November 12, 2019
Japanese Communist Party Tokyo Metropolitan Assemblyperson Satoyoshi Yumi at an Olympic and Paralympic special committee meeting on November 8 criticized both the IOC and the Tokyo metropolitan government for creating confusion among athletes and Tokyo citizens by neglecting to take into serious account Tokyo's extreme summer heat.
The venue for marathon and race-walking events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be changed from Tokyo to Sapporo City in Hokkaido.
The proposed change was issued by the IOC to the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee on October 11. However, the host city of Tokyo learned of this change on October 15. Criticizing the decision-making process that led to the change of venue for lack of transparency, Satoyoshi demanded that how the decision was made be made public.
Satoyoshi cited that the four parties of the IOC, the organizing committee, the Japanese government, and the Tokyo metropolitan government have agreed to not shift costs associated with the change of marathon and race-walking venue to the city of Tokyo, and asked who then would bear the cost.
She also said that Olympic and Paralympic Games are held in summertime due to the scheduling priorities of U.S. TV networks, and added, "The IOC should reconsider the schedule of future Games to ensure a sound development of the Olympic movement."
Past related articles:
> Dispute over 2020 Olympic marathon resulted from commercialism within IOC [November 2, 2019]
> JCP comments on issue over 2020 Olympic marathon [October 30, 2019]
> Tokyo’s extreme summer heat may adversely affect Olympic athletes [July 30, 2014]
The venue for marathon and race-walking events at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games will be changed from Tokyo to Sapporo City in Hokkaido.
The proposed change was issued by the IOC to the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee on October 11. However, the host city of Tokyo learned of this change on October 15. Criticizing the decision-making process that led to the change of venue for lack of transparency, Satoyoshi demanded that how the decision was made be made public.
Satoyoshi cited that the four parties of the IOC, the organizing committee, the Japanese government, and the Tokyo metropolitan government have agreed to not shift costs associated with the change of marathon and race-walking venue to the city of Tokyo, and asked who then would bear the cost.
She also said that Olympic and Paralympic Games are held in summertime due to the scheduling priorities of U.S. TV networks, and added, "The IOC should reconsider the schedule of future Games to ensure a sound development of the Olympic movement."
Past related articles:
> Dispute over 2020 Olympic marathon resulted from commercialism within IOC [November 2, 2019]
> JCP comments on issue over 2020 Olympic marathon [October 30, 2019]
> Tokyo’s extreme summer heat may adversely affect Olympic athletes [July 30, 2014]
