Olympics
TOKYO 2020 OLYMPIC CHIEFTAIN RESIGNS FROM IOC AND AS JOC PRESIDENT OVER BRIBERY ALLEGATIONS
BY JAMES DIAMOND
Tsunekazu Takeda has resigned as President of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) following bribery allegations linked to the successful bid from Tokyo 2020.
Reports that he would step down initially emerged last week, with the official now announcing his resignation formally at a news conference in Tokyo.
The 71-year-old, the son of Prince Tsuneyoshi Takeda and great-grandson of the 19th century Emperor Meiji, will also leave his role as an International Olympic Committee (IOC) member, where he was chair of the influential Marketing Commission.
He had been a member of the IOC since 2012.
According to the Japanese news agency Kyodo News, Takeda, while denying the allegations, apologised for the disruption he had caused.
He will officially depart as JOC President on June 27 when his term ends.
“It is most appropriate to leave the JOC to younger leaders as we await the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics, and have them open up a new era,” he reportedly said following a meeting of the JOC’s Board,” he said.
“I have not committed any wrongdoing.
“I will strive to prove my innocence.”
Takeda’s position first came under scrutiny in January after it emerged he had been indicted in France on corruption charges.
Tadeka is suspected of authorising the payment of bribes in order to help Japan’s capital secure the hosting rights for the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.
At the time French newspaper Le Monde reported that Takeda is being investigated for “active corruption”.
It concerns payments worth $2 million (£1.5 million/€1.75 million) made to Singaporean company Black Tidings before Tokyo was awarded the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics at the IOC Session in Buenos Aires in 2013.
The account holder has been closely tied to Papa Massata Diack, the son of the disgraced former International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) President Lamine Diack, who is currently being held in France and facing corruption charges.
It is alleged the payments were directed to the elder Diack, an influential voting IOC member at the time.
Authorities in France suspect corruption or money laundering by an unknown person.
Tokyo defeated Istanbul by 60 votes to 36 in the second ballot.
Madrid had been eliminated in the first round.
Takeda has always protested his innocence and was initially backed to stay as JOC President despite the controversy.
At the start of February, Tokyo 2020 chief executive Toshirō Mutō claimed there was no reason for Takeda to step down and Takeda himself initially appeared resistant to leave.
He at first chose not to self suspend himself from the IOC, in contrast to other members who have found themselves embroiled in similar cases.
According to Kyodo News, the catalyst for Takeda’s decision to step down reportedly came after IOC President Thomas Bach turned down an invitation to attend one-year to go celebrations for Tokyo 2020 on July 24, for fears of being associated with Takeda.
Just two weeks ago Takeda was re-elected as vice-president of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) after the organisation’s Ethics Committee cleared him of any wrongdoing.
Amid this latest revelation it is now unclear whether he will remain in that position and insidethegames has contacted the OCA for comment.
Takeda had been JOC President since 2001 and was serving his 10th term.
The alleged payment of funds was first reported in 2016 but a Japanese probe at the time later concluded that there was no illegality.
In a statement sent to insidethegames the IOC said they “greatly respect” Takeda’s decision to step down.
“The IOC takes note with the greatest respect of the decision taken by Mr Takeda to resign as an IOC member,” they said.
“Our respect of this decision is even greater because he took this step to protect the Olympic Movement while the presumption of innocence, on which the IOC insists, continues to prevail.”
It is now less than 500 days until the Ceremony of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo on July 24 next year.
Roy Jones Jr has been handed the Olympic gold medal he was controversially denied in 1988 in an extraordinary act of sportsmanship by the South Korean fighter who beat him.
Hall of Fame boxer Jones shared a video on Wednesday from two years ago that showed Park Si-hun visiting the American’s ranch in Pensacola, Florida to present him with the light middleweight gold medal.
“I had the gold medal, but I want to give it back to you. It belongs to you,” Park said in the video through his son, who translated.
Jones, who was overcome with emotion by the gesture, covered his face with his hand before saying: “Wow, that is crazy.”
Their match at the Seoul Olympics remains one of boxing’s most contentious moments as Jones appeared to dominate the fight but lost to Park by a 3-2 decision that drew instant criticism and sparked enduring controversy.
Despite losing the gold medal match, Jones was selected as the Val Barker Trophy winner as the best boxer of the 1988 Olympics.
Jones went on to become a four-division world champion and is regarded as one of the sport’s best pound-for-pound fighters of all time.
“In 1988, I was robbed of the gold medal in what became one of the biggest controversies in boxing history,” Jones wrote in his Instagram post.
“By the grace of God, a couple of years ago, the man who won that medal made the trip from South Korea to my home to return it to me, feeling it was rightfully mine.
“I hope you enjoy this moment as much as I did.”
-Reuters
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U.S. President Donald Trump will sign an executive order on Tuesday creating a White House Olympics task force to handle security and other issues related to the 2028 Summer Olympic Games, an administration official told Reuters.
The task force, made up of members from Trump’s cabinet and government agencies, will coordinate federal, state and local government work on transportation, the official said.
It also will “streamline visa processing and credentialing for foreign athletes, coaches, officials, and media,” the official said in an email.
The United States will host the Olympics in Los Angeles in three years. Trump, a Republican who lost the 2020 election to Democrat Joe Biden, has expressed pleasure that his second term will coincide with the Olympics and the World Cup.
“During his first term, President Trump was instrumental in securing America’s bid to host the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The president considers it a great honor to oversee this global sporting spectacle in his second term,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement on Monday.
Last month organizers of the Los Angeles games released the first look at the Olympic competition schedule . The city had also hosted the Olympics in 1932 and 1984.
“The creation of this task force marks an important step forward in our planning efforts and reflects our shared commitment to delivering not just the biggest, but the greatest Games the world has ever seen in the summer of 2028,” Casey Wasserman, the chair and president of LA28, said in a statement.
–Reuters
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By DAVID LEE
Home is many places for swimmer Adaku Nwandu, who was born in China, lives in Singapore and wears the Nigeria flag on her swimsuit.
And it is at her current home in Singapore that the 17-year-old is making her debut at the World Aquatics Championships (WCH).
In the second heat of the 100m freestyle at the WCH Arena, the teenager, who has a Nigerian father and Chinese mother, led at the turn before finishing third in 1min 0.89sec – she eventually placed 59th out of 82 athletes overall.
After her race, Adaku shared with The Straits Times that she was born and raised in Shanghai, and started swimming when she was eight. Interestingly, it was ice cream that kept her in the sport.
Adaku, who still has the 50m freestyle heats on Aug 2, said: “At a school competition, I didn’t do so well and I asked my dad if we could make a deal. He said if I do better, he would buy me ice cream once every week, and that’s a promise we have kept with each other. And that’s what brought me here.”
In 2023, the family moved to Singapore due to her mother’s work posting. With her fluent Mandarin and love for Asian and spicy food, it did not take long for her to pick up Singlish and enjoy local delights like chicken rice and chilli crab.
She said: “We came here mainly because of my mother’s work, and also because the swimming scene back where I lived in China was a little bit toxic, so she also thought Singapore would be a new experience and better for my swimming.”
By then, she had already committed to representing Nigeria after its aquatics association contacted her after the National Sports Festival in Asaba, where the then 16-year-old was part of the national record-breaking women’s 4x200m freestyle relay team.
But Singapore is where she has been honing her swimming skills, as she has set her 50m and 100m freestyle long- and short-course Nigeria national records at meets here.
Noting her improvements, Singapore swimming coach and performance director Gary Tan said: “Adaku has been participating in our system for a while, and we hope it helps her develop as a swimmer and achieve what she wants while training in Singapore with her school (German European School Singapore).”
For someone who is inspired by Olympic champions David Popovici, Caeleb Dressel and Adam Peaty for “their dedication and the way they are able to take breaks for themselves to improve and get back to the water”, qualifying for Paris 2024 on ranking points was a dream come true.
Her Olympic debut was also unforgettable as her swimsuit ripped 20 minutes before her 50m freestyle heat, but she managed to finish second in her heat and 33rd out of 78th overall in 26.62 seconds, just 0.03 of a second off her personal best.
Back in Singapore, Adaku, who is in the International Baccalaureate (IB) programme at her school, realised that she needed more of such resilience to reach her goals.
The swimmer, who also plays for the school’s volleyball team, said: “I had a lot of improvement the first year I came to Singapore. But this past year has been especially hard for me with family problems and also school. The workload in my first year of IB made it hard to balance training and school.
“Especially in the next year, I want to focus more on swimming and try to get some new personal bests because this year I just plateaued. I’m looking forward to training harder and preparing for my next competition and hopefully qualify for the next Olympics.”
-Strait Times, Singapore
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