Governor meets with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the IOC Coordination Commission

On Friday, October 25, Governor Koike met with Mr. John Coates (Chair) and Mr. Alex Gilady (Vice-Chair) of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad - Tokyo 2020.

With regard to the October 16th announcement of the plan to move the marathon and race walk venue for the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the Governor said “I was very surprised about this announcement. The people of Tokyo were truly looking forward to these events, and were working hard to make preparations. The Tokyo Metropolitan Government also conducted a marathon test event using an almost identical course to that planned for the Games, and has been verifying measures to combat heat, as well as our readiness to provide medical care. As Governor of Tokyo, my desire to have the marathon in Tokyo remains unchanged. I hope we can thoroughly discuss this matter at next week’s meeting of the Coordination Commission.”

Chairman Coates stated “President Bach also understands the shock that you and the people of Tokyo are feeling. I am grateful for this opportunity to provide an explanation to you in person.” As one of the reasons for moving the venue, Coates brought up the situation that occurred at the World Athletics Championships Doha 2019, which was held from the end of September through early October, and pointed out that Sapporo was selected because the city’s average temperature is lower than Tokyo’s.

Speaking after the meeting, the governor commented “Various concrete examples were presented, including what happened in Doha and WBGT heat index data. I have confidence in the range of measures developed by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which had received the IOC’s stamp of approval until just recently. Now, I would like to bring this discussion to the Coordination Commission.”