The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympic torch relay on March 25 will be held without spectators to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, officials with knowledge of the planning said Tuesday.
The Tokyo Games organizing committee has decided it is essential to hold the ceremony in the northeastern prefecture of Fukushima behind closed doors, only permitting participants and invitees to take part in the event, to avoid large crowds forming amid the pandemic, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Map of Tokyo Olympic torch relay route. (Kyodo)
After the ceremony at the J-Village soccer training center, about 10,000 runners will carry the flame through Japan’s 47 prefectures before the opening of the Olympics on July 23.
The training center served as a frontline base in the battle against the nuclear crisis that was triggered by the massive earthquake and ensuing tsunami of March 11, 2011. It was selected as the starting point of the relay to showcase the northeastern region’s recovery from the triple disaster.
Last month, the committee released a set of coronavirus countermeasures for the 121-day relay that requested those who wish to watch the event to refrain from traveling to other prefectures and to maintain social distancing from other spectators.
Photo taken on Nov. 7, 2020, shows the Olympic flame (R) and a relay torch for the postponed Tokyo Games on display in Kanazawa. (Kyodo) ==Kyodo
In recent weeks, a number of celebrity torchbearers, who were expected to draw large crowds along the route, have opted out of the event, which was supposed to be held last year before the Olympics and Paralympics were postponed due to the global health crisis.
The organizing committee, headed by seven-time Olympian Seiko Hashimoto, has pledged to hold safe games.
As the world has yet to contain the virus and concern persists among the Japanese public over its new variants, Japan will most likely not allow overseas spectators to attend the Olympics and Paralympics, people familiar with the matter said last week.
The heads of the five organizing bodies, also including the International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo metropolitan government, are expected to hold a virtual meeting in mid-March to make a decision on the issue of overseas spectators.
