On the 25th, the president of the International Olympic Committee, Bach, said in a conference call with global journalists that the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Beijing Winter Olympic Games and the green Olympic games in the day after day were held one after another, which was a huge challenge for the International Olympic Committee.
Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, March 25 (reporter Ji Ye) International Olympic Committee President Bach said in a conference call with global reporters on the 25th that the Tokyo Olympic Games, the Beijing Winter Olympic Games and the green Olympic Games in Doha were held one after another, it is a great challenge for the International Olympic Committee.
“We are facing a huge challenge now, because we will focus on hosting the Tokyo Olympic Games in the next few months. At the same time, the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing and the 2022 Youth Olympic Games in Dakar are also coming. This is a very big challenge.” Bach said when connecting with nearly 400 journalists around the world.
The International Olympic Committee and the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee issued a joint statement on the 24th that in view of the current epidemic situation, the 32nd Olympic Games in Tokyo need to be rescheduled after 2020, but not later than the date of the summer of 2021. The Beijing Winter Olympics will open on February 4, 2022. This means that after the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Olympic flame will come to Beijing without stopping. After the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Paralympic Winter Games, the Youth Olympic Games in Davos will open on October 22, 2022.
“We won’t know what it means until a few months later. Our employees are working hard to find the most feasible organization method. At present (because of the epidemic), our employees need to work from home, which makes our work more difficult.”
Bach said that at present, a working group named “HereWeGo” (Let’s start) has been established to coordinate with various stakeholders to determine the date of the new Tokyo Olympic Games.
“After our working group determines the date of the Tokyo Olympic Games, we will have a clearer understanding of the overall situation, and then we can take more effective countermeasures.”
Bach also said that the Tokyo Olympics will be held no later than the summer of 2021, which does not mean that the time is limited to next summer. “All options are on the table, before the summer of 2021, including the summer of 2021.”
“It is very challenging to determine the holding time of the Tokyo Olympic Games. We have asked the coordination committee and the Tokyo Olympic organizing committee to study carefully. They first need to negotiate with the international individual sports federation of all 33 major Olympic Games, see what options are available. Secondly, the events and other factors before and after the Olympic Games should also be considered. I think we need to give a plan as soon as possible, but the most important thing is to consider the interests of all parties.” Bach said.
Bach said that delaying the Tokyo Olympics requires “sacrifice and compromise” by all parties “. “This is like a huge jigsaw puzzle. Each jigsaw puzzle needs to be appropriate. If you take away one of them, the whole puzzle will be destroyed, so everything must be integrated and everything is very important!”