Japanese Olympic Committee Expresses Appreciation to London 2012 Chair Sebastian Coe for Inspiring Young Athletes

The Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) expressed its appreciation to Lord Sebastian Coe, Chair of the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), during his visit to Japan to promote the Games of the XXX Olympiad (London 2012).

The two-day visit was a part of a world campaign to meet young people and to update officials, coaches and athletes on the latest development and preparations for the Games, reaching all five continents.

Coe visited the Ajinomoto National Training Centre, a state-of-the-art training facility used by world-class athletes from Japan and other countries worldwide. Coe enjoyed talking with dozens of athletes and offered advice and encouragement to them training at the facility, including middle-distance runners in athletics, triathletes including first-ever Youth Olympic champion Yuka Sato, and Japanese rhythmic gymnastics national team - Fairy Japan - who has been qualified for London 2012.

The 1,500-metre gold medallist in both the Games of the XXII Olympiad (Moscow 1980) and the Games of the XXIII Olympiad (Los Angeles 1984) said, "Japanese athletes are amongst the best in the world in sports as diverse as judo, swimming and gymnastics. I have no doubt that the Japanese team will enjoy a warm welcome to the Games from London's dynamic Japanese community as well as from British fans and also from the large number of Japanese visitors we expect to attend the Games."

"London 2012 Games will leave a great sporting legacy for the communities of London and the UK but also for international sport and young people. We remain committed to inspiring the new generation to take up sport and to realise meanings of sport in their lives," he added.

Coe also visited the Kasumigaoka National Stadium, the iconic main stadium of the Games of the XVIII Olympiad (Tokyo 1964) today. After the visit, he said, "It’s a wonderful stadium and, even under [today’s] snow, you have a feel for the type of atmosphere that must have existed in the Tokyo Games."

After being briefed by Coe on preparations for the London 2012 Games, JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda said, "This has been a major week for Tokyo and Japan. It has been a pleasure and true honour to welcome an Olympic legend in Sebastian Coe. It was a joy to discuss our mutual commitment to the Olympic Movement, which left me with a strong impression that Lord Coe and his colleagues will stage highly successful Games. Together with Team Japan and other leaders of the Japanese sport community, I am greatly looking forward to witnessing the world’s greatest

spectacle in London this summer."

Later, after meeting with Shintaro Ishihara, Governor of Tokyo, and Tenzo Okumura, Senior Vice Minister of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Coe interacted with students from the Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School. He reminded them of the educational value of sport and its capacity to raise the aspirations of individuals, countries and indeed the entire world.

For more information, contact: m-takaya@joc.or.jp

As a service to our readers, Around the Rings will provide verbatim texts of selected press releases issued by Olympic-related organizations, federations, businesses and sponsors.

These press releases appear as sent to Around the Rings and are not edited for spelling, grammar or punctuation.

Your complete source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only.