'Phantom Olympian' Kenichi Chida staying optimistic despite Tokyo Games postponement
When Tokyo won the rights to host the 2020 Summer Games in 2013, retired top fencer Kenichi Chida was determined to find a role to play, having been one of the "phantom athletes" who never made it to the boycotted 1980 Games in Moscow. Born ...
Tsunami-hit Miyagi city waits patiently for Olympics to showcase revival
Every Sunday morning, a decades-old market in Miyagi Prefecture is crowded with local residents and tourists making their way down narrow aisles and checking out a variety of fresh seafood. The bustling market in the Yuriage district of Natori has become part of the small ...
Tokyo Olympic torch relay canceled following postponement of games
The Japan leg of the Tokyo Olympic torch relay, scheduled to begin Thursday, has been canceled due to the coronavirus outbreak, Yoshiro Mori, president of the Tokyo 2020 organizing committee, said Tuesday. The move comes after Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and International Olympic Committee President ...
Olympic torchbearers recall 1964 with pride as 2020 relay set to be scrapped
Even though it was 56 years ago, Kazuo Goto still vividly remembers his pride as he carried the Olympic flame on the last day of the torch relay when Tokyo hosted the Games in 1964. But with the coronavirus threatening the Olympic Games themselves, the ...
Tokyo Olympic flame set to be carried by car due to COVID-19 pandemic
The Tokyo Games Organising Committee plans to transport the Olympic flame in a lantern by car instead of having it carried by torchbearers when the Japan leg of the torch relay starts later in the week, sources said Tuesday. The torch relay will be held ...
Like 'a canary in a coal mine': Olympic torch relay could foreshadow postponement of Tokyo Games
The relay will begin its long journey through Japan this week even as the coronavirus pandemic continues to threaten the Tokyo 2020 Games.
Greece hands over Olympic flame to Tokyo 2020 in sparsely attended ceremony
Greece on Thursday handed over the Olympic flame to Tokyo 2020 organizers at a ceremony held behind closed doors amid calls for the Olympics to be postponed over the COVID-19 pandemic. In the absence of spectators, Olympic gymnastics champion Lefteris Petrounias ran a lap with ...
Starting the Olympic torch relay in Fukushima should remind us of the dangers of nuclear power
Regardless of who we cheer for at the Olympics Games, nuclear power does not deserve our applause.
Olympic torch relay faces cool welcome from nuclear evacuees in Fukushima No. 1 town
Dressed in protective plastic coveralls and white boots, Yuji Onuma stood in front of the row of derelict buildings that included his house, and sighed as he surveyed his old neighborhood. On the once-bustling main street, reddish weeds poked out of cracked pavement in front ...
Plan to send Japanese students to Greece for torch relay canceled over virus concerns
The city of Inazawa, Aichi Prefecture, said Thursday it has canceled its plan to send junior high school students to take part in the Greek leg of the 2020 Olympics torch relay on March 12 due to concerns over the new coronavirus. Eighteen students had ...
Tokyo Olympics CEO and organizers outline COVID-19 torch relay measures
The Tokyo Olympics organizing committee informed the International Olympic Committee on Wednesday of its plans to cope with conditions related to the current coronavirus outbreak during the torch relay starting from March 26. Speaking with the IOC executive board via teleconference from Tokyo to discuss ...
Olympic organizers allow uploading torch relay videos on social media
The organizing committee of this summer's Tokyo Games said individuals are allowed to post video they shoot at the Olympic torch relay to their social media sites. The organizers had indicated last week that uploading such content on the internet would be prohibited but corrected ...
