Olympic cauldron ignited in Japan, with officials again pledging the Tokyo2020 Games to proceed despite mounting pressure to halt the world’s biggest sporting event due to the coronavirus pandemic
HIGASHIMATSUSHIMA, Japan - An Olympic cauldron was ignited in Japan on Friday with a flame carried from Greece, with officials again pledging the Tokyo 2020 Games will proceed despite mounting pressure to halt the world’s biggest sporting event due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Organizers have repeatedly said the Games, set to run from July 24 to Aug. 9, will go ahead, but as the rapid spread of the virus brings the sports world to a virtual standstill, fears are growing that the Olympics may be postponed or canceled. The plane with the torch arrived nearly empty after the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee decided not to send a high-level delegation that was originally to have included Mori and Olympics minister Seiko Hashimoto.
Organizers have urged the public not to crowd the relay route, canceled many events along the way and have restricted public access to others. Runners and staff will have their temperature and health monitored, the organizers said.Some athletes, including reigning Olympic pole vault champion Katerina Stefanidi, said the International Olympic Committee’s decision to go ahead was putting their health at risk when entire countries have shut down to curb the virus.
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