Olympics: Tokyo flame to go on display to public next month

[August 24, 2020]    By Jack Tarrant

TOKYO (Reuters) - The Olympic flame will go on display at the Japanese Olympic Museum from Sept. 1, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) announced on Monday.

The Olympic torch of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games is displayed at a Torch Relay event to mark the 300-day milestone to the starting date of the torch relay, in Tokyo, Japan June 1, 2019. REUTERS/Issei Kato

The flame was last seen in Fukushima after the torch relay was cancelled following its arrival from Greece but before it could start on the planned tour of Japan after the decision to postpone the Games in March due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

With the Olympics postponed until 2021, organisers had been discussing how best to store and present the Olympic flame whilst in Japan.

They have chosen to display the flame at the JOC museum which is near the National Stadium purpose-built for the Games.

To limit crowds gathering to view the flame there will be a reservation system with a designated date and time.

There will also be a one-way viewing route to avoid unnecessary contact between members of the public.

The flame will be on display from Sept. 1-Nov. 1.

Neither the JOC nor Tokyo 2020 organisers have said where the flame will be located after that.

(Reporting by Jack Tarrant; Editing by Ken Ferris)

[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.