Sports
Mar 20, 2020
14097
On Friday, the Olympic torch arrived in Japan from Greece at an airbase in Northern Japan. The plane housing the torch, Boeing 787, operated by Japan Airlines and All Nippon Airways (ANA), arrived at the Japan Air Self-Defense Force Matsushima Base in Miyagi Prefecture.

In a scaled-down ceremony, the torch was shown in a burning canister, inscribed with “Tokyo 2020 Olympic Torch Relay” along its side. Two of the most famous Japanese Olympians, Saori Yoshida (3-time wrestling gold medalist) and Tadahiro Nomura (3-time judo gold medalist), received the torch for the lighting ceremony.

The torch will stay in Northern Japan for almost a week before it began its relay on March 26 from Fukushima Prefecture. It is a symbol that Japan will be able to maintain the Olympics and Paralympics as scheduled.

The torch arrived amid the doubts that the Summer Olympics can proceed as planned on 24 July amid the global pandemic outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19). While the Olympics organizers and the International Olympics Committee (IOC) said that it will not cancel nor postpone the Tokyo Games, the options were viewed increasingly as a doable option.

The President of IOC, Thomas Bach, received supports to hold the Olympics and Paralympics. However, the athletes are confused about whether or not they could train, qualify, and maintain their health. Moreover, some critics said that the qualifying process was unfair.

Source: https://bit.ly/392ieIz

Sports , Events , 2020 , Summer-Olympics , Asia , Japan