Tokyo Games Budget Increases To $15.8B Due To Postponement

The Tokyo Games organizing committee "released its fifth budget" today, with the total cost of the Olympics and Paralympics increasing to $15.8B due to the "one-year postponement over the coronavirus pandemic." The budget was raised by $2.8B to "accommodate expenses related to setting up venues and maintaining the athletes' village," including $928M allocated for "countermeasures to prevent the spread of infection at next summer's games." Organizers revealed that the budget increase is "largely for the temporary removal and reinstallation of prefabricated units at the games' venues, as well as the maintenance of the athletes village and storage of competition equipment." The cost for coronavirus countermeasures includes the "installation of a negative pressure isolation room that prevents the virus from leaking outside at the athletes village" (KYODO NEWS, 12/22).