Even as concerns persist over the viability of holding the Tokyo Olympics due to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak, the Olympic flame arrived in Japan on Friday morning. The Tokyo Olympics is scheduled to begin on July 24.
The flame was handed over to Japanese officials in Athens on Thursday.
Meant to be a momentous event, the reception of the Olympic flame was a subdued affair.
The Olympic flame arrived on a special charter flight at an air base in Miyagi province, which was selected to showcase the region's recovery following the devastating earthquake of 2011.
Former Japanese Olympians Saori Yoshida and Tadahiro Nomura received the Olympic flame and took it to a cauldron in the shape of a cherry blossom on a stage in front of selected guests. Plans to have 200 children to welcome the Olympic flame were abandoned due to restrictions to prevent spread of the coronavirus.
Chief organiser of the Tokyo Olympics Yoshiro Mori said, "Children had planned to welcome the Olympic flame, but we decided to scale it down, giving priority to their safety." After a speech by Mori, the former Olympians lit the cauldron with the Olympic flame.
The Tokyo Olympics organisers have said the four-month-long Olympic flame relay, which will cover the entire country, will go on as scheduled but would be scaled down. Spectators would be allowed to watch it, but people have been asked to avoid crowding. All torch-bearers will have their temperatures taken.
The handover ceremony of the Olympic flame in Greece was also a subdued affair on Thursday. No spectators were allowed at the ancient Olympia. The Greek leg of the Olympic flame relay was scrapped after crowds attempted to mob actor Gerard Butler, who lit a cauldron in Sparta.
'Premature to postpone games'
Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, told The New York Times that it was premature to postpone the Tokyo Olympics. Bach said the IOC was mulling "different scenarios" and would act on the advice of its own task force and the WHO.
"Of course, we are considering different scenarios, but we are contrary to many other sports organisations or professional leagues in that we are four-and-a-half months away from the Games. For us, (postponement) would not be responsible now and it would be premature to start speculation or make a decision at a time when we do not have any recommendation from the task force,” Bach told The New York Times.
About 43 per cent of athletes are yet to book their spots for the Olympics as qualifier events have been disrupted.
