Xinhua News Agency, Tokyo, March 6 (Reporter Prince Jiang) Yoshiro Mori, chairman of Tokyo Olympic organizing committee, revealed on the 6th that due to the impact of the new coronavirus epidemic, Japanese students’ performances at the Athens torch handover ceremony will be canceled, more than 100 small actors no longer go to Greece.
According to the original arrangement, on March 19, the Greek Olympic Committee and the Japanese Olympic Committee held the torch handover ceremony in Athens, and Japan sent about 140 primary and middle school students from all over the country to perform street dance and other artistic performances at the ceremony.
Yoshiro Mori, who once served as the Prime Minister of Japan, told reporters at the headquarters of the Olympic organizing committee that the organizing committee decided to cancel their trip to Greece for the sake of children’s health and safety. “Unfortunately, the children haven’t had a chance to show their achievements until today. I hope the organizing committee can show their talents in other ways. We will continue to discuss this matter in the future.”
He also revealed that when the flame arrived in Japan on March 20, the student performance scheduled for the flame welcome ceremony in Miyagi prefecture would also be canceled, involving about 200 local primary school students.
Currently, primary schools, junior high schools and senior high schools in Japan have been completely suspended.
HIRO, the director of the Ministry of Culture of the Tokyo Olympic Games torch relay ceremony and a well-known artist, said: “We put the health and safety of our children first, so we decided not to attend the performance in Athens. I am very sorry to think that they keep practicing every day, but I will continue to support them in the future.”
The Olympic flame was lit in Olympia, Greece on March 12. Eight days after it was passed in Greece, it was handed over at panaxinaiko Stadium in Athens, where the first modern Olympic Games was held on 19th. After that, the flame arrived in Japan by special plane.
Tokyo Olympic organizing committee will send a delegation to attend the torch lighting ceremony on the 12th, but due to the impact of the epidemic, the size of the delegation will also be reduced.