|
John Coates, the IOC's Coordination Commission
chief for Tokyo, told the Yomiuri the Games would have to be
held between the tennis Grand Slams of Wimbledon, slated to end
in mid-July, and the U.S. Open, which starts in late August.
"We want to more or less finalize the dates in four weeks'
time," the paper quoted Coates as saying.
Coates, who is also president of the Australian Olympic
Committee (AOC), said the summer scheduling would be dependent
on avoiding clashes with the world championships for swimming
(July 16-Aug. 1) and athletics (Aug. 6-15).
World Athletics boss Sebastian Coe has said the world athletics
championships in Eugene, Oregon could be moved back to 2022 if
necessary.
Coates told the newspaper the hope was to follow the same
arrangements next year that had been planned for 2020, including
holding the marathon in the northern city of Sapporo instead of
Tokyo to escape the heat.
The AOC confirmed the Yomiuri report's veracity and also told
Reuters in a statement that Coates had "proffered a view but
confirms a range of options are on the table for the IOC".
The IOC and Japanese government succumbed to intense pressure
from athletes and sporting bodies around the world on Tuesday,
agreeing to push back the Games by as much as a year because of
the coronavirus pandemic.
On Thursday, the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee launched a
taskforce to resolve issues linked to the postponement, such as
reviewing dates for the Games and securing venues.
No specifics have been discussed yet on the timing of the
delayed Games, but a date needs to be decided as soon as
possible, Hidemasa Nakamura, a senior official at Tokyo 2020,
told reporters after the taskforce's first meeting,
IOC President Thomas Bach said on Wednesday "all options" were
on the table for rescheduling, including holding the Games
before the Japanese summer.
(This story corrects day of the week in paragraph 9)
(Reporting by Chang-Ran Kim in Tokyo and Ian Ransom in
Melbourne; additional reporting by Ju-min Park and Jack Tarrant,
Editing by Peter Rutherford and Lincoln Feast.)
[© 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 This material may not be published,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.
 |
|
