Buzz in Tokyo is palpable, with the logo for the '20 Games plastered all over the cityGETTY IMAGES
The '20 Tokyo Games begin one year from today, and IOC President Thomas Bach said that Japan is making "record progress as it prepares to host" the Summer Olympics for the first time since '64, according to KYODO NEWS. Bach said, "I can truly say I have never seen an Olympic city as prepared as Tokyo with one year to go before the Olympic Games." Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said, "I vowed to do our absolute best toward the success of the 2020 Games when we won the bid to host the Games six years ago" (KYODO NEWS, 7/24). In L.A., David Wharton reports the buzz in Tokyo around the Games "is palpable," as the Tokyo 2020 logo "is plastered across the city on taxi cabs and in storefront windows." Merchandise shops are "reportedly doing good business and ... colorful banners fly beside the highway" miles north of the city. The excitement around the Games has "translated into more than $3 billion in domestic sponsorships, three times the previous record of $1.1 billion" set for the '12 London Games. A ticket lottery last month saw 7.5 million Japan residents sign up "for the chance to buy 3.2 million tickets." That demand caused a "second -- and perhaps third -- public sale" for tickets (L.A. TIMES, 7/24).
EVERYTHING RUNNING SMOOTHLY: REUTERS' Jack Tarrant reported '20 Tokyo Games organizers "believe they are on schedule to deliver the Games," pointing to the "unprecedented demand for tickets" and local sponsorship sales. Officials continue to "battle rising costs," as the latest budget figures released last December "put the total cost of the Games" at $12.6B. That is "well above their original estimate" at under $7B (REUTERS, 7/23). SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL's Ben Fischer notes while there have been "major doubts about the organizers’ basic ability to execute the Games" for the last three Olympics ('18 Pyeongchang, '16 Rio and '14 Sochi), those concerns are non existent. Cost overruns have been a "problem, but nobody questions the infrastructure will be ready and functional." Hotels have been "allocated to the world’s media, and construction on the new Olympic Stadium should be done by December" (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 7/22 issue). IOC Coordination Commission Chair John Coates said that the delivery of the games "remains 'firmly on track.'" Coates said that organizers have "shifted into operation mode as the first major phase of test events kicked off" this week. TOCOG President Yoshiro Mori said that he "could feel the local excitement building for the next Summer Games at the events he attended over the past several days" (KYODO NEWS, 7/23).
SOME HICCUPS ALONG THE WAY: The AP's Stephen Wade noted Bach has "repeatedly called Tokyo’s preparations 'the best' in history." However, there have been "glitches and links to corruption." Former Japanese Olympic Committee President Tsunekazu Takeda was "forced to resign" in March when he was "implicated in a vote-buying scheme to land the games." He has "denied wrongdoing, but acknowledged he signed off" on about $2M that French investigators "allege went to buy votes of some IOC members." Tokyo organizers also were "forced to redesign their logo when the original draft faced charges of plagiarism, and an international labor union has alleged work-safety violations at Olympic venues, largely regarding migrant labor." A "futuristic design for the new [Olympic Stadium] by the-late British architect Zaha Hadid was scrapped" as well when costs "soared" to $2B (AP, 7/22).
TECHNOLOGICAL MARVEL: The TIMES' Wharton noted TOCOG on Monday "unveiled several robots expected to be part of the experience in Tokyo next year." The “Tokyo 2020 Robot Project” will be "employed on and off the field." Two of the automatons will "take the form of Games mascots Miraitowa and Someity, programmed to show facial expressions as they wave at and shake hands with athletes and fans." In addition, Field Support Robots will "help officials retrieve hammers and javelins during the throwing events at the Olympic Stadium," and other robots will be "equipped with cameras that can broadcast live action" (L.A. TIMES, 7/22).
