Olympics
TOKYO 2020 CELEBRATE START OF OLYMPIC YEAR
BY NANCY GILLEN.
Tokyo 2020 have celebrated the start of the Olympic and Paralympic year in Japan.
With Japan entering the New Year, Tokyo 2020 tweeted an animation of the two mascots, Miraitowa and Someity, flying from space to the host country of the next Olympics.
“Tokyo 2020 is coming,” the post said.
“This is our year…2020.”
There was also a number of firework displays marking the New Year across Japan, including in host city Tokyo, while people visited temples and shrines across the country.
Japanese New Year takes on added significance with the start of the Olympic and Paralympic Games fast approaching.
It is now 205 days until the Olympics begin, with the Games scheduled for July 24 to August 9.
The Paralympics will then take place from August 25 to September 6.
Organisers have faced a number of challenges this year, with the International Olympic Committee controversially deciding to move the marathon and race walk events more than 800 kilometres to Sapporo due to concerns over rising heat.
The swimming part of the Paratriathlon test event was also scrapped due to high E. coli levels in the water.
Venues are on track to be completed on time, however, while the final budget for the Games of ¥1.35 trillion (£9.5 billion/$12.6 billion/€11.4 billion) remained in line with the last two annual updates.
Organisers this month formally unveiled the new National Stadium, due to be the centrepiece of the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The first sporting event at the venue – the final of the Emperor’s Cup football tournament – is set to be held tomorrow.
Tokyo 2020 will be among the first major sporting events of the new decade.
The Olympic rings installed on the Eiffel Tower since June to celebrate the upcoming Olympic Games were removed from the Parisian monument early on Friday morning, as confirmed by an AFP photographer. But the Paris City Hall intends to replace them with a more permanent structure until 2028.
The five-coloured rings, measuring 29 metres in length and 15 metres in height, were placed between the first and second levels of the iconic iron structure on 7 June.
According to Inside the Games publication, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants the Olympic symbol to continue decorating the monument until the 2028 Games in Los Angeles.
But the descendants of the tower’s creator, Gustave Eiffel are opposing the move. They are insisting that the Olympic rings are aesthetically in conflict with the concept and design of the Tower.
The 30-tonne rings initially installed on the Eiffel Tower were also not designed to withstand winter weather conditions.
Olympics
Despite Egypt winning 3 medals at Paris Olympics, President Al-Sisi orders sports system overhaul
Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi ordered a comprehensive evaluation of sports federations that participatedat the Paris Olympic Games, following a mission report submitted by the country’s sports minister.
The mandate includes a thorough expenditure check and a performance review to better highlight areas of improvement and fund allocation in future Games.
Additionally, the president plans to take necessary measures against federations —such as limiting funds— that had negative results in the Paris Games.
Egypt’s participation in sports where it lacks a competitive advantage will also be limited, as the president aims to direct resources to promising athletes to ensure optimal results. The president also aims to reduce administrative and technical staff within Olympic delegations and task relevant ministries with preparing future Olympic athletes.
Al-Sisi’s Olympic overhaul is to be presented to the cabinet for approval and urged the government to prioritise amending the sports law for the House of Representatives for review.
Egypt took home a total of three medals in the Summer Games. Ahmed El-Gendy triumphed in modern pentathlon, Sara Samir claimed the silver in weightlifting, and 21-year-old fencer Mohamed El-Sayed earned the bronze.
-Insidethegames
Paris 2024 sold a record 12 million tickets for the Olympics and Paralympics, beating the Games record previously set by London 2012, organisers said on Sunday.
Some 9.5 million tickets were sold for the Olympics and 2.5 million for the Paralympics, which end on Sunday.
In 2012, London organisers set the record for the Paralympics with 2.7 million tickets sold but only 8.2 million were sold for the Olympics.
-Reuters
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